The Toronto Marketing and Technology Blog

Monday Morning Marketing Edition 9 | Everybody has their favourite song | What is your brands song?

Everybody has their favourite song; sang in a specific way.

One of my favourite songs is by Boyz II men entitled  End of the road. I like it in Acappella, here is the video:

In addition to melodies,tones, and vibrant acapella's, people are attracted to soothing sounds that please the soul. The next time you want to use sounds to promote your business, think of something that resonates well with your target market and is memorable enough to let them remember that the popular song they like has now been associated to your company.

If you had to pick a song that best describes your company/brand, what would you pick?

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Monday Morning Marketing Edition 8 | Is Corporate Lingo really necessary? | I don't buy it, I don't like it, wait maybe I do

This post is inspired by my experience in working in the Corporate world.

There seems to be an expectation of using certain types of words at certain times. You will see the corporate jargon tossed around like fruitcake on Christmas day.

Here are some common words and phrases that are used in the work place:

1. "expectation"
2. "perspective" <---I hate this one incredibly,
3. I need to to “champion” this (spearhead)
4. It’s great to finally “touch base” with you
5. I’d like to revise an “addendum” to that piece
6. Align with our strategic imperatives.
7. That's a question for...

You can argue that using these words are a result of great communication skills, and I  can agree to that.  I guess I'm saying that too much of something can be bad. Try to mix it up and say different words, synonyms can be peoples best friends.

You don't want to be labelled as the person who has a limited vocabulary and you don't want to be labelled as predictable.  I find myself backed into a corner sometimes and utter words that are overused. We are all guilty of it. Learn some new words. It never hurt anyone.

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I hate things Soggy

I hate things soggy.

I hate my oatmeal soggy.

I hate it when my socks get all soggy.

I hate it when my pants get soggy.

I hate it when my papers get soggy.

Soggy things shouldn't exist. I hate everything soggy.

Comment on the blog, if there is something that you particularly hate getting soggy!

How are you? Good thanks. How are you? Good.

It is a common and most frequent problem. When we walk by our colleagues we engage in the formality of greeting them with the same greeting over and over again. It brands you as boring. It brands you as the same as everyone else. DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT ever catch yourself in this type of situation. Albeit, there are some times that it spontaneously happens and it may sneak up on you. But for the most part, try to avoid it like you avoid a bad movie or a sour cup of milk.

Say something unexpected. Say something memorable. Aye carumba!

Speaking your mind

Seth brings up a good point. As long as you're not intentionally trying to harm someone or deface someones character. Just "say it". I think my previous post is a great example of just saying it!

Marketing Concepts that Win : Second-time Marketing

I like to divide preliminary user adoption into two phases: First time marketing and Second time marketing.

The  first time you see something, it may get your attention for a couple seconds or for a couple minutes at best. You may get engaged with it and say hey "that's really cool" maybe I'll try it out. And some people say hey "that's really cool" and go on with their business. Note: I'm usually the latter type, it takes me a while to try something new.

It's the second time that you encounter the product that is really the transition period for the user. A thought is triggered along the lines of "hey I've seen this before, I didn't try it out last time, but it  still looks like something I want to try".

Take a cellphone for example, when you go to a booth or a store that sells these flashy phones, your first experience with them is hey "thats really cool". But there are so many that the hey "thats really cool" feelings multiplied by the number of phones on display that maybe the phone from your company gets  missed by the customer and they decide not to try it out that time. The second time they come around, is  when  you need  to have something there that really appeals to them.

The second visit to the product/service/advertisement  is the moment where acquiring this user is crucial. If a person doesn't try it on the second attempt, you will have to be severely persuasive or increase your value proposition to get the user further down the line -- it's a very difficult task because if the person didn't  take a liking to what you are selling two times in a row, there must be something wrong that has to be addressed. Be aware of second-time marketing, because chances are, if your product is good  enough,  your  potential customers will come back  and your chance to snag them  up  is crucially important. 

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Marketing Concepts and Strategies that win : Marketing to me

In the age of information overload and the number of choices to choose from overwhelming, marketers struggle to gain attention of their prospective customers. How can a successful marketer create enough distraction to get a persons attention, give them the consciousness and awareness that what they are trying to sell is applicable to them and give them the tools to action and try out their product.

Here are three strategies that can be implemented in trying to market to a potential user:

1) Realize that my day is all about me and interrupting me and my narcissism, well you better make it worthwhile as I am sacrificing "me" time to look at and pay attention to what you're offering.
2) Be clear, concise, and to the point.
3) Give me enough excitement that it makes me want to tell someone. Don't just market to me, market to me and everyone I know and use me as the speaker.

Using these three steps will put you on the right track in attracting new customers.

 

Important Marketing Concept : Stop yelling

When we use marketing tactics to gain interest and attract potential customers, many campaigns and marketers use "yelling". Their intentions may have some merit behind them : everyone is bombarded by information and it is hard to get people's attention. Great. I understand that. But the customers you want, the ones that will stay with you as long as you have a great product hate to be yelled at.

Great marketing starts off with a great product. You rarely see a successful marketing campaign based on a mediocre product. By having a great product, it diminishes the reasons for yelling. The next time you have a great product and you want to publicize it, tell a couple friends and a couple colleagues. You will see the power of personal relationships put to work.

A great marketing blog that I like to read is written by Seth Godin. Click here to go to his blog.