Month: December 2019

Categories
Monday Mash-Up

Monday Mashup 2019.12.23

Monday, December 23
MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-Up

Marketing Tips
Social Media is a Means to an End 


Will social media ever rule the internet? That’s the question posted in this great article from the Business2Community blog.  Author Justin Wong notes that many of us spend tons of time on social platforms. “But when it comes to social media for businesses and how much weight you should give this tool when it comes to your overall marketing strategy, it’s important to put things into perspective. Social is not the be all end all like some people believe it is. It should always be seen as a means to an end when it comes to your business and not an end in and of itself.”

That’s exactly right. Wong also offers this great tip: “Having your social media followers subscribe to your email list, via your newsletter or content offer, gives you the most control over your social media following as a business owner – take control of your destiny!” 

Amen!             

Marketing Funnies
Mocking those Dire Predictions

I founded MarketVolt more than 18 years ago. I began hearing predictions about the “death”of email marketing about 17 years ago. Email marketing is alive and well — as are those predictions about the death of such-and-such marketing channel. This cartoon captures that idea. Very funny.   

Speaking of Bad Predictions…

From QR codes to tablet computing, this great article traces all the “next big things” that didn’t turn out to be so big, after all, over the last decade. It’s an interesting, amusing read. 

Marketing Inspiration
Daughter of Former Slaves Made Fortune
 
Sarah Breelove was born on this day in 1867 to former slaves on a plantation in Louisiana. By the time she died in 1919, she was known as Madam C.J. Walker, and she was the wealthiest self-made women in America. She invented a line of haircare products for African Americans and built a business that earned her a fortune. She was a generous philanthropist and arts patron. Here’s an excellent article about her from Entrepreneur magazine.                 

Marketing Tips
Payback for Those Abandoned Cart Emails 

Anyone who left the online store before completing the purchase has probably received an “abandoned cart” email — one of those annoying messages urging you to return to the store and complete your purchase. As a marketing guy, I get it; it’s a good strategy to increase sales.

But as a consumer, I find those emails annoying. Now we can cash-in on the practice. I heard this tip on the morning news today… When shopping online, register for the site with your email, put items you want in the cart and then sign out. You may get an abandoned cart email; and if you do, it may include an incentive for you to return — a coupon code or some other discount to sweeten the deal. If you can wait to complete the purchase, it’s worth a try. 

Quotable

“I got my start by giving myself a start.” Madame C. J. Walker 

Any reading, listening, quoting, resourcing that you think we should share? Send us a tip.

Until next time, enjoy the rest of this week and the weekend.

Tom

Categories
Weekly Story

Peloton Ad failure

Last month, Peloton began broadcasting this ad to promote its exercise bikes and its online fitness classes.

The ad portrays a young mother who receives a Peloton for Christmas and then documents her fitness journey on social media.

Critics pounced for a variety of reasons.

Many mocked the idea of a husband gifting his fit, beautiful wife an exercise machine.

Example: The Twitter post that says, “Nothing says ‘maybe you should lose a few pounds’ like gifting your already rail thin life partner a Peloton.”

There was an explosion of media coverage debating whether the critics were right.

This clearly wasn’t the response the company wanted.

Peloton continues to run the commercial, and the video remains live on YouTube.

But the company has shut down comments on the YouTube video.

And It released a statement that says, in part:

“Our holiday spot was created to celebrate that fitness and wellness journey. While we’re disappointed in how some have misinterpreted this commercial, we are encouraged by — and grateful for — the outpouring of support we’ve received from those who understand what we were trying to communicate.”

Wow! That’s a brash statement…

…and a terrible one.

“…disappointed in how some have misinterpreted the commercial!?”

That reminds me of the guy at work who used to tell offensive jokes, get called out for it and then say, “I’m sorry you were offended.”

The lesson for you: Own your marketing messages. Accept responsibility for the stories you tell.

If you annoy or offend the masses, don’t tell the critics, “YOU don’t understand!”

Ask instead, “HOW could we have told our story without offending and annoying?”

No marketing message will win everyone over.

