It's been quite sometime since I've had the time to write, but the urge hit me tonight - mostly based on some ideas I've been assembling and how bad community marketing really is.
Since my newspaper days I've been toying with several ideas concerning marketing. I have no delusions about discussing marketing on a national or global scale, but when it comes to community marketing, there are few people who know it better than myself.
Sorry about gloating, but it really is something I've studied and aimed at mastering over the years. Small and Medium Enterprises (SME's) often have no idea how to properly put themselves ahead of the competition or - at very least - how to brand themselves in a local community.
Do I know everything there is about community marketing? I'm not foolish or vain enough to say yes. There are always new openings and opportunities to market yourself in any community. In my case, there are new technologies, new avenues and new ideas at work on a daily basis.
Let me begin by clarifying "community marketing". This is not specifically relegated to small towns, or a local community. Any business, or individual for that matter, can market itself in their local community - regardless of the size of their community. In this blog entry I will look more at SME's marketing their wares in a small town or city. Even in a city the size of Ottawa, there is a community feeling and attitude.
Over the years, I've watched many companies attempt to "market" themselves by newspaper advertising, direct mail flyer's, putting publicity on care windows in parking lots etc. Many feel that simply putting their name and contact info in a weekly or daily publication gets their name known and will translate into increased business. Nothing could be further from the truth! If this is the type of promotion your company is willing to do, then you need to close your doors and sell the business to someone who cares.
Luckily, there are very few businesses that do this as their sole means of promotion. However, most small companies fall very short in every other area of marketing themselves.
In many bedroom communities, a big push to 'shop locally' has companies spending their marketing dollars in joint ventures. The idea is sound, the plan is sound, the production generally falls short, and there is little or no emotion generated around the venture.
Simply telling people why they should shop and spend money in their communities will not create customer loyalty. This will not generate the big bucks - not because the idea isn't sound - it is ... but rather, the way the idea is portrayed and marketed to the consumer falls well short of expectations.
Here's what generally happens: A salesman for a newspaper decides to generate additional advertising revenue and pitches this idea: "Lets get 8-10 companies to spend a little each on a common theme, - we'll design (in-house) a sequence of advertisements and publish them in the centrefold of the paper. sometimes this plan comes from a businessman's conglomerate or group. Regardless of where the idea generated from, there is always a benefit to someone in particular ahead of the gamble of drawing consumers into a "shop locally" promotion. At this point these companies gather their funds together, discuss ideas with their 'advertising guy or gal', then pool their resources to buy 3 or 4 full page ads in the local newspapers. The ads go in the papers, companies see their production take shape in the local publications, fill their chests with pride and then watch as their advertising budget shrinks and few new clients walk through the doors.
Why does this fail? Why do businesses spend thousands a year on advertising and see limited return on investment? Simply put, advertising in itself - in not marketing. It's part of marketing, for sure, but, just as a steak is not surf-and-turf without the rest of the meal, advertising is not marketing.
And - unfortunately, bad advertising is worse than none at all. Here's an example of an ad appearing in a local publication on a regular basis. I've blurred the image, name and phone numbers for obvious reasons. But this is a great example of how not to market.
This ad shows us a picture of businessman, his company name, phone number, website and what he does. What he has done here is stroke his ego and nothing more. He hasn't given the consumer any reason why we should choose him instead of his rivals. He hasn't shown any of the products or things he sells, he hasn't offered any deals or special services.
Lets be honest, there are hundreds more people in his field that offer the same service, the same products, the same level of commitment. Why does he expect anyone to use his expertise when he hasn't given any reasons why we should choose him instead of his counterparts?
But all those factors can be overlooked if he had simply done one thing.....If he had just generated some emotion in this ad. If only he had created some excitement, or used the space he purchased as part of a larger campaign, he would have created a ton of new interest.
Unfortunately, this is the type of marketing that many companies think will generate them new business. This is also the type of marketing that causes companies to close their doors, or individual agents to quit their chosen field.
