Add some real value - or someone else will!

I can't remember who sent me this visual but I believe it sums up beautifully the situation in which many service providers find themselves - and often as a result of their own actions. Or inaction to be more precise.

It never ceases to astound just how many business web sites and other branded collateral is littered with spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and inconsistencies such as font size, punctuation, spacing, capitalisation, multi-language spelling variations and text alignment.

And these quality issues should be picked up and rectified, particularly if the Brand promotes itself as "expert', "professional", world-class", "industry-leading" etc. Now don't get me wrong, errors will always occur, such is the nature of our endemic 'speed-to-market' environment and the fact that the creators are so close to it that little oversights are quite often missed. However, while accepting these factors, this does not excuse the fact that these taints on the Brand are not picked up and rectified quickly.

Maybe, in a world where spelling and grammatical bastardisations are acceptable thanks to the need for speed and the ever-pervasive "add to dictionary" function on all electronic devices, these errors aren't considered errors at all. Or perhaps my expectations of state-of-the-art, market-leading, subject matter experts with a reputation for quality, professionalism and integrity are simply unrealistic.

However, for as long as I can remember, marketing and communications specialists/experts/gurus/service providers have prided themselves on being the protectors of Brands, developers and custodians of a Brand's persona, its attitude reflected by how it is portrayed and, hopefully, enhanced.

So while marketers can not control all of the Brand touch points such as face-to-face customer service, store or office layout or phone-based customer interactions, they certainly can on all things promotional including web, brochureware and other collateral.

Want to keep your existing clients happy and continue to be recognised as a valued member of Team Client? Then you should probably take a little more time to review the work once it has gone live, particularly in the digital space where volume is increasing. After all, you'd hate to lose a client based on the fact that one of your competitors drew published mistakes to their attention!

Handy Analytics Resource

Good reference for everyone wanting to better understand social media.

https://plus.google.com/111224383669619377607/posts/W1DVfPTpt3J

N.U.D.E. Insights: B2B, B2C social media insights

N.U.D.E. Insights: B2B, B2C social media insights

B2B, B2C social media insights

If you want to know some very interesting facts and figures about the usage and impact of the various B2B and B2C social media channels and SEO, have a look at the article that I came across on the CMO Network group on Linkedin titled '100 Sales & Marketing Stats that will Blow your Mind'.

One of the key statistics that stands out to me is the increase in the number of interactions reported between an initial brand touch and a sale - it might be back to the drawing board of expectation management for many businesses that still operate on the allowable of 3 or 4 contacts. 

There also appear to be many lost opportunities for gaining valuable client testimonials, largely based on the fact that most customers are not asked for them - and are yet willing to give them..

Very interesting insights here. Happy reading.

Ps. You will need to sign up to obtain the report and you can opt out of future contact - see the link below.

http://www.linkedin.com/redirect?url=http%3A%2F%2Fokt%2Eto%2Fe7V9tV&urlhash=1i4p

Testing Times

When was the last time you DIDN'T open a plain faced envelope personally addressed to you?

Over the next few weeks, we will be running a series of effectiveness tests with a client to assess the reach and response impact of traditional mail vs email. This particular client is in the financial services industry.

Clearly, the cost of preparation and delivery favours the electronic version (Cell A). Both Cell B, the plain white envelope delivered via AusPost, and Cell A will each inform the recipient of the sending company - via the "From" & "Subject" fields in the email and the "If undeliverable..." address on the envelope. Importantly, the text and layout will be identical in the interests of ensuring there is only one variable between groups.

Whether there is any difference in the desired client-action rate based on the delivery method is yet to be seen. And the analysis of the customers that do respond should be able to provide some insight into whether there is any discernible difference between 'letter openers' and 'email readers'.

Although simplistic, this form of continual testing is important. The more we continue to learn about our clients' behaviour and the triggers that elicit that behaviour, the more likely we are to able to achieve better returns through improved CRM tactics - after all, CRM is actually a two-way street.

Forget price - what about real value?

We really do get it

"...and with your home loan, you can choose from our menu of convenient, time saving services that let you get on with living the style of life you want - More Play - Less Work".

I wonder why banks do not yet use non-financial services as a means of differentiating their products from competitors? Imagine being offered a home loan that included a monthly lawn mowing service, or fortnightly house cleaning, or ironing, or garden maintenance, or dog walking or......

Banks in Australia make lots of profit. LOTS. And they have business customers that provide all of the above services. With the ever-increasing pressure on maintaining a healthy work-life balance, it would make sense that lenders look to exploit this reality. Sure, there would undoubtedly be those who cry "But we are in the financial services industry and we would be placing our Brand reputation in the hands of service providers over whom we have little control". I hear you. But I also believe that the benefits of product and brand differentiation through adopting a lifestyle-appealing product would far outweigh the "outcry" of the occasional sloppy mow or ironing effort.

Same lending product. Same interest rate. More time to live your life. - I know which lender I'd choose.

  

So there's no better way. Are you sure?

While there is always a fair degree of consensus that the marketing offer your business makes is right on the money with your selected target market, how can you be absolutely sure that the message will achieve the desired behavioural action? Or that a slight change in language or offer won't elicit a better response?

You can't. And that is why there is always a role for testing in marketing.

The use of variable message streaming in marketing remains as important now as it has ever been. Particularly with the electronic message delivery options, which allow for relatively inexpensive content changes to be made, and rapid tracking and effectiveness measurement. The art of the 'control' and test groups has long been the domain of direct marketing practitioners, with offer/language/creative variables applied as part of the continuous improvement and learning method of CRM. But it appears to have become underutilised or perhaps undervalued as a tactic of late.

One variable only is critical.

All businesses and their marketing resources should be incorporating testing into most marketing campaigns, if for no other reason than to increase objectivity and continue to learn more precisely what resonates best with customers or prospects.

As a simple example, we found that direct mail signed off by a local store manager pulled a greater response than the same creative package signed off by the retail chain's National Marketing Manager. Now admittedly, this did involve additional costs and work in compiling and streaming 15 variables (the signatures/titles and contact details of the local store managers), but the cost was far outweighed by the lift in response and the retail chain learned a valuable lesson about 'localising' offers.

Remember, for testing to be robust, there should only ever be one variable between the control group and the test cell(s).

If you aren't incorporating testing into much of your marketing, you risk missing out on increased responses that could make the difference between making a loss or breaking even versus generating profit. There is no 'magic bullet'. There are no guarantees that the way you decide to tell your story is the best way.

Testing is and will always be a sound method of ensuring you don't lump all of your eggs into one basket, and it plays an important role in ensuring you gain valuable customer insight before committing large sums of money into a message that won't perform as well as you have planned.

Long live 'test & control'!