Friday's 5 - Marketing Shorts and Sweets

I don't know what happened, I just realized that I didn't put up a Friday's 5 last week -- and that's crazy because for whatever reason, there are a lot of good marketing tidbits to share right now!

This isn't really marketing but it made me laugh:

But these are marketing, enjoy!

[READ] Facebook inspired tip jar

Speak to today’s online generation in a language they understand with the wonderfully clever Like Tip Jar. Sure to inspire happy curiosity in social networking aficionados, the Like Tip Jar may be just the thing to encourage a sharp rise in the amount of tips.

[READ] your story, your way

Chris Brogan makes a great point: People can understand details, instructions, facts, and statistics. They remember stories.

[READ] relaxed shoppers will spend more

A new study finds “that relaxed shoppers were willing to pay 15 percent more for goods than less-relaxed ones,” reports Kelli B. Grant in the Wall Street Journal (11/3/11).

[READ] customer loyalty costs as little as 32 cents

One little email and 32 cents transformed a satisfied customer to a delighted one. A business philosophy that goes beyond satisfaction can do that. How much time does your business spend delighting your customers in unexpected ways?


[READ] mommies part of your target market? 10 ways to engage
Moms have always been the pot of gold at the end of the proverbial rainbow for marketers. But not until social media, have moms had so much power to determine the direction of brands and marketing campaigns from the ground up. If you want to sell to moms, you need to get it just right.


[BONUS!] dress your interior to impress your customers
For those inspired by inspiring design, a reminder that customers notice everything about your business, not just the products and services you provide. You have the opportunity to make every customer touch point special and outside of their expectations.

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Elizabeth Kraus is the author of 365 Days of Marketing.

Dispel all the little white marketing lies that might be holding your business back - check out the 2012 Small Business Marketing Calendar: Little White Marketing Lies on amazon.com. 

With hundreds of marketing ideas laid out for 2012, you'll get into a marketing groove and build a bigger role for your business in the lives of your clients.

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Symptoms of a Sick Sales Funnel

Can you believe that the sales funnel is 112 years old? Hmmm. Seems like a lot has happened since then. No wonder the ole’ funnel is showing signs of wear. IDC research shows that the time it takes for tech companies to create a B2B customer has increased by 15% in the past year. Is it time for a fresh approach?

The sales funnel first appears in a 1925 book by Edward K. Strong called The Psychology of Selling and Advertising. Strong attributes the funnel’s invention in 1898 to Elias St. Elmo Lewis, a sales manager for National Cash Register (NCR). St. Elmo Lewis, who later helped found the Association of National Advertisers, called his sales funnel AIDA for the four stages of “awareness, interest, desire, and action”.

The traditional funnel uses an industrial era paradigm that treats a buyer like a widget. With the right machine, a vendor can manufacture that widget into a product called a customer. In the industrial model, the marketing team works awareness at the upper funnel when buyers aren’t too interested. As soon as there is serious interest, marketing sends the “lead” down the assembly line, handing off to a sales rep whose must fabricate an opportunity and produce revenue.

The problem is…the traditional funnel doesn’t work that well anymore.

Alarming evidence of sick sales funnels show up in the data. Tech vendors now take an average of 19 months to create a large account customer, an increase of 15% in just the last year. Some of this lengthening is certainly due to uncertain economic times. Greater risk aversion has increased the size of the average buying team from 5 people to 6. But we can’t blame everything on the economy. Buyers, IDC finds, don’t like this slowness. They want vendors help to shorten the cycle. According to the IDC Buyer Experience study conducted earlier this year, buyers want to push for a 40% reduction in the time to buy.

Poor funnel health also shows up in unsustainable conversion rates. Research from IDC’s 2011 Tech Marketing Benchmark and 2011 Sales Productivity Benchmark reveals that it now takes over 1000 marketing awareness targets to get one sale.

Symptoms of a sick funnel. Beyond the data, tech vendors are experiencing the effects of their sick, out-dated, funnel approach. Here are some common symptoms companies complain about. Does your company experience any of these symptoms?

1. Bickering: Sales and marketing teams bicker over the number & quality of leads.




2. Bad Data: You don’t have the right data to judge performance, predict the pipeline, and refine strategy




3. Wrong Tools: Sales people don’t have the tools needed to sell, in spite of the fact that they have access to a tonnage of content.




4. Failed sales: Sales people fail to convert most leads. Marketing has no idea what sales plans to do with leads.




5. Funnel Gaps: Prospects fall out of the pipeline, but you’re not sure when or why




6. Silos: Sales team thinks it’s a waste of time to provide feedback to marketing and your marketing team rarely seeks input from sales.




7. Missing Messages: You can’t nurture buyers because you lack the right content
   

We need a new funnel framework. Much has changed since the sales funnel’s 19th century invention. Business is far more sophisticated. The Internet and social media have dramatically changed the way buyers buy. IDC CMO Advisory has guidance for a funnel makeover in the form of a new Customer Creation Framework.

Here’s an introduction to that framework in an IDC webcast called, “Transforming Lead Management: How the new buyer is killing your funnel (and what to do about it).” (The webcast is recorded. Register and you can get the replay.)

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Early Look: Can The U.S. Start To Decouple From Europe

The market had another down open this morning, but as of this post the Dow is back in positive territory. Asian markets were mixed overnight, while Europe is again lower today.

The latest news out of Europe was a disappointing debt auction in Spain. Spanish yields are up to 6.70%, and French yields are a bit higher near 3.71%. Italian yields have eased a touch to 6.97%. Interestingly, the euro is higher on the day.

But the higher euro isn't helping commodities so far. Oil prices are down to a still high $101; gold prices are lower again near $1745; and silver and copper prices are lower as well.

In economic news, jobless claims came in better than expected at 388,000 for the week. And housing starts for October were also greater than expected at 628,000.

The 10-year yield is hovering right at the 2.00% level; and the VIX bounced to 34 where it touched its overhead 50-day average and has since eased back to 32.90.

Trading comment: The S&P 500 has broken below that uptrend level that I showed yesterday (on my blog) and that has been in place since early October. That usually signals more of a correction in store. But I am beginning to wonder if the U.S. markets have priced in the problems in Europe and can manage to climb the wall of worry a bit more into year end. As such, I want to be a buyer on upcoming dips and position myself for further rallies. Of course, this is predicated on nothing further unraveling in Europe. They still need to figure out how to achieve the proposed leverage for the EFSF that has been talked about.

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4 Ways to Sell More Gift Cards this Holiday Season

Over the last couple of months I’ve been writing about “little white marketing lies” which are falsities many business owners tell themselves and others. These are things they often want to be true about their business but either don’t really understand or don’t want to do the real work needed to make them true.

Here’s one more little white marketing lie:
Your gift cards make great gifts.

In your mind, your gift cards make great gifts. You know the benefits and wonderful products and services that your business provides to its customers. But much like the illusion provided by the artist who created these graffiti stairs in a Toronto train station, it may be that you perceive something that others don’t or that just isn’t there. And if you act on your perception, you may find yourself stumbling forward and hitting the wall!

Don’t hit the wall when it comes to gift card or gift certificate sales. If your customers aren’t “seeing” your gift cards as gifts, change their perception.

Many people aren’t conceptual, meaning, you need to help them visualize how your gift cards become “gifts” and for whom they are best suited. If your gift cards are collecting dust on – or behind – the counter, these 4 tips are for you.

1. Make gift card suggestions specific. Use signage that draws attention to a problem or a person that would be a perfect gift card recipient:
• last minute gifts
• extra on-hand gifts for unexpected guests
• picky mother in law
• teen or tween
• the boss you need to impress
• co-workers such as your best friend at work, receptionist, security guard, etc.
• clients or vendors
• holiday party gift exchanges
  
  
2. Display or package your gift cards with illustrations or descriptions of the products or services for which they could be exchanged or which demonstrate the solutions they could provide.
   
   
3. Package your gift cards with best-selling retail.
   
   
4. Bundle gift cards with other items that are, in fact, “gifts:”
   
   • Gift-quality books (‘She’ is one of my favorites)
   • Men’s grooming or women’s beauty products or tools
   • Gift baskets
   • Chocolates or other goodies
   • Craft kits
   • Games
   • Novelty or unique retail items
   • Branded wares

***

Elizabeth Kraus is the author of 365 Days of Marketing.

Dispel all the little white marketing lies that might be holding your business back - check out the 2012 Small Business Marketing Calendar: Little White Marketing Lies on amazon.com. 

With hundreds of marketing ideas laid out for 2012, you'll get into a marketing groove and build a bigger role for your business in the lives of your clients.

Gudang grosir baju anak murah - harga pabrik !!
www.gudanggrosiran.com Read More

Chart of the Day: Holding support

Not sure how well you can make out the chart below (you can click on it to enlarge). It is a snapshot from my trading software. On the right hand side, you can see the purple trendline I have drawn in highlighting the recent uptrend that the market has been holding since early October.

Today's pullback is testing that uptrend line again and needs to hold. If this support is broken, it could mean a larger correction is in store.

The news that took the market down in the last hour was comments by Fitch that the Eurozone contagion poses a threat to U.S. bank ratings. Umm...is this new news?

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Early Look: Dour Sentiment Drives Soft Market Open

The market is lower again in early trading. Yesterday we saw a weak market open that improved as the day wore on. So far, we have already seen a nice bounce since the open, but there is still a lot of time left in today's session.

Asia and European markets were both lower overnight. Italy's bond yields are higher at 7.13%; Spain's yields are up to 6.41%; and France's yields have drifted higher to 3.68%. The euro is also lower so far today.

The lower euro is weighing on most commodities, but oil prices continue to climb. Oil prices have now topped $100 for the first time in 5 months (currently $101.80). Gold prices are lower today near $1763. Silver and copper prices are also lower.

In corporate news, Target (TGT) reported solid results and its stock is higher. Abercrombie (ANF) disappointed and its stocks is getting whacked. While DELL was mixed and its stocks is down slightly.

In economic news, the CPI fell in October by 0.1%. But year-over-year the overall CPI is up +3.5%, which is pretty high. Inflation is funny right now. Wages, rents, housing prices, and tech products are pretty flat in pricing. But food prices, education, and healthcare costs have all continued to rise.

The 10-year yield is flirting with that 2.00% level again, but holding so far at 2.02%. As for the VIX, it is up another 2% near the 32 level.

Trading comment: The pressures in the credit markets and in Europe have not lifted one bit. So it does feel like our markets are being a bit complacent relative to the troubling signals that continue to come out of the region. The SPX is holding above its uptrend line that has been in place since early October, but the trading ranges are narrowing such that traders expect a breakout soon from this narrowing range. The SPX needs to hold the 1240 level on pullbacks, while a breakout above 1265-1270 could spark additional buying and short covering.

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Don't punish everyone for one person's mistake

As a business owner, have you had a few bad experiences which led you to create blanket policies -- things like:

• No cellphones
• No kids
• No loitering
• No food or drink allowed
• Customers only (restrooms)
• No use of social media on company time

Or have you even gone to the trouble and expense of hiring companies to lock down computer systems or install expensive surveillance tools in order to make sure that your employees know you're constantly on the prowl for a misstep?

This video is FUN and great food for thought. At a minimum, take a look at how your policies are written. They may well be necessary; but can you word them in a way that makes them positive statements or at least explains the necessity?


Don't punish everyone for one person's mistake from Derek Sivers on Vimeo.


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Elizabeth Kraus is the author of 365 Days of Marketing.

Dispel all of the little white marketing lies that might be holding your business back - check out the 2012 Small Business Marketing Calendar: Little White Marketing Lies on amazon.com.  With hundreds of marketing ideas laid out for 2012, you'll get into a marketing groove and build a bigger role for your business in the lives of your clients.

Gudang grosir baju anak murah - harga pabrik !!
www.gudanggrosiran.com Read More