I'll continue this in the next blog within a few days, to allow you to digest all this negativity. I felt it was necessary to show some bad points before writing about what works and how it works.
If you can't wait, fire me off a comment or email and we can talk individually.
Since my newspaper days I've been toying with several ideas concerning marketing. I have no delusions about discussing marketing on a national or global scale, but when it comes to community marketing, there are few people who know it better than myself.
Sorry about gloating, but it really is something I've studied and aimed at mastering over the years. Small and Medium Enterprises (SME's) often have no idea how to properly put themselves ahead of the competition or - at very least - how to brand themselves in a local community.
Do I know everything there is about community marketing? I'm not foolish or vain enough to say yes. There are always new openings and opportunities to market yourself in any community. In my case, there are new technologies, new avenues and new ideas at work on a daily basis.
Let me begin by clarifying "community marketing". This is not specifically relegated to small towns, or a local community. Any business, or individual for that matter, can market itself in their local community - regardless of the size of their community. In this blog entry I will look more at SME's marketing their wares in a small town or city. Even in a city the size of Ottawa, there is a community feeling and attitude.
Over the years, I've watched many companies attempt to "market" themselves by newspaper advertising, direct mail flyer's, putting publicity on care windows in parking lots etc. Many feel that simply putting their name and contact info in a weekly or daily publication gets their name known and will translate into increased business. Nothing could be further from the truth! If this is the type of promotion your company is willing to do, then you need to close your doors and sell the business to someone who cares.
Luckily, there are very few businesses that do this as their sole means of promotion. However, most small companies fall very short in every other area of marketing themselves.
In many bedroom communities, a big push to 'shop locally' has companies spending their marketing dollars in joint ventures. The idea is sound, the plan is sound, the production generally falls short, and there is little or no emotion generated around the venture.
Simply telling people why they should shop and spend money in their communities will not create customer loyalty. This will not generate the big bucks - not because the idea isn't sound - it is ... but rather, the way the idea is portrayed and marketed to the consumer falls well short of expectations.
Here's what generally happens: A salesman for a newspaper decides to generate additional advertising revenue and pitches this idea: "Lets get 8-10 companies to spend a little each on a common theme, - we'll design (in-house) a sequence of advertisements and publish them in the centrefold of the paper. sometimes this plan comes from a businessman's conglomerate or group. Regardless of where the idea generated from, there is always a benefit to someone in particular ahead of the gamble of drawing consumers into a "shop locally" promotion. At this point these companies gather their funds together, discuss ideas with their 'advertising guy or gal', then pool their resources to buy 3 or 4 full page ads in the local newspapers. The ads go in the papers, companies see their production take shape in the local publications, fill their chests with pride and then watch as their advertising budget shrinks and few new clients walk through the doors.
Why does this fail? Why do businesses spend thousands a year on advertising and see limited return on investment? Simply put, advertising in itself - in not marketing. It's part of marketing, for sure, but, just as a steak is not surf-and-turf without the rest of the meal, advertising is not marketing.
And - unfortunately, bad advertising is worse than none at all. Here's an example of an ad appearing in a local publication on a regular basis. I've blurred the image, name and phone numbers for obvious reasons. But this is a great example of how not to market.
Lets be honest, there are hundreds more people in his field that offer the same service, the same products, the same level of commitment. Why does he expect anyone to use his expertise when he hasn't given any reasons why we should choose him instead of his counterparts?
But all those factors can be overlooked if he had simply done one thing.....If he had just generated some emotion in this ad. If only he had created some excitement, or used the space he purchased as part of a larger campaign, he would have created a ton of new interest.
Unfortunately, this is the type of marketing that many companies think will generate them new business. This is also the type of marketing that causes companies to close their doors, or individual agents to quit their chosen field.
I'll continue this in the next blog within a few days, to allow you to digest all this negativity. I felt it was necessary to show some bad points before writing about what works and how it works.
If you can't wait, fire me off a comment or email and we can talk individually.
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