There will always be critics. But if you respond to the critics by pointing fingers, rather than looking in the mirror, you’ll drive your business in the wrong direction.

I’m not a stock analyst so I can’t say, for sure, that there’s a connection here, but…

…Peloton’s stock price has plummeted since the ad started running.

Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. We help businesses figure out what they sell and how. Then we help them identify and connect with their target markets so people will view you as a welcome guest and listen to what you’re saying. If you want to discuss how to make it happen for your business, email me  at  tom@marketvolt.com. For no charge and no strings attached, we’ll discuss with you how you’re building email lists, generating new leads and generally finding and connecting with prospects.

If you like these emails, please do me this favor: Forward this to someone who might also enjoy it and encourage them to sign up for future emails on our website at MarketVolt.com.

Categories
Monday Mash-Up

Monday Mashup 2019.12.16

Monday, December 16
MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-Up

Entertaining Ad
Thinkbox Employs Tooth Fairy to Pitch TV Advertising

I like this ad by Thinkbox, a consortium of television broadcasters designed to promote TV advertising…


Funny and entertaining, while also promoting the value of their service. 

Security Tips
Turn Off Bluetooth if You Leave Devices in the Car

Thieves are using an inexpensive, readily available device to detect nearby devices with bluetooth. They walk past parked cars, detect whether there’s a device in the car, and break-in if there is.  The lesson: Turn off Bluetooth (or power down the device altogether) if you’re leaving it in the car. Here’s an article from Popular Mechanics that explains it all. 

Marketing Tips
Is Your Business as Visible Online as It Should Be? 

Here’s a great presentation from a recent Experts 4 entrepreneurs event in St. Louis. Marketing expert Will Hanke from Red Canoe Media offers some great tips to help you get your business listed and noticed online. Simple ideas, critical to business success.                

Marketing Tips
Payback for Those Abandoned Cart Emails 

Anyone who left the online store before completing the purchase has probably received an “abandoned cart” email — one of those annoying messages urging you to return to the store and complete your purchase. As a marketing guy, I get it; it’s a good strategy to increase sales.

But as a consumer, I find those emails annoying. Now we can cash-in on the practice. I heard this tip on the morning news today… When shopping online, register for the site with your email, put items you want in the cart and then sign out. You may get an abandoned cart email; and if you do, it may include an incentive for you to return — a coupon code or some other discount to sweeten the deal. If you can wait to complete the purchase, it’s worth a try. 

Quotable
Wise Words from Margaret Mead

Cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead was born on this day in 1901. She said… 

“It is utterly false and cruelly arbitrary to put all the play and learning into childhood, all the work into middle age, and all the regrets into old age…” 

Any reading, listening, quoting, resourcing that you think we should share? Send us a tip.

Until next time, enjoy the rest of this week and the weekend.

Tom

Categories
Monday Mash-Up

Monday Mashup 2019.12.09

Monday, December 9
MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-Up

Marketing Tips
Subject Line Dos and Don’ts

Here’s the latest post from the MarketVolt blog:

Want to Get a Prospect’s Attention? Here Are Some Subject Line Dos and Don’ts

Funny Ad
Grocery Chain Releases the “Worst Song in the World” 

I really like this ad from the French grocery chain Monoprix. 

If you’ve ever watched a music video — especially ones from the early days of MTV — this will make you laugh. 

It also constructs an effective story that delivers a strong marketing message. 

Funny and instructive. 

Marketing Ideas
Bus Company Improves Its Surveys and Sees Results

Greyhound is a massive corporation using enterprise software to run its marketing and sales. Still, small businesses can learn from this article that describes how they improved their customer feedback process. You don’t need to invest in premium survey tools to do what Greyhound did; you should see similar results. 

The Power of Community
How a Small Businesses Fended Off a Giant

Every business can learn from this story of a family-owned frozen yogurt shop that built its business the right way and survived when Dairy Queen came to town.   

Quotable
Big Bird Wisdom

Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer who gave life to Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on PBS’ “Sesame Street” died yesterday. In one of the articles about him, he said, Big Bird was the character most similar to himself. So here’s a quote from Big Bird to remember the man who created him… 

“Bad days happen to everyone, but when one happens to you, just keep doing your best and never let a bad day make you feel bad about yourself.” 

