6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon...

Greetings...

If you grew up in the late 80's you knew all about Kevin Bacon... its now a common point of relativity to talk about the "6 degrees of separation" as it applies to Kevin Bacon.  Everyone, within 6 connections, is connected to someone that knows Kevin Bacon.

What are your connections? Who are they connected to?

You challenge for today... manage and grow your connections to reach your "A List" customers and prospects.  Set goals, like the following:

• Reach 5 new connections a week
• Have 2 sit down meetings with mentors/friends a week
• Send out 5 "just touching base" emails/notes a week
• Have 3 new prospects that you are trying to reach each week

We all know the tools... From the good old-fashioned handwritten note (which never goes out of style) to the latest and greatest technology tools...get connected!

LinkedIn

The go-to place for connecting to your future...prospect, customer, employer, referral source.  The key is connecting and then nurturing those connections!  We all know people...and we all have that "one friend" that only reaches out when they want something.  Be the friend that is always there and connected!  (See my LinkedIn Profile)

Twitter

Great for sharing info, following someone and reaching out to "ping" people.  140 characters can go a long way to connect you and keep others informed! (See my Twitter feed)

Email

Treat this like gold...use it to communicate and keep tabs.  Ping friends, share information and keep connected.  Just make sure you add value to the conversations!

The key concept is built around...

Adding, nurturing and leveraging your connections!

How?

• Adding value to all conversations
• Not selling but informing
• Not pushing but leading
• Not "showing people up" but taking the reins

Its all about being the person people want to connect with, share insights with, and hang around!

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Cheers!

Bruce Clapp


Want to learn more?  Enroll in the MarketMatch eCollege!  Smart learning online sessions delivered five consecutive Tuesdays with 2.5 CFMP credits for EACH session, tactical advice and a game plan for success!  Enroll here!

MarketMatch is a full-service marketing consulting firm, dedicated to the credit union and community banking community.  We utilize knowledge-based strategies to help you FOCUS on the efforts that will generate MOMENTUM and yield the greatest RESULTS for your bottom line.

Learn more here.

Chat with me LIVE!

Or contact me directly (click here).

Brand mimicry

The monarch and the pipevine swallowtail are the Hermès
and Louis Vuitton of the butterfly world – other butterflies imitate them.



Monarch





Vicery

Non-toxic butterflies, through genetic mutation over
generations, come to resemble toxic species so that predators are fooled into
leaving them alone. The viceroy butterfly, for example, shares the monarch’s
colors, and appears at the same

Making Priorities

We all want to be successful and we do a lot to get there. Yet we easily become overwhelmed by what it takes to be successful. If you are at all like me, you take care of the low hanging fruit, the easiest tasks first and leave the more difficult for a later time. Well sometimes I feel like that “later time” never comes. For me it’s about setting priorities every week. Between my professional life and my personal life my days are pretty full, not unlike most of you. You have to figure out what is most important to you. Is it family, money, business, wellness, friendship, and the list can go on and on. From there it seems to become a juggling act. It seems to be easy to take care of everything else before you take care of yourself. Sometimes you have to put yourself first and when you do that everything else falls into place. At some point this weekend, be your own #1, put yourself first. Have a great Friday.Debbi

MarketMatch is a full-service marketing consulting firm, dedicated to the credit union and community banking community. We utilize knowledge-based strategies to help you FOCUS on the efforts that will generate MOMENTUM and yield the greatest RESULTS for your bottom line.

Design+Message=Team

Which is more important, the message or the design? 

Trick question. The design is what catches the attention and the message is what's conveyed. They're a team. 

A good message may never get read if the design is bad, and a good design can be overshadowed by a bad message. But, if both the design and the message are good, you have yourself an effective marketing tool. 

So instead of focusing on one or the other, focus on both. Put them together, see if they work, change as needed until you have a clear, concise, memorable campaign. 

In case you need some inspiration, here are some of my favorite examples of effective advertising:

1. "A Diamond is Forever" Debeers

2. "Just Do It." Nike

3. "Think Small" Volkswagen

Until next time, 

Gail 

Sources: http://www.colormatters.com/blue, http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html

MarketMatch is a full-service marketing consulting firm, dedicated to the credit union and community banking community. We utilize knowledge-based strategies to help you FOCUS on the efforts that will generate MOMENTUM and yield the greatest RESULTS for your bottom line.

Learn more here.

