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Fresh Marketing
Fresh Marketing breaks marketing topics and advice into manageable, bite-sized pieces you can apply to your business today. For more information about strategic marketing consulting, visit www.marketingflexibility.com.
Friday, May 16, 2014
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Is Target Having An Identity Crisis?
I used to love Target. I could spend hours browsing the store to see what was new, and plan an entire day around hitting the nearest Target location.
Back then, going to Target was not just a quick store run- it was an experience. Target marketers did a brilliant job of differentiating the chain from other retailers, with trendy seasonal décor and collections from otherwise high-dollar designers. I was particularly jazzed when Target introduced The Shops, their limited time, curated collections of cool things from boutiques across the country. That sealed the deal for me as a Target lover. But recently, things have changed.
Target has a new marketing campaign this year, which has left me feeling a little flat. The Target Run campaign aims to, ahem, target customers who value coupons, groceries, and quick runs to pick up essentials. The trouble is, I already have sources for those boring trips. What I’m lacking now is a fun, trendy place to shop for non-essentials. It may sound crazy, but I just can’t get as excited about that curated designer collection when it’s across the aisle from macaroni and fruit snacks.
Don’t get me wrong, the Target Run campaign is integrated and well thought out. There are coupon apps, expanded grocery selections, clever advertisements, and a redesigned website to support the new offers. The problem, for me, is a misalignment with the unique identity Target had created. The identity of being a destination and an experience for those looking for cool stuff at reasonable prices. With Target’s expanded grocery section, weekly coupons, and boring website, it feels akin to Walmart.
What do you think? Is Target having an identity crisis, or do you like the new positioning and offers?
Looking for insight to help position your business? Look us up at www.marketingflexibility.com.
Monday, March 3, 2014
3 Tips for Business Health!
I suppose a marketing consultant is a bit like a doctor for business. I’m called when the business isn’t as healthy as it could be. I visit the business, check the symptoms, conduct an exam to discover the underlying cause, and work with the client to develop a prescribed course of action. And, like a doctor, I feel disappointed when a client leaves with a clean bill of health, prescription in hand, and goes right back to their unhealthy habits.
It seems the most difficult habit for business owners to
break is the urge to try new things, changing course monthly, if not even
weekly. And I get it. It’s like the
doctor telling me I need to exercise daily for three months in order to see
improvement. At first, it’s easy, but then it gets easier to just go back to what
I’m comfortable with. Or, get frustrated at the lack of improvement and try, desperately,
to find what’s going to work in days – not months.
The truth is that strategy takes time to manifest into
results. When a business continues to change course every week, they will never
discover what works and what doesn’t. Here are some tips for effective execution
of your strategy:
1. Give it time! As
a business, you should review your strategy on a semi-annual basis. Your
strategy is the road map of your business, informing where you want to go and
how to get there. You won’t get there overnight. It will take time and
patience.
2. Gather enough data for meaningful
measure. As a marketer, I’m an advocate for testing variables to
determine what works and what doesn’t. However, you need to allow enough time
to gather a statistically relevant set of data. If you change a communication
strategy every week, you’ll never really know what works for you.
3. Separate business from personal. As a
business owner, it’s sometimes difficult to see where you stop and the business
begins. As a person, you’re always representing your business. However, your
business should always represent the business strategy. The most common mistake
I see is business owners who treat the business social media accounts as
personal ones. Keep your business posts intentional, audience appropriate, and
strategically aligned.
To stay focused on the course, I keep a copy of my market
plan posted on the wall. I refer to it often to remind myself of where I need
to be and where I’m heading next. If you could benefit from a business well
check, email us at kris@marketingflexibility.com
or visit www.marketingflexibility.com.
Stay well!
Monday, February 24, 2014
3 Questions to Jump Start Market Opportunity Analysis
If you want to launch, grow or diversify a business, then
you need to spend some time – a LOT of time – researching and understanding the
potential market opportunity. Having tremendous talent or a really great idea
just isn’t enough. You need to do some digging to answer the following questions:
How
are people meeting this need today? Remember that not all
competition is direct. Let me give you an example. I worked with a client who
designed a new fastening technology. There was nothing quite like it on the market,
so the client believed there to be no competition. In fact, there was a lot.
The competitive offerings may not be a direct comparison, but people are
fastening things down somehow. Really
open your mind and consider how you attach and fasten things. We use bungee
cords, rope, zip ties – and the list goes on. So, the question is not whether
you have competition – because you do. The question becomes how people are
meeting that need today, and whether your offer provides enough value for them
to consider changing habits and potentially paying more for the solution.
