Spark by Marketo

Marketo announced a new sub-brand called Spark targeted at the SMB market. It's a testament to how successfully Marketo has transitioned from SMB to the enterprise space that it has to go back and offer a new brand for what used to be its primary market. The demand for marketing automation at large enterprises is driving rapid growth for all marketing automation companies, and Marketo is no exception. So much so that smaller prospects are starting to perceive the company and its target market as having outgrown them. Not so.

SMB is intrinsic to Marketo's heritage and the company has no intention of walking away. The Spark offering is more than just a "lite" version of its flagship product. The idea behind Spark is that it is a bundle of software and services to help small companies quickly adopt and become expert in the use of modern marketing automation technology. Marketo is dedicating expert staff to offer training, support, and mentoring for its Spark customers. The importance of this cannot be overstated as marketing automation requires a higher level of sophistication, analytical ability, and business process expertise than most small companies have in their marketing departments.

The challenge for Marketo will be managing Spark as a sustainable business model. Typically the enterprise segment is much more profitable for software companies (SaaS or not). Large companies have more money, bigger projects, and greater potential for expansion into other business units. However, Marketo knows the SMB business well and has a subscription model revenue stream that's ramping up to the point where it can afford to support the launch of a down market offering until it starts to pay for itself. It is the rare company that can serve both segments well, but Marketo has clearly separated the two teams internally which IDC believes is absolutely critical for success.

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Little White Marketing Lie #3: Word of mouth is our best marketing

Little white lies are falsities we tell people (and sometimes tell ourselves) that we believe to be benign, harmless. But there are little white marketing lies we tell all the time that may be hurting our businesses:

Little white marketing lie #3: “Word of Mouth is our best marketing.”

Unfortunately, for most of the business owners making this claim it’s true -- but by default. Because what they’re really saying is that they have idea what else – if anything – in their marketing mix is producing any results. Or worse, because word-of-mouth marketing is actually the only form of marketing they’re engaging in.

And even that is a little white marketing lie because (1) ‘you’ can’t do word of mouth marketing. By definition, your customers do it for you and you have no control over whether or how it occurs. And (2) your clients aren’t going to walk out of your business and spontaneously talk about your business to others unless and until you give them something to talk about!

In reality, most business owners who make this claim are engaging not in word of mouth marketing, but in what I call “accidental marketing.”

When pressed for definition, you reveal that what this word of mouth marketing means to you is that you feel that the products, services or experience you provide your customers is so amazing that they simply can’t wait to go and tell everyone they know about how wonderful you are. That’s not word of mouth marketing, that’s accidental marketing.

In fact, it’s not even accidental marketing (that would imply action on your part), it’s doing nothing, but hoping for accidental success.

To give you an idea of how effective it is, would you do accidental bookkeeping, hoping that customers would remember to pay you, and pay you the right amount, without giving them a bill? Accidental accounting? Tax reporting? Accidental purchasing to stock your wares? Accidental programming? Would you provide services to your clients by accident – without consultation to find out what they need, without education, and without strategy?

There are many facets of your business that you approach that you approach intentionally, many of which you perform on a daily or even an hourly basis, and for which you’ve written detailed procedures and policies. There are aspects of business in which you’ve invested countless hours and thousands of dollars in education and training. You know there aren’t shortcuts, so you dedicate the time and energy required to do them properly. But somehow, when it comes to your marketing, your actions reveal that you don’t truly believe marketing is a legitimate, mandatory part of your business planning. Marketing should receive the same level of focus and attention that all of the components of your business do – from your professional education to your bookkeeping and billing to your products and services – but for many small businesses, it rarely does.

Are you employing the type of ‘strategy’ where you open your doors and wait for the phone to ring, wondering where all the customers are? Where you invest thousands of dollars in superior retail products which end up sitting on the shelves collecting dust waiting for a chance to “sell themselves?” Where as an independent professional or small business owner, you wonder why your landlord isn’t out there getting business to walk in the door for you?

You are, in fact, not marketing, but hoping for accidental success.

Meanwhile, those who are actively engaged in the marketing needed to build a successful business know that it takes actual, intentional action in order to produce a result. (And they’ll leave ‘accidental marketers’ in the dust!)

Accidental marketing is not a valid “word of mouth” marketing strategy. To generate word of mouth referrals, invitations, and buzz, you have to do something that is, in fact, buzz-worthy. Waiting for business to come to you accidentally might feel safer and more comfortable to you, but it’s just about the least effective strategy you can employ to build your business.