Navigate the Marketing Technology Landscape with this Map

The marketing technology landscape can be quite confusing. There are dozens of solution categories, each with dozens of great vendors. Where to start?

I ran across this great infographic by the guys over at WordStream that shows a map of the most important marketing technology categories and the leaders in each category.

I hope you find it helpful (click to enlarge or click here):

Where Does Marketing Fit in the Org Chart?

Ahh …. What to do with Marketing?!?!

Who should you answer to?  Who are your best friends?  What department are you closest aligned with?

As marketers, we’ve all been called “crazy.”  And you know what?  They’re right!  We’re absolutely, out of our mind, certifiable … in one very specific area … we all NEED split personalities.  We must think like a CEO, CFO, Retail Manager, Lender and Commercial & Investments gurus … and still be the Marketer with the great ideas.  We are the one department who needs to be comfortable in EVERYONE’S office and who should visit each office regularly.

CEO

Everything we do as Marketers needs to be aligned with the business objectives of the bank or credit union.  The very first question we should ask in planning is, “what will our institution consider success at the end of the year.”  Then, we need to track and report the progress against those objectives regularly. 

We also need to make sure that the brand we portray is in line with the direction that the Board and CEO have set for the institution.

FINANCE

We need to think like a CFO.  Based on ALCO decisions, what products do we need to be focusing on?  You should be meeting with your CFO during planning to agree on variables to include in ROI analysis.  Then, meeting regularly to discuss any changes in the financial situations of the institution or market.


As Marketers, you should be able to look at your Call Report and make some educated assumptions on direction and easily gain specific tracking data.

RETAIL/OPERATIONS

Marketing must be involved in branch-level training and processes.  How do your campaigns affect the branch delivery?  How can you work together with Operations to streamline processes and improve the customer experience?  What do the branches see that can give you ongoing insight into changes in market conditions, perceptions and needs?  Does the team need more effective tools to facilitate meaningful conversations and better discuss what we have to offer with customers?

Our branches are often Marketing’s greatest allies.  It’s not just our job to drive traffic to them; it’s our job to help maximize every interaction at them.  A close connection with the Operations people will help you to keep your finger on the pulse of the institution.

LENDING

Certainly it’s our job to increase loans with existing customers and drive new interest from potential customers.  But which loans and to what audience?  A close relationship with your Lending Manager will help you to understand who to target.  Who are you likely to approve or deny … and why? 

COMMERCIAL/BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Commercial is a personal sell.  The most successful Commercial and BD professionals leverage one-on-one relationships with businesses.  But communication and targeting are still involved.  Marketing can help Commercial in identifying the best companies to pursue, acquiring new business and growing existing business.  We can provide communication campaigns to specific industries or produce materials for one-on-one meetings.

INVESTMENTS

Like Commercial, Investments are a relationship-driven department.  And, like Commercial, the Investment folks should be partnering with Marketing for more efficient growth, segmentation, communication and measurement.

Between regular meetings with the CEO, CFO and the rest of the Senior Management Team and your continued visits to the branches to talk with front-line staff, the Marketing Manager should rarely be found at their desk.  We are literally the tie that binds all of the financial institution’s departments and initiatives. 

Where does Marketing fit in the org chart?  Smack-dab in the middle!  Driving growth everywhere and being included in most major decisions.

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MarketMatch is a full-service marketing firm, dedicated to the credit union and community banking community.  We utilize knowledge-based strategies to help you FOCUS on the efforts that will generate the greatest  MOMENTUM for your organization and demonstrate RESULTS with our written ROI Guarantee.

Want to learn more?  Enroll in the MarketMatch eCollege!  Smart online sessions delivered with CFMP credits, tactical advice and a game plan for success!

Learn more about us here. (click)
Chat with me LIVE! (click)
Or email me directly (click)
937-426-9848

Can You Win the Zero Moment of Truth?

Regular readers of this blog know that I write frequently about how new buyer behaviors are driving far-reaching changes in what is required to make B2B marketing and sales effective. In my view, this is the single most significant issue facing B2B marketing and sales professionals.

Google weighed in on this topic last year when it published an excellent e-book titled, Winning the Zero Moment of Truth. The e-book was written by Jim Lecinski, Google's Managing Director of U.S. Sales & Service, and it is based on an analysis of Google's voluminous data regarding internet searches and on primary research Google commissioned.

The primary message of Winning the Zero Moment of Truth is both simple and profound. Lecinski writes that the traditional mental model of marketing contains three components.