Any reading, listening, quoting, resourcing that you think we should share? Send us a tip.

Until next time, enjoy the rest of this week and the weekend.

Tom

Categories
Weekly Story

One and Done Is No Way to Build A Business

I met with a business owner the other day who wanted to pitch her service to people commenting on her social media posts.

Demonstrate expertise on social media. Connect with people who engage. Pitch the service.

That’s not a bad plan.

The debate during the meeting was how to connect and whether to follow-up after the pitch.

She said she wanted someone to call the social media commenters, pitch the service and be done with them.

“They’re either in, or they’re out,” she said.

I encouraged her to ask the social media commenters for their email addresses.

“That way, you can build a relationship with them…” I said.

She didn’t like that idea. “I don’t want a relationship with them. I just want to see if they’re in or out,” she said.

Here’s the problem with that, and here’s the lesson for all of you:

Most prospects don’t buy the first time you contact them.

They might not have the time to participate in your program.

They might not have the money right now.

They might not have permission from a boss or a spouse or themselves.

They might be interested but hesitant.

So if you really want to see if they’re in or out, you must build a relationship with them.

Go ahead and ask them if they want to buy, but also…

…Get their email address. Stay in touch. Share valuable information. Continue to remind them about your products and services.

Some of those prospects will never come around. But many will — many more than you’ll land the first time you ask. 

Marketing, prospecting sales — it’s a nurturing process. It’s all about building a relationship.

Sure, it’s quicker and easier and less expensive to contact someone once, ask, “Are you in or out?” and be done with it.
But that’s no way to build a business.

Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. We help businesses figure out what they sell and how. Then we help them identify and connect with their target markets so people will view you as a welcome guest and listen to what you’re saying. If you want to discuss how to make it happen for your business, email me  at  tom@marketvolt.com. For no charge and no strings attached, we’ll discuss with you how you’re building email lists, generating new leads and generally finding and connecting with prospects.

If you like these emails, please do me this favor: Forward this to someone who might also enjoy it and encourage them to sign up for future emails on our website at MarketVolt.com.

Categories
Monday Mash-Up

Monday Mashup 2019.12.02

Monday, December 2
MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-Up

Brilliant Marketing
Alaska Airlines Targets Niche Market with Irresistible Promotion

Last month, Alaska Airlines encouraged impulsive surfers to hop aboard and fly to Hawaii by offering last-minute discounts that increased as the island waves grew larger. 

The airline ran the ads on surfline.com, a site that offers surfing forecasts for sites around the globe. The higher the predicted surf in Hawaii, the greater the discount. 

That’s a great example of targeted advertising.  

Here’s an article from Adweek about the campaign (no charge, but you have to register on the site to read it).  

Recommended Reading and Viewing
“A Beautiful Day…” is a Beautiful Movie

I greatly enjoyed the new film about Mr. Rogers, starring Tom Hanks, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.”

After you see it, I encourage you to read the 1998 Esquire article on which the movie is based — a long, but fascinating read. 

Then I encourage you to listen to this episode of the Big Questions podcast in which Cal Fussman interviews the author of that article, Tom Junod. He is the focus of the film, and in this interview he discusses his real-life interactions with Mr. Rogers and how the film got it right. 

Marketing Funnies
Making Fun of “Forever 21” and Similar Brand Names

The clothing and accessory retailer “Forever 21” filed for bankruptcy in September. 

That’s not funny. But this cartoon is.

On This Day
“Thriller” Debuts on MTV

Love him or hate him, there’s no denying Michael Jackson’s influence. On this day in 1983, MTV aired Jackson’s 14-minute version of “Thriller” for the first time. Many consider it the most influential music video ever. Here it is. 

Quotable
Fred Rogers

“In times of stress, the best thing we can do for each other is to listen with our ears and our hearts and to be assured that our questions are just as important as our answers.” 

Any reading, listening, quoting, resourcing that you think we should share? Send us a tip.

Until next time, enjoy the rest of this week and the weekend.

Tom