Why Traditional Marketing Doesn't Work Anymore... And What You Can Do About It.

Advertising Trends And History

Over the last hundred years or so, there really have been very few major changes in the way companies advertise or market their business. Sure, there have been new media and more sophisticated messaging tools, but the purpose of traditional advertising has remained constant - get your name or product out there. People who have a potential need for your product or service will respond.

More recently, direct or targeted marketing has moved forward from the passive nature of general advertising into specifically targeting individuals or businesses that are most likely to use a company's products or services. Companies are using demographics, psychographics, purchasing habits, etc. Despite becoming much more sophisticated in knowing how to reach prospects more effectively, the objective is the same, name and product recognition.

These traditional and even more sophisticated advertising and marketing approaches don't work anymore. Even if you're inclined to disagree with this premise, look at your numbers carefully, the evidence is there.

The Reason Traditional Advertising Won't Work In Today's Environment

Today businesses, even if they are using some of the more sophisticated techniques, are frustrated by the ineffectiveness of their advertising efforts. The reason traditional advertising doesn't work anymore is because of what's happening in the marketplace.

The Average Consumer Is Solicited More Than 1000 Times A Day.

With the growth of the Internet and globalization, advertising bombards us from everywhere, now on our cell phones, in movie theatres, stadiums and even in the bathroom. We are all solicited with thousands of ads each and every day. As consumers we just can't get away from it. Consequently we just tune it out, and to compound the problem there are more and more companies competing for our attention just furthering our disconnection.

Trying To Get Name Recognition Is Futile

The lesson for us is that traditional "PURE BRANDING IS DEAD" trying to get name recognition with the general public is futile, unless you have unlimited dollars. But even those spending millions are not succeeding if they are following the old ineffective formula of traditional marketing. Why doesn't it work anymore, and what can you do about it?

What You Can Do To Be More Effective!

You must be able to overcome today's clutter and reach your prospects, but how? It's really about becoming smarter than your competitors. You see most businesses today don't take the time to really understand their business. Oh sure, they are experts in running their day to day operations, but few truly understand their business from an outside perspective.

How Well You Know Your Industry Is Critical …

Here is some very specific information that You Need To Understand…

1. Where do your customers come from?
2. Have you segmented your customers?
3. Are you using defined strategies to target each customer segment?
4. What specific value do you bring to your customers?
5. How does your value differ from that of your competition?
6. Do you know when your customers are buying and when they're not?

Are You Thinking Strategically?

This is a just a quick sampling of the understanding that is required. This lack of marketing intelligence causes companies to treat all their prospects or customers the same, sending out the same messages to everyone. Such messages are irrelevant even if they are noticed, and if you look closely they're saying the same things as their competitors. Without a strong understanding of market knowledge upon which to base your advertising and marketing efforts you are just echoing the same messages as everyone else and your audience is tuning it out.

How Do You Measure Up?

Would you answer yes to the following questions?

1. Your name and logo are in a prominent spot, headlining your ads?
2. You reference your quality work and/or customer service?
3. You tout your years of experience and how you care about customers?

If you answered yes to these, guess what, this is what everyone does. Is this really the type of information customers are looking for? No they're not! Remember traditional advertising is promoting your company, it's blowing your own horn and it doesn't work anymore.

Change your ads, tell prospects how to identify problems and how you can solve them. Talk to your prospects or customers addressing their issues and concerns.Don't talk about you, talk about benefits to them.If you're not at least doing that, you are wasting your money. Are you following the traditional advertising approach that doesn't work?

4 Things You Need To Know To Succeed

1). Understanding The Best Marketing Strategy To Effectively Promote Your Business

Marketing strategy begins with knowledge and understanding. Just as we have been discussing so far, but there is more. Do you offer a specialized or a limited use product or service or a repeatable product or service? Do you know when your prospects or customers need your product or service?

What business type are you? Whim, Periodic or Scheduled

The answers to these questions are very basic, but they have huge implications on your marketing strategy and growth planning. For example:

(Whim Business - contractors) If you supply a limited, infrequently used product or service you need to employ an aggressive customer acquisition strategy.
(Periodic Business - most retailers) If you supply a non-scheduled, but repeatably used product or service you should focus your marketing efforts not only on acquisition, but also on retention and up-sell strategies.
(Scheduled Business - automotive service) If you supply a scheduled, repeatably used product or service you have the easiest job of all when it comes to marketing. You should focus your marketing efforts on retention and up-sell strategies and a lot less on acquisition.

The point is that your marketing dollars and efforts need to be allocated in the proper ratios depending upon your business mix. To concentrate mostly on acquisition with non- targeted messaging is usually a wrong strategy. In fact, if you're not a Whim Company, you need to completely rethink your marketing strategy.