For the sake of clarity, and so you’ll know whether or not you’re actually engaged in or stimulating any of these word-of-mouth marketing tactics, here are some of the terms we generally refer to as word of mouth marketing:

• Word of Mouth Marketing: simply the passing of information about your business from person to person. Often confused with doing nothing yet hoping people will accidentally talk about you or your business—remember, people won't talk about your business unless and until you give them something to talk about!
• Buzz Marketing: a word-of-mouth marketing technique wherein a business tries to make interactions with customers appear to be unique, spontaneous exchanges of information, rather than delivery of pre-scripted marketing pitches.
• Viral marketing: "...is an idea that spreads... and while spreading actually helps market your business or cause." (Seth Godin, sethgodin.typepad.com)

They're here! Get the 2012 Small Business Marketing Calendar: Little White Marketing Lies - available now on my website and next week on amazon.com or purchase the 2012 Salon and Spa Marketing Calendar from my site or amazon.com. List price for either is $16.95, and both are available for bulk purchase by distributors, resellers and others. [ Contact Elizabeth Kraus ] for more information.

[ Subscribe ] to my e-mail newsletter to receive notification of when the 2012 Marketing Calendar becomes available, or to catch next Monday's newsletter. It's going to be a great year!

Elizabeth Kraus – 12monthsofmarketing.com
365 Days of Marketing is available on amazon.com in book and digital formats.

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Monday Morning Musings

After a 2% weekly gain last week, the markets are up sharply in early trading this morning. The news over the weekend was that both Merkel and Sarkozy have committed to supporting the region's banking system through some sort of recapitalization plan to be unveiled in a few weeks.

Although Asia's markets were roughly flat overnight, Europe is rallying this morning. The euro is also getting a boost at the expense of the dollar. China was closed all last week for holidays and re-opened with a -0.6% loss last night.

Commodities are rallying, with gold prices higher to $1667 and oil prices up near $86.

All 10 S&P sectors are higher today, led by energy and financials. Defensive sectors like consumer staples and utilities are lagging.

The bond market is closed for Columbus Day today.

Trading comment: A notable development on the technical front is the S&P 500 breaking above its overhead 50-day average for the first time since July. Lots of traders like to lean short on stocks when the market is below this key moving average. While one day doesn't necessarily change the trend, it is a good start. And a couple consecutive closes above the 50-day could spur additional short-covering. The SPX has been down for 5 straight months, so a relief rally certainly isn't out of the question.

Earnings season will start to pick up soon, and will be a key ingredient. Stocks have already priced in a lot of negativity, and in my opinion have priced in a decline in corporate profits going forward. If we can get some solid reports and forward guidance from managements that is less bearish than many already fear, I think that could be enough to add to this nascent rally.

still long SH

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Friday's 5 - Marketing Shorts and Sweets

A week of sheer lunacy, the 2012 Salon and Spa Marketing Calendar is launched [ here ], a radio blog talk show interview was done [ here ], a week of big news stories, from the release of Amanda Knox to the passing of the legend, Steve Jobs and of course the everyday lunacy that is living - TGIF!!

If you can stand to take in any more, here are 5 tidbits to end your week with. May they give you a smile, a chance to pause and a little more fuel to finish strong!

October 7 - Friday's 5 Marketing Shorts and Sweets:

[ READ ] Using Twitter to Track People's Moods
There's a lot you can read about on Twitter — including, it now appears, the patterns of human’s moods. After analyzing two years' worth of tweets by 2.4 million people around the world, researchers at Cornell University have concluded that individuals wake up happy but that their mood deteriorates as the day progresses.

[ READ ] Office Pet Peeves
If you ever wondered what constitutes an annoying co-workers (or whether you are one) this infographic will set you straight. Feel free to forward it to anyone you think needs to take a hint!

[ READ ] Nail Polish is the New Lipstick
Sales of nail-enhancing goodies like nail polish are up 65% since the first half of 2008, according to market research firm NPD Group. The shift, Lauder surmises, has to do with the glut of lipsticks in women's boudoirs and the pick-me-up associated with donning color.

[ READ ] Pantone Color of the Week: Phlox 19-2820
Love this new featurette from Stylelist, a Pantone color of the week to appeal to the colorful in all of us. This week, Phlox (soooooo much prettier than it sounds!) a mashup of fuchsia, plum and violet. Yummy!

[ READ ] What Happens in 60 Social Media Seconds
Love it, like it, use it or not, this week social media was officially declared to be a legitimate member of the marketing tool family. This link will explain why, and should explain why you need a social media marketing strategy.

That's it for today, ok, for now, anyway! Be sure you take a peek at the 2012 Salon and Spa Marketing Calendar (a Small Business version is coming within the next 2 weeks!)

[ Subscribe ] to my e-mail newsletter for Monday's edition including the latest little white marketing lie being exposed, to be notified of the 2012 marketing calendar release and for more good stuff — it's going to be a great year!

Elizabeth Kraus – 12monthsofmarketing.com
365 Days of Marketing is available on amazon.com in book and digital formats.

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No Rate Cut From The ECB

Despite the hopes in the market that the ECB would cut rates as his last measure before leaving office, ECB President Trichet held rates steady at 1.50%, well above our fed funds rate here in the U.S. Trichet said that this rate remains appropriate, but that the ECB would conduct two longer-term lending programs. He also added that countries should move to recapitalize their banks.

As for the Bank of England, they too held rates at 0.50%, but increased their asset purchase program by an additional 75 billion pounds. The European markets rallied this morning, and helped improve sentiment before the open here in the US. Asian markets also rallied overnight, led by a +5.7% surge in Hong Kong.

In corporate news, we saw a wave of same-store sales reports by retailers this morning, and most of the stocks in the group are trading higher. The retail etf (XRT) is up +1.4% after an hour of trading so far today.

The dollar is lower today, helping to boost commodities. Oil prices are higher near $80.50, while gold prices are up a tad to $1645.

The 10-year is getting a nice bounce to 1.95%, despite Operation Twist. And the VIX is down another percent to 37.20. A test of its 50-day support is coming very soon. The VIX has not traded below its 50-day average since July 22nd, so this would be a notable event if it occurred.

Trading comment: The market is enjoying a third day of a bounce from its spike down to new lows on Monday. Tomorrow is the big monthly jobs report, which often adds to volatility in the market. I am considering adding back to our index hedges that we took profits on last week. While this bounce has been nice, it is still too early to declare that the market trend has changed from down to up. That could still happen in the near-term, but I think we would need to see some more consolidation and constructive action first.

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Little White Marketing Lie #2: Our Employees Set Us Apart

Little white lies are falsities we tell people (and sometimes tell ourselves) that we believe to be benign, harmless. But there are little white marketing lies we tell all the time that may be hurting our businesses:

Little white marketing lie #2: “Our employees set us apart.”

That – as they say – is a distinction without a difference. Why? Every business enjoys a unique employee culture because no two businesses have exactly the same make-up of people.

Your employees set you apart – so what? So does everyone else’s.

As referenced in Little White Marketing Lie #1: We Provide Exceptional Customer Service, if it’s true about everyone, it’s not a valid point of difference. And just as with the first lie, the real question is: what’s so special about your particular blend?

If you want to stand behind the claim that your employees set you apart, you need to be able to point to unique capabilities, characteristics, strengths or accomplishments in order to prove it. (And before you say, “our employees provide exceptional customer service,” please re-read the first little white marketing lie!)

If you can’t put your finger on anything specific—anything that your employees as a group 'do' that is different than the competition and outside of customer’s expectations, then this is not a valid unique selling proposition for your business.

That said, if you design and nurture it properly, your employee culture can set your business apart from the competition and your employees can provide truly exceptional customer experiences. Here’s how:

Ground all business policies and practices in core values with this disclaimer: the values must be authentic to you and shared (or at least supported) by all of the employees in your business.

Once you've identified (authentic) core values, build or re-write your policies around them. If the customer is your first priority, then the polices you have in place should reflect that and your operating practices should be those which promote the utmost in customer convenience, ease of access and satisfaction, from the first point of contact, to the last.

Re-write every job description (including your own). Every responsibility in every job description should tie back in some way to how the task (and every position) supports pursuit of the mission and vision in ways that are consistent with your core values.

Ensure that your recruiting and interview process, new hire orientation and training, and continuing training program for every employee includes (1) telling the story of your business, (2) reviewing the mission and vision of the company, and (3) discussing the company’s core values and how they impact every aspect of your operations.

Ask employees to agree (in writing) to uphold the promises your business makes to customers.

Encourage innovation and continuous improvement. Provide incentives for creative suggestions that help to improve the business. Give employees the opportunity to try something new, even (and maybe especially) if it is outside of the way you normally do business.

Blur the lines; don’t give employees the impression that because something is “not their job” that they don’t have the opportunity to provide suggestions, innovate, improve or even take on new responsibilities.

Make it safe for people to make suggestions or point out shortcomings. Discourage territorial behaviors. Reward initiative and recognize – nay, celebrate! – individuals who most embody your core values and seek to live out your mission and vision in their role.

Get employee buy-in when rolling out changes and new initiatives. Be sure every employee knows why changes are necessary or why new initiatives are desirable and the benefits that they can expect as a result (not just the benefits to the company—relate the issues in ways that employees understand how changes and initiatives ultimately benefit them: their ability to do their job, customer relations, improved efficiencies, etc.)

Report results. Periodically check in during long change processes and on-going initiatives to review progress and tweak things where needed. Get feedback from employees about whether the benefits you expected to materialize are doing so.

And finally (by the way, this is where you make or break it) hold people accountable.

Tie performance reviews and salaries to embodiment of core values and fulfillment of the mission and vision statement. Make sure every employee knows how their role impacts the customer experience and how they help to fulfill the mission and vision of the organization. Make it safe for employees to reveal any discrepancies between what you promise customers or your core values and what is occurring in your operations. Discuss problems as neutrally as possible – talk about behaviors, not personalities. Deal with identified problems quickly and deal with people who are missing the mark privately. Invest in training, retraining and coaching for individuals, but understand that some individuals may not be teachable or coach-able.

“Believe people when they show you who they are.”

You are responsible to your customers, to the good of all employees and to your business as a whole, before you are responsible to any one employee. Employer loyalty is misplaced when it is the cause for retention of an individual who is damaging your company from the inside-out, or even actively damaging your client relationships and initiatives.

It’s true—you do have a unique blend of employees. Your employee culture is a reflection of the unique and shared values, beliefs, attitudes, ideas, experiences, assumptions and of the actual behaviors of your staff. And—for better or for worse—this culture is reflected back to your clients in every area of your business and has more ability to influence the success and profitability of your business more than any other. You have the ability to turn your employee culture into something truly special—something that will be as special to your employees as it is to your customers and your business.


A 2012 Marketing Calendar for Small Business is in the works! [ Subscribe ] to my e-mail newsletter to keep reading this series of little white marketing lies, to be notified of the 2012 marketing calendar release and for more good stuff — it's going to be a great year!

Elizabeth Kraus – 12monthsofmarketing.com
365 Days of Marketing is available on amazon.com in book and digital formats.

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Trick or Treat - but Don't Scare - Your Customers

Last week when Facebook made some pretty significant changes to how its users pages appeared and functioned, it resulted in a deluge of user whines, groans and complaints played out not only in status feeds but in articles and blogs across the internet. That – and the pumpkin on my mantel – served as the inspiration for this post, reminding me of some things business owners need to keep in mind when implementing change.


Here's how to trick or treat – - but not scare – your customers:

Yes, you want to innovate and make improvements to efficiencies and processes—especially when those changes represent enhancements to the customer experience. But businesses on the change track can fall prey to two fairly significant problems, which can result in negative consequences that outweigh (at least temporarily) positive results the change is intended to produce.

One, they run the risk of changing too many things, and thereby (knowingly or unknowingly) eliminating or altering things that their customers don't want to see changed at all.

And two, as evidenced last week with the latest round of Facebook changes, they run the risk of making significant changes that their customers don't understand and aren't ready to accept.

In my personal view, the latest round of Facebook changes gave the application functionality it should have had all along. I saw them as improvements, the way the program should have looked and worked all along. Most of my friends, however, reacted with anger, fear (that they wouldn't be able to navigate as well or set up their pages)and some pretty raw frustration.

So, if you are going to implement major changes in your business, make sure that your overall plan includes several means and phases of communication with customers and employees beforehand:

• Tell customers about major changes to appearance or functionality (online or in your bricks-and-mortar store) well in advance of changes, more than once, and across a variety of communications channels. Depending on the frequency with which customers typically visit your business, this might mean communications occurring over many months.
• Tell customers what they can physically expect (to see, hear, experience, etc.) after changes take place.
• Tell customers specifically how the changes you're making benefit them directly (such as changes to the customer experience) or indirectly (through reduced overhead or improved capabilities, better efficiency, new offerings, etc.)
• Educate your employees about the changes ahead of time. Make sure they are prepared to walk customers through new processes or layouts, prepared to tell customers how the changes benefit them and prepared to handle questions and complaints. Educate and empower employees to respond to complaints and resolve problems.
• Give customers a medium for expressing feedback before, during and after the change process. Solicit feedback from employees and customers during all phases of the change process.
• Acknowledge complaints and questions and do what you can to minimize customer discomfort (such as by providing employees to assist with new procedures, distributing store or internet site maps, etc.)
• If you do make a mistake – or scare your customers – by moving too fast or going to far, acknowledge any mistakes made and do what you can to remedy the situation. Open up the channels of communication, educate customers about the benefits of the changes you made, provide additional staff to assist, consider rolling back some or all of the changes (at least temporarily), and ensure that customers have the means to express concerns, frustrations or suggestions.

Halloween is almost here – make sure you "treat" your customers well. As the saying goes, "If we don't take care of our customers, someone else will!"

A 2012 Marketing Calendar for Small Business is in the works! [ Subscribe ] to my e-mail newsletter to keep reading this series of little white marketing lies, to be notified of the 2012 marketing calendar release and for more good stuff — it's going to be a great year!

Elizabeth Kraus – 12monthsofmarketing.com
365 Days of Marketing is available on amazon.com in book and digital formats.

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