Is
someone else already filling this need? Now that you’ve considered
how the need is currently met, think about your competition. Is someone else
already doing this? If so, are you able to do it faster, better or cheaper? If
not, then you need to consider how you can, so your offer is differentiated.
Sometimes this means walking away from an idea as well. If it’s just not feasible
and viable for you to make your offer faster, better or cheaper than the
competition, the market opening may not be big enough for two (or more!) of
you. Keep in mind that customer experience can be a huge differentiator, and
your ticket to winning.
Is
the opportunity financially viable? There is a lot more than
product cost to be considered when determining price and profit (or loss).
First, you should price your product or service based on the value it brings to
the market and what people are willing to pay for that value. If you try to
price based on the cost you have into it, you will likely be priced too high or
too low for the market. Too high, and you’ll price yourself out of the market.
Too low, and you’ve left money on the table. When considering financial
viability, look at your total business costs. In addition to product costs, consider
labor, equipment, utilities, buildings, marketing, tax obligations, supplies –
everything. Do your homework to understand how much you have to spend to make
and market your offer. If you look at just the product or service cost, you will
end up with an unpleasant surprise when all of the other expenses add up.
Now that you’ve vetted your opportunity, you can make an
educated decision about whether to continue into the strategy phase or go back to
the drawing board. Marketing Flexibility is available to assist with your
market research and analysis needs. Visit us at www.marketingflexibility.com or
email kris@marketingflexibility.com
for a free consultation.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
What Does a Marketing Consultant Do?
What Is Your Best Market Opportunity?
The world is full of opportunity! The challenge
is discovering current and future market needs which aren’t already being met.
If someone else is already meeting the need, then how are you different? Can
you do it faster, better, or cheaper? If not, we’ll explore better
opportunities or discuss how you can differentiate yourself to compete.
What Do You Know About the Opportunity?
You have a great idea, and that’s a
great place to start! Now, it’s time to be honest about what you know about the
market and opportunity. This is your situational analysis, and it’s a lot of work.
During this phase, we dig into market research and explore all of the things
which impact your potential success. We look at your company structure and
capabilities, your potential collaborators, your potential customers, your
competition, and the context – or the world – in which you’ll need to do
business. The context includes political, legal, social and economic factors
which can impact how you do business.
What Does It All Mean?
Once we’ve uncovered the necessary
information, we conduct careful analysis. It’s a lot like putting together a
jigsaw puzzle. There’s a lot of data laying in front of us. We figure out how
to piece it together to create a logical picture and make sound business
decisions.
Where Do You Go From Here?
This is the fun part! Once you have a
clear picture of the best market opportunity, we develop a strategic plan. This
plan becomes your roadmap to success. In the plan, we clearly define the
following:
·
Vision and Mission
·
Situational Analysis
·
Market Segmentation
·
Objectives and Goals
·
Positioning
·
Business Model Strategy
·
Product or Service Offers
·
Price Strategy
·
Place Strategy (how your
offer goes to market)
·
Promotional Strategy
·
Key Risk Factors and Control
Plan
·
Budget and Forecast
·
Success Metrics
How Do You Get It Done?
Implementing your plan is hard work. I’ll
work with you to ensure you have the business processes, organization and key
contacts necessary to successfully implement you plan.
If you have more questions about what we
do, or just want to bounce some marketing questions off from me, visit www.marketingflexibility.com or
email me at kris@marketingflexibility.com.
Monday, February 3, 2014
SEO, Social Media, Web Design - Connecting the Dots
Businesses often outsource pieces of marketing, which makes sense when gaps in expertise or capabilities exist. The key to success
in working with marketing vendors is knowing which questions to ask and results
to expect. Here are some commonly outsourced services, and common pitfalls to
avoid.
SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the art and science
of selecting and optimizing keywords. The most common pitfall I see is excellent
SEO in terms of driving traffic to your site, but in not converting those
visits into paying customers. There is a science to selecting keywords which
will actually convert visitors into customers. Likewise, content on your
website should be written to provide a positive visitor experience, which pulls
visitors through the buying cycle. If content is written only for the sake of
saturating the site with keywords, it will not drive sales.
If an SEO provider is driving traffic which does not
generate viable leads, you should reconsider.
Social
Media
Social media is all about the number of followers you can
generate, right!
Wrong! Just like SEO, the sole purpose of social media is to
drive sales. If your social media provider is only measuring the
number of likes, followers or posts, you should look elsewhere. A good social media
provider will build a social media strategy which supports your business
objectives and, ultimately, supports your sales goals.
Web
Design
Web design and SEO go hand-in-hand. If you interview a
web design provider who does not ask about your business objectives, online
goals, target audience, key messages and SEO needs (at a minimum), you should reconsider.
Beautiