Is there a blog or newsletter in your future?

If you’re thinking of launching a blog or newsletter, take time to plan carefully.  Your efforts will yield greater success.

TRUE STORY:  There was a company that sold exclusively through distribution.  Sales and marketing were frustrated, though, because distributors weren’t emphasizing the right products.

The solution, based on talking to top distributors, was a distributor blog on key products.  Not only did distributors like it, sales and marketing staff were happy to see sales of these products improve.

Wondering if a newsletter or blog is right for you? Ask yourself these questions.

1) Who do I want to talk to?

Start with a well-defined audience. Different groups have different information needs. If you have diverse audiences (like employees and customers), you may need separate vehicles.

2) What do they want to know?   What do I want to tell them?

People pay attention to what’s important to them. Find out what that is by ASKING your audience. Then try to fit what you want to tell them into what they want to know.

The best-read blogs offer useful information. Can you provide that consistently?

3) Do I have enough to say to keep it going?

The world is full of newsletters that never made it past Issue #1 and blogs that end after a few posts. Avoid this by planning content for the year. (I recommend brief posts sent often.) If you don’t have enough content for a year, maybe you need to send an email or a series of info sheets instead.

Being visible on a budget

Once upon a time a company introduced a new product. They didn’t want their competition to know, so they didn’t advertise or even send out a news release. Sales of the new product were disappointing. The manufacturer was unhappy. What went wrong? Any thoughts?

I don't believe “stealth marketing” ever works. You need to be visible to sell something. When this companyr started promoting their new product, sales picked up.

Visibility is good for business. But how do you get visible with limited resources? Here are some ideas.

1) Postcard marketing - Use postcards to ask for referrals, announce events, build website traffic, say thanks, and more. Of course, for best results you need a good list.  Surface mail of any kind tends to get noticed since it's leas common than email.

2) News release program - Does your company bring new products or services to market? Publish literature? These are great subjects for news releases. Send releases to editors at relevant publications regularly to get more than your fair share of coverage. Public relations activities like this are time-intensive, but cost much less than advertising.

3) Feature coverage - Getting major coverage in the right media outlet can enhance visibility and credibility quickly. Use research and planning to ensure your topic is timely. Then target specific editors.

4) Case history articles - Highlight your company's capabilities with problem/solution articles. Well-written case histories are in demand -- by readers and editors alike. These stories make great website content, too.

5) Use the power of the Internet - A website is essential.  Be sure to provide content your target audience wants and update it often.  Social networks may be a good place to promote your content if your audience uses them.  Use social networks for brand building, too.  E-mail marketing can be a good tool, if you have the recipient's permission.

6) Newsletter or blog - Developing a good newsletter or popular blog takes market intelligence and careful planning. Then you need discipline and skill to crank out something worthwhile on a schedule. But it’s worth it! A good blog or newsletter can gain you loyalty, credibility, and visibility.

7) Identity - Maintaining a consistent identity is a low-cost way to maximize impact. Consistency and professionalism help any business over time. Consistency means repetition. That's what solidifies ideas in our brains. Professionalism is about looking good. If you want to be taken seriously, present a professional image.

Whatever you do, repeat, repeat, repeat! A single mailing (for example) may get disappointing results. Don’t be surprised or discouraged. Keep at it with a consistent look, message and audience, and over time your message will sink in.

A Plan Can Set You Free

Does the idea of developing a plan for your marketing and communications activities make you wince? Recoil in horror? Break out in hives? If so, you're probably laboring under some serious misconceptions.

Maybe you think planning takes too much time. Think again.

• Taking time to set objectives, define your audience and messages, and figure out a budget will save you time later. Your marketing and communications programs will be on-target and yield better results. Plus, setting objectives means you have something to measure results against. That lets you learn and improve programs over time.

Maybe you think a plan is going to be rigid. ("If I have a plan, I have to follow it no matter what.") Time to reconsider.

• A plan is a living document. It evolves based on market conditions, product development timetables, you name it. Planning takes discipline. However, implementation of any plan requires an equal measure of flexibility. 

A plan is like a road map. It shows you where you’re going and how to get there. Isn’t it better to have a map than to wander around?

5 Tests Of An Effective Message

In marketing communications what you say is as important as where and how often you say it -- the "what" being your central message or promise.

So how do you come up with the right message? Well, the first and most important step is to know your customers. What benefit(s) do they get from working with your company? What problems do you solve for them? Customer benefit is the driving force behind an effective company message.