• Stimulus - Typically, this is an advertising/marketing message such as a TV/radio/print ad, a direct mail communication, or an e-mail marketing message.
• First Moment of Truth - This is the moment at which a consumer stands in front of your product in a store or views your product in an online store and decides to buy. . . or not. For many B2B companies, the First Moment of Truth is not when a prospect decides whether or not to buy. Instead, it is when a prospect registers for one of your white papers or webinars, or when a prospect accepts a meeting with your sales rep. In B2B, the First Moment of Truth is that moment when a prospect decides to identify himself/herself and engage with a company. . . or not.
• Second Moment of Truth - This is when a buyer actually uses a product or service and is happy/delighted/satisfied. . . or not.

A.G. Lafley, the former chairman, president, and CEO of Procter & Gamble, has written that the best brands consistently win both of these "moments of truth."

Lecinski argues that the development of internet technologies and the explosion of online information have added a new moment of truth to the traditional model, what he calls the Zero Moment of Truth, or ZMOT. The ZMOT occurs after the stimulus and before the First Moment of Truth, as shown below.

The ZMOT is where potential buyers take initial steps to learn about the products they may be interested in purchasing. Most of this research is performed online, via web searches, anonymous visits to company websites, reading online user reviews, and, increasingly, through social media. Whatever you sell, whether it's complex industrial equipment or sophisticated computer software or marketing services, your prospects will form their first impression of your company and what you offer at this moment, the ZMOT.

This has two major implications for B2B marketers. First, it means that a prospect's first impression of your company and your products or services will be based on the content that you publish. And second, it means that if your content doesn't pass the "ZMOT test," you may never be given the opportunity to create a relationship with a prospect, much less make a sale.

What about your online presence? Can your company be found when potential buyers search online for information about the products or services you provide? If a prospect visits your website or your Facebook page or your blog, what kind of content will he/she find? Will it be self-promotional content that's mostly about your company? Or, will it be content designed to demonstrate that you understand your prospects' problems and that you have the requisite expertise to help solve those problems? Will your content pass the ZMOT test?

The old saying is absolutely true:  You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.

The rich, the lazy, the busy, the ignorant, and the vain

Done well, market segmentation can do so much.
It can uncover entirely new markets (see Blue Ocean Strategy), provide new ways
of serving existing markets and rejuvenate entire categories and industries (remember Swatch watches?), out-maneuver
competitors (Nike segments the market into very small niches so competitors are
contained), and offer segment developers first-rights to the new market

Can right-sizing be as sexy as expansion?

On Thursday of last week, Thomas Cottfeatured several articles on "right-sizing" in the arts in his daily "You've Cott Mail." As many of his emails tend to do, it has stuck with me for days. See his email came at an opportune time for me. I had just given the plenary speech at American University's Emerging Arts Leaders Symposiumwhich partially focused on NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman's "supply and demand" speech, and soon thereafter, Rebecca Novick authored a blog entitled "Please, Don't Start a Theater Company."

A central theme from these various sources began to emerge, which was packaged quite nicely by Rebecca when she said: "In the past fifteen years, the number of nonprofit theater companies in the United States has doubled while audiences and funding have shrunk. Neither the field nor the next generation of artists is served by this unexamined multiplication of companies based on the same old model. The NEA's statistics on nonprofit growth, set against its sobering reports on declining arts participation, illuminate a crucial nexus for the field, a location of both profound failure and potential transformation."

If data indicates that the field continues to expand at an unsustainable rate propagating the continuance of a model that is considered by some to be out of touch with current realities, then why do we continue in such a manner? My thoughts below...

It's as American as apple pie. Let's face it, expansion is sexy. We are the children of manifest destiny. Starting from nothing and growing an empire. Conquering new frontiers. These are all American ideals. Hell, many of our childhood boardgames indoctrinate this philosophy. Is it any surprise that as adults we equate expansion with success? And this perception of success is handsomely rewarded. Grow your audience and your revenue, and you will increase your likelihood of additional contributed revenue. But if those metrics decline, you'll need to do some explaining.

