Roadmap to Reality: Marketing and Business Rules for Success

Ah yes, I finally remembered the point I forgot to mention in the podcast, so I can finally write the blog. It was about Einstein’s definition of insanity, but I’ll get to that…

Realistic marketing expectations will literally make or break anything in business – a new business idea, a new product launch, a new branding campaign, you name it. Knowing what to expect, and what KPIs (key performance indicators) to put in place, will save you time, money and a lot of stress everywhere, from your advertising analytics dashboard to the boardroom.

Jeffrey Lant’s rule of 7:

You have to make 7 solid “touches” with your target audience before they will consider converting. First, this rule is a few years old, so be prepared to make 10 or more “touches” to be effective. Also, “touches” doesn’t mean “impressions” – it means a genuine break through the noise to permeate the consciousness of your target consumer, who is now bombarded with about 5,000 marketing messages per day. That’s a lot of noise! And through it, you need to convey the knowledge (who you are/what you provide) and the need (why you’re special and what transformation you offer). Noise, knowledge and need – remember those three things in everything you present to your target audience.

The average Facebook user sees 1 ad every 2 minutes, and 1 ad every 4 minutes for YouTube user. That should give you an idea of how much noise you need to cut through by being able to:

1. Target like a sniper
2. Offer something of enough value to make someone stop what they’re doing for it

Those penetrations of consciousness will happen, but they won’t happen overnight. Hence, if you just began a new marketing effort a few days ago, now is not yet the time to ask if it’s working. No matter who you are or what you offer, you have a lot of competition because of all that noise.

Champagne dreams, beer courage, aka the definition of insanity:

Let’s say you’ve been pouring a lot of money into advertising on one platform (or strategy) and you’ve been getting very little return from it. You may be very familiar with that routine, which makes it comfortable to you; it’s your comfort zone, so to speak. But if it’s not paying out, don’t think that’s going to change. If Einstein were a marketer, the definition of insanity would be rephrased to something like “using the same tactics on the same platform over and over and expecting it to provide new returns”. Even some entrepreneurs are spending more than the average person’s salary on a platform that provides very little return, yet they’re barely willing to dip their toes into the pool of a new platform or strategy. Some are altogether afraid to invest in marketing or advertising… don’t expect champagne-quality results with a beer budget or a fear of the unfamiliar.

Again, you’ve got a lot of noise to cut through, knowledge to convey and a need to instill in your target audience. It works, but only the brave and sensible understand that they’re competing with so many others who are willing to pay to stand out from the crowd. We all know the expression “the last can of Coke in the desert”. You could be the only one with that can, but if no one knows you’re there, you’ll be standing with a can in your hand forever. Now, remember that the desert is actually full of vendors, and they’ve got options in today’s market – soda, juice, water, liquor – how will you convince them that your can is the best choice? Don’t forget that trust is everything. It’s a multiplier of product value. What does that mean?

If there are two people in the desert selling identical bottles of water, the thirsty person will pay twice as much for the bottle being sold by the person they trust more. It’s that important. When you cut through the noise and convey the need, you also need to convey the knowledge that you are a trustworthy business.

Opinions are like…

We all know the rest of that saying, yet we take advice from the worst of advisors. Your friends and family are not good sources of input for your business, strategy or even ad design. There’s a reason you hired a professional, but all too often people take advice from people who have no background in business or marketing. They end up spending a limited budget on an ad that went through 8 revisions because someone’s sister passed the mockup around her office and got opinions from a group of people who don’t understand the marketing equation. If you’re targeting millennials, for example, asking your daughter and her friends does not constitute a focus group. If you know you can trust your marketer, let them do their job – your success is their success. Take advice only from those who are qualified and have a vested interest in the outcome.

The black hole of leads:

Sometimes a marketer can set up all the right touches and get you all the leads you could ask for. Do you know what you’ll do with them? Remember, a marketer is not a salesperson. It makes no sense to build a strong chain but link it to nothing at the end. Have a plan in place for how you’ll nurture those leads, because leads are what become customers, and customer lifetime value (CLV) is everything. This is one place where you want to get an “F”. In any “RFA” (recency, frequency, amount spent) analysis, it’s the frequency – the customer who keeps coming back – that is the most valuable to your business.

If you can digest these four major points, and really put them into practice, you’ll smooth out your path to success in any aspect of business. Yes, it may mean the path is longer than you hoped for, but that’s reality. There’s an old Russian proverb: “I’d rather be slapped with the truth than kissed with a lie.” With the truth, you can move forward with realistic expectations and know you’re going to arrive at your desired result. Whether it’s bad advice, fear of the unknown or the desire for instant gratification, you’re dealing with lies that will get you nowhere.