Once you've developed potential messages, here are five questions to ask of each of them. They'll help you zero in on the promise or message that will get you the most mileage:

1. Is it unique?  Often there are many providers of a product or service. How do you set yourself apart from the rest of the pack?
2. Is it meaningful?  This is where knowledge of the customer comes into play. Your uniqueness should be based on the real needs of the people who use your product or service. 
3. Is it supportable?  Can you keep the promise you're making? For example, if your company message centers on superior service, are you committed to staying ahead of the competition?
4. Is it sustainable?  Establishing your unique position doesn't happen overnight. The message you choose should be based on a long term view of what you can deliver. 
5. Is it concrete and easy to understand?  If your audience has to think too hard to understand your message, they probably won't! Simple, straight-forward messages work best.

Growing Creativity

Creativity. It’s poorly understood. Sometimes undervalued. Sometimes considered rare.

But we can all be creative. I offer these quotes to inspire you to nurture the creativity in yourself and those around you.

Abraham Maslow:

I think...a good question might be not why do people create? But why do people not create or innovate? We have got to abandon that sense of amazement in the face of creativity, as if it were a miracle if anybody created anything.

Brenda Ueland:

... imagination needs moodling - long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering.

Erich Fromm:

Conditions for creativity are:  to be puzzled; to concentrate; to accept conflict and tension; to be born every day; to feel a sense of self.

Linus Pauling:

The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.

Margaret J. Wheatley:

The things we fear most in organizations -- fluctuations, disturbances, imbalances -- are the primary sources of creativity.

Mary-Claire King:

I think there are two keys to being creatively productive. One is not being daunted by one's fear of failure. The second is sheer perseverance.

R. I. Fitzhenry:

Uncertainty and mystery are energies of life. Don't let them scare you unduly, for they keep boredom at bay and spark creativity.

Tina Turner:

Sometimes you've got to let everything go - purge yourself. If you are unhappy with  anything . . . whatever is bringing you down, get rid of it. Because you'll find that when you're free, your true creativity, your true self comes out.

Claire Cunningham:

Be courageous.  Be creative.

Making advertising work -- Rule #1 Don't be boring

Advertising isn’t popular right now. It CAN be spendy, but done right, advertising creates interest quickly. Doing it right means three things:

1) Right frequency
2) Right audience
3) Right message

Frequency means repetition. Once, twice, even three times may simply not be enough repetitions for a message to sink in.   Some studies recommend 9 or more repetitions.

Audience is about knowing who buys and showing up where they are.

And then we get to message. Here we mean both what’s said AND how it’s said. Your ad – whether on TV, radio, or the web, in a magazine or newspaper, or on a billboard -- has a split second to grab attention. Promising something that’s interesting to your audience is important. Doing it in an attention-getting way is even more so.

TRUE STORY: Once a manufacturer was disappointed with their ad response. We looked at their ads and said, “BORING.” There was nothing wrong or inaccurate about them, but there was nothing attention-getting either.

We began a new campaign that used fun, unexpected, but familiar images to sell the benefits of these products. Ad readership scores went up and so did inquiry rates.

Trying to bore someone into buying usually doesn't work.

Want To Sell Something? First, Tell Them About It

OVERHEARD RECENTLY:

“We told them about it, but they didn’t come.”

“We advertised, but got no good leads.”

“We tried that once, and it didn’t work.”

Any of these sound familiar? I’ve heard similar things about employee meetings,  planning efforts and marketing programs. No matter the setting, the main problem in each instance  is that basic communications practices aren't being used.

1. REPETITION  Foremost among these practices is repetition. You need to tell your audience and then repeat, repeat, repeat your message for it to get through. Once is definitely not enough!  It’s not that anyone’s stupid or slow. People have a lot going on in their lives so you have to work hard to get through. It can take up to 9(!) repetitions for a message to sink in.
2. USING A MIX  You can boost the effectiveness of repetition by using a variety of ways to deliver your message.Think about your business and your intended audience. What avenues of communication are open to you? Public relations, mailings, advertising, newsletters, trade shows and email are usually possibilities. Use all available means to spread your news. The more, the merrier. And repeat, repeat, repeat.
3. MAKE SURE IT'S MEANINGFUL  If you’re doing the above and STILL not getting a response, you may need to take a step or two back to make sure your message is meaningful to the audience. Some marketing campaigns produce disappointing results because they promote what the company wants to say rather than what the audience wants to hear

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