Here Are Some Important Facts That You Should Consider

1. It is generally five times more expensive to acquire a new customer than selling to an existing one.
2. Depending upon your industry, a customer may not really become profitable until the 2nd or 3rd year of the relationship because of the acquisition costs to obtain them.
3. Some companies can double their profits in 5 years by simply reducing their attrition rates by just 5% a year.

Do you compensate sales people for bringing in new business while letting existing customers slip out the back door taking the company's profits with them? Could it be time to rethink your strategy?

Any misallocation of resources is a huge waste of most marketing dollars. Use the Business Chart below as a point of reference to see where you should focus your marketing efforts.. These numbers are for illustrative purposes and need to be developed for your particular business and your actual customer base.

2). Understanding Your Customer Is Critical To Your Success

Another huge waste of marketing dollars and generally company efforts is the misallocation of those resources against the customer or prospect base. You know you should not be allocating large amounts of marketing dollars and staff resources on low potential or non-profitable customers.

Do you have access to this type of information to make these distinctions in your own business?

Below is a Customer Chart highlighting the Customer Value Segments (apply your own names for your business) along with the correct marketing strategy and suggested resource allocation for each segment. It is so intuitively obvious, yet few have the information or take the effort to do it.

By combining the two charts presented above you are left with the following matrix. What areas apply to you, where do your revenues come from and do you have the appropriate strategy and resource allocation for them?

3). Understanding That Good Marketing Requires Even More

If you broaden the definition of marketing to include any function that can increase sales and retain customers you are now including every function within the organization - sales, customer service, line staff, etc. No matter what you're selling, your customers are really looking for competency and convenience delivered at a fair value, so consequently you need to consider every aspect of your interaction with customers as marketing. Make sure they value what you deliver and how you deliver it.

If you're failing to deliver on any of these areas you are giving your customer an excuse to begin looking at your competition. Also, the longer a client/company relationship, the higher the customer expectation is. Granted this is a challenge, but remember that longer-term customers are usually your most profitable.

We all know that word of mouth is the best form of advertising so be sure your employees perform everything with the customer in mind, be sure they understand the importance of their role in marketing and the growth of your business.

Think Like a Customer - The Buying Cycle Vs. The Selling Cycle

As business owners we're always thinking "Selling Cycle". Understanding the prospects "Buying Cycle" and matching it to fit your Selling Cycle will help you determine where you would find them and what their needs are through each stage of the cycle. By meeting the needs of your buyers as the need arises you can move them more quickly along the cycle. Also, by allocating your resources to meeting these needs as they arise enables you to stand out from your competition.

Customers or prospects don't really care about you and your product or service; they only want to know how it can benefit them. Now that you're armed with a better marketing strategy you can reach your prospects with the right information at each phase of the cycle. As you fill their needs you'll get their attention and most likely their business as well.

The Chart below illustrates the type of information you need to know at each phase of the "Selling Cycle in order to meet the Buying Cycle needs. Allocating the appropriate resources at the appropriate time allows you to effectively implement your marketing and sales tactics as a prospect or customer is looking for it.


4). Understanding That Marketing Is A Continual Improvement Process

As always, the most important step in successful marketing is to measure what you do. Only through this process can you be sure to improve what you do in the future. Initially you can only take an educated guess as to what will work and what customers will want. By tracking and measuring what happens you know what prospects and customers are telling you and adapt accordingly. This allows your marketing to be a continuous improvement process and provide you with a larger ROI (Return On Investment)

What You Need To Consider Next

Hopefully at this point you are saying this is pretty obvious stuff that shouldn't be too complicated to do. You're right, it's basic business sense, but for some reason has been dropped along the way in today's rush, rush business world. Remember, without good marketing knowledge - an understanding of yourself, your customers and your value to them you're just throwing money away.

If you don't advance the concepts and logistics presented here you may find yourself becoming more and more irrelevant. By adopting these strategies you can begin to beat down your competitors. You can win more business, more of the time leaving your competitors spending more and more money on traditional marketing that just no longer works.

Plus Positive Marketing is the development and execution of the principles addressed in this white paper. We offer the knowledge, the planning, the tools and the expertise to help you obtain real Plus Positive results to your bottom line. If you'd like more information like this we invite you to…

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The Plus Positive Marketing Group
an NHB Internet Services, LLC Company
6225 Presidential Court Suite 170
Fort Myers, FL 33919 - Phone: 239-936-1005
Email: sales@pluspositive.com

Contact Us

The Plus Positive Marketing Group an NHB Internet Services,
LLC Company

6225 Presidential Court Suite 170

Fort Myers, FL 33919

Phone: 239-936-1005