Follow the money. In the 1990s, educational programming became a funding priority, so every theater across the nation rushed to create an education department. To some, it didn't matter if the programming was sub par, they just knew they needed a department to be competitive. In the 2000s, capital projects became a priority, and more than a decade later, we have new buildings all across the country. Some were desperately needed as aging infrastructure was failing, while others were less of a necessity but were built on hopes of significant future returns. After opening, some organizations thrived in their new facilities, while many others struggled almost from day one. In his article "New Facilities Aren't Always a Qualified Success"in the Kansas City Star, Scott Cantrell discusses the challenges of several major new performing arts centers, including Dallas's AT&T Performing Arts Center, Philadelphia's Kimmel Center and Miami's Adrienne Arsht Center. All of which opened without finishing their fundraising campaigns and operated with multi-million deficits. Two years into the new decade, it seems that funders have started to realize the magnitude of the problem, and are now beginning to focus on sustainability as a priority, providing working capital to companies to right-size, rather than providing incentives to expand.

Build it, and they will come. Prior to launching a capital campaign, most organizations commission at least one feasibility study to determine whether or not the company has the capacity to raise the necessary funds to pay for capital improvements. But how many thoroughly study whether or not there is enough support in their communities to sustain an expansion for decades to come? When Arena Stage opened the Mead Center for American Theater, I was thankful that the new building only increased overall capacity by 6% in comparison to the previous structure. Although renovations and improvements were desperately needed, I wasn't convinced that we could introduce a large amount of additional inventory into a city which was already trying to support five previously built new theater complexes. If desired and demand warranted, Arena Stage was able to increase inventory by expanding beyond its typical 9 month season, but they weren't forced into an expansion due to a large increase in the capacity of the new complex. The challenge for Washington at this moment is clear--we have dramatically increased supply over the past decade, and with our capital projects now complete, we must develop and support new audience development campaigns with as much gusto as our capital campaigns. We have to build our audiences, which up until now, we haven't successfully done in the last decade. This is the real challenge. Ten years from now, will our new theaters be empty?

Can you display it? I find it fascinating that many museums have an aggressive acquisition plan but only display a very small percentage of their current collection. There seems to be a commonly accepted premise that major museums only display 10% of their collection because they are limited in terms of space and resources. I can understand acquiring new objects that aren't in display condition for research purposes, but why expand a collection of display quality objects if you don't have the opportunities to display what you currently have? Again, I'm a novice in museum studies, but it would seem to me that before expanding, a museum might consider shifting its resources to developing traveling exhibits so its current collection can be seen. What's the point of acquiring items with very little likelihood of every displaying them to the public?

What's going on in Ohio? I've been closely following two non-profit arts organizations based in Ohio over the past few years, as I believe they can be an example to us all. The first, the Columbus Symphony, was featured in Thomas Cott's aforementioned email. After struggling for years, they conducted a study that indicated that the city of Columbus could only support a symphony with an $8 million operating budget instead of the $12.5 million budget they currently had. From this, they decided to "right-size" their organization to match the current demand in their market by joining forces with the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts. Meanwhile across the state, the 90 plus year old Cleveland Playhouse laid off several senior staff members, dropped two productions from its season and trimmed its budget by 18% in 2009, prior to moving to the newly renovated 515 seat Allen Theatre in 2011. Previously, the Allen Theatre boasted 2,500 seats, but when the Cleveland San Jose Ballet left town, the Cleveland Opera downsized and Broadway tours dried up, the Allen Theatre was only in use 90 days out of the year because it was too big for most productions. The solution--the Cleveland Playhouse, Cleveland State University and PlayhouseSquare partnered resulting in a newly renovated Allen Theatrewith 1,985 fewer seats! And it seems that it has worked out quite well for all involved. Revenue for the Cleveland Playhouse more than doubled and an underused space became the new talk of the town.

This isn't to say that expansion is always bad,  sometimes it is absolutely necessary. However, it isn't always beneficial, even during moments of great success. If your theaters are playing to capacity, perhaps you have discovered the sweet spot for your organization. Push just a little further, and too much of a good thing could tip the scales in an unfavorable direction, leaving you wondering how you managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Expansion can be attractive, but stability is pretty damn sexy too.

Dare to soar!

Dare to soar,

how successful you are is determined by your attitude.

Happy Friday,

Debbi

Must~Read for Marketers

I just watched the greatest documentary~style TV show ever!  The Pitch airs on AMC and premiers on April 30^th. I caught the sneak preview.

The Pitch covers two ad agencies as they compete for the same piece of business.  It is a behind~the~curtain look at the strategic and creative process.  Whether your job is as the “pitcher” or the “pitchee”, this is must~see viewing.

Here are a few quotes from the show that will motive you and make you think about what we do …

“There’s no software that can write a great idea.”

