Posts Tagged ‘Customers’

Marketing ROI Increases With An Organized Lead Capture Stragtegy.

Monday, June 1st, 2009

I often get a quizzical look from prospects and clients when I tell them there is a difference  between “generating” leads and “capturing” leads.

What do I mean?

lead-capture-funnel

Companies spend money to generate leads, right? ( if you’re in retail substitute customers for the word leads)

Once generated it’s time to maximize return by capturing as much information as possible about that lead. Most important is capturing contact information.  With this in hand you can now initiate an organized lead nurturing program. You will likely have to provide something of value in return for that information. It could be a free report, a time sensitive discount offer, etc.

Let’s face it, every lead doesn’t convert immediately. And depending on your particular enterprise, your conversion cycle may be longer than others.  You can’t afford to let leads simply evaporate because you couldn’t convert them today.

I’ll talk about the essentials of a lead nurturing program in a future post.  Take time to hone your lead capture process and boost your marketing ROI.

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Posted in Lead Generation, Lead Nurturing, Return On Marketing Investment | No Comments »

Leading The Way, Leading The Tribe, Leading The Market.

Sunday, November 2nd, 2008

In his new book, Tribes. We Need You to Lead Us, Seth Godin makes the point that traditional barriers to leading a movement … a market … a “tribe” have been erased because of the Internet. Geography, cost, time are all non-factors because of the Internet’s capacity to connect us with a few or vast amount of people who have a similar passion, point of view or just something in common.

But, the Internet cannot provide leadership, that is still up to us as individuals. (more…)

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Posted in Brand, Customers, Market Leading, Marketing, On-Line Marketing | No Comments »

Flu Shots and Marketing ROI.

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008

When I boarded a flight late last week the last thing I thought I would do upon arrival was get a flu shot. But that’s what happened. As I walked down the concourse on the way to baggage claim there was a large banner that read, “Flu Shots.”

I missed an opportunity earlier in the week to get the shot, so the timing and accessibility was ideal. It caused me to think that this was an excellent example of engaging the target on their terms. How many times do we need to be reminded that our marketing ROI will increase if we take the time to think creatively and provide opportunity for prospects and customers to interact with our brand outside of traditional settings.

The “surprise” element is important. Where’s the last place you would expect to get a flu shot? Think about how you could surprise your targets and have them encounter your brand where they least expect it.

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Posted in Customers, Marketing | No Comments »

Is Starbucks’ Discount Strategy Risky?

Wednesday, August 6th, 2008

Did you take note of Starbucks’ announcement to roll-out a nationwide discount program for morning patrons to get an afternoon iced drink at half-off? At the least you have to look at it as an interesting development for the marketer of a high value proposition.

“Discount” is a word used heavily by many. A quick Google search revealed you can find the word on 455 Million pages. Starbucks’ decision to use it as a traffic builder to boost lagging sales was described as, “hitting the nail on the head”, by Brad Stevens, the chain’s VP of customer relations. It remains to be seen if it has long-term impact on their customers’ value perception.

There’s an eternal discussion among marketers about the “slippery slope” of discounting. Arguments can be made often for introducing discounts as a temporary tactic to move the needle. The lasting effect of discounting can sometimes lead to erosion … not only in margin, but in the way a brand is perceived.

Starbucks made a significant investment in establishing themselves as destination, creating a certain set of “brand permissions” among their loyal consumers. My guess is you could ask a hundred people what they think of when you say Starbucks and not one of them would say discount.

What’s your opinion? Risky move, or smart reaction to a tough economy by a marketing superpower? Let me know what you think.

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Posted in Brand, Customers, Marketing, Return On Marketing Investment | 1 Comment »

Marketing ROI Disappears When Employees Don’t Deliver.

Monday, July 14th, 2008

I’m standing in line with a cart full of groceries while on vacation last week at a beach community in North Carolina. Like most who rent a house for a week or two, soon after arrival you venture to the local supermarket to stock the larder with a carload of groceries. Of course, you walk into the store about the same time as a hoard of others who have just checked-in to their houses, too. You get the idea, it’s crowded.

And, then as I’m standing there, I overhear a checkout associate say to another associate … “I hate this. I absolutely hate this crush of people. They’re all in a hurry to rush back to their precious beach houses. They make me sick.”

As I hear this I look up at a huge sign that read: Welcome! We’re Down Home, Just Down The Street.”

Even though I was doing my best to “disengage” from thinking about work for a few days, I couldn’t help but think about the CMO, his staff and agency that developed the tag line to reflect how they wanted their customers to feel about their shopping experience. Not only was the associate way out of alignment with the brand , she apparently possessed little sense of a customer’s value to her livelihood.

It was a good reminder that for every dollar we spend to market a product or service, we need to consider the resources needed to ensure that those charged with carrying out the brand promise actually do so.

Otherwise, it’s bye-bye ROI.

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Posted in Brand, Customers, Marketing, Return On Marketing Investment | 1 Comment »

In-Flight Beverage Purchase Program? Nickel and Diming a Brand.

Friday, June 13th, 2008

It’s always been a solid strategy to take a process or service and give it a name or identity … brand it. It implies value to the customer. In US Air’s announcement yesterday that they were introducing new “fee” initiatives to help off-set dramatically rising fuel costs, they managed to do the reverse.

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Dollars are in the data.

Friday, June 6th, 2008

Most companies are sitting on a gold mine. It’s their operational/transactional data. And yet most have not taken the steps necessary to leverage it to their benefit.

We recently completed a project for a customer that uncovered $110 Million in annual incremental revenue opportunity because we were able to convert their operational data into a 360 view of their customer base.  By appending other data to their transactional data we developed a complete customer profile and predictive models of others who would be most likely to respond to their product offerings.

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Posted in Lead Generation | No Comments »