~ Tracy Wong

Founding Partner

WDCW

What we do as marketers is special.  We have the one job that everyone thinks they can do, but few can truly do successfully.  As marketers, we’re expected to be creative on~demand. 

Computers can run our government, they can think strategically enough to play chess, but they can not create the ideas that connect a company’s brand, to a campaign strategy, speaking to a target’s unique needs, in the target’s voice, while factoring in the competitive messages to differentiate and make an impact in the marketplace. 

We are NOT the “arts and crafts department!”  We are NOT the “event planners!”  We are a special combination of researcher, artist, writer, strategist, accountant and sales person.  We are the left and right brain living in perfect harmony.

Marketing is creative, but it’s creative under pressure.  We’re told…

“Go be creative…

… and make sure you do this…

… and make sure you do that…

… and make sure you do it in the next 24 hours.

See you then.”

~ Jonathan Cude

Chief Creative Officer

McKinney

Marketing is about getting passionate enough about an idea that you’re willing to share it with the world … then watching that idea, that you love, get shot down because one person in the room “doesn’t get it.” 

Marketing takes the passion and the desire and the drive to give birth to great ideas and still be enough of a cold~hearted, callused, S.O.B. to forget them and move onto the next without looking back.  It takes thick skin and a short memory.

Last words of wisdom that were not from The Pitch…

“When a doctor makes a mistake, they bury it.

When a lawyer makes a mistake, they lock it away.

When a marketer makes a mistake, they publish it for the whole world to see.”

~Nick Sabatino

Flynn, Sabatino & Day

Nick was a mentor and a friend.  He shared this thought with me when I was an intern and I’ll carry it with me forever.  It speaks to typos and design flaws and ideas that simply miss the mark.  It reminds us of the importance of what we do and reminds me that my reputation, my company’s reputation and my client’s reputation are on the line every single day.

Be proud, marketers, you are an exceptional, irreplaceable, crazy~out~of~your~mind group of people.

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Want to learn more?  Enroll in the MarketMatch eCollege!  Smart learning online sessions delivered five consecutive Tuesdays with CFMP credits, tactical advice and a game plan for success!

MarketMatch is a full-service marketing firm, dedicated to the credit union and community banking community.  We utilize knowledge-based strategies to help you FOCUS on the efforts that will generate the greatest  MOMENTUM for your organization and demonstrate RESULTS with our written ROI Guarantee.

Learn more about us here. (click)

Chat with me LIVE! (click)

Or email me directly (click)

937-426-9848

Making it Matter...

Image from TippingPoint Labs

Greetings...

Marketers are challenged everyday with ensuring our dollar is invested in marketing strategy and tactical deliveries that work... in the end its all about three key letters-- R O I.

The return on investment is the holy grail that we MUST pay attention to and maximize.

The key is investing the "right" amount of dollars into the "right" strategies supported by the "right" tactics. 

Simple.  Right?

Well...it can be...

There are four strategies that a marketer SHOULD employ to ensure the marketing efforts pay dividends.   Here they are:

1. Content. Content. Content.  This is the king of all important elements. What we have to say is more important that how or where.  Good content is viewed, shared, discussed and actionable.
2. Relevant:  Our message, content and delivery need to be relevant.  Not to us, or our board, but to our target market.  Relevancy is in the eye of the beholder!
3. High Quality.  This means adding value!  A poorly written but relevant message may work...but a well written, added value relevant message is the key to the house!  "Well written" means brevity, crisp language and actionable word choice that intrigues the reader and has them wanting more!
4. Frequent (and recent).  I added the recency to the frequency because we both the maximized response is the intersection of frequently seeing your relevant message with the added power of recently being exposed to your message, too.

Here is a recent example of our Marketing Minute... monthly video vignettes that speak to a targeted message.  This is on the relevancy of your brand and how you can create followers that "wear your brand."  Enjoy!

Cheers!

Bruce Clapp


Want to learn more?  Enroll in the MarketMatch eCollege!  Smart learning online sessions delivered five consecutive Tuesdays with 2.5 CFMP credits for EACH session, tactical advice and a game plan for success!  Enroll here!

MarketMatch is a full-service marketing consulting firm, dedicated to the credit union and community banking community.  We utilize knowledge-based strategies to help you FOCUS on the efforts that will generate MOMENTUM and yield the greatest RESULTS for your bottom line.

Learn more here.

Chat with me LIVE!

Or contact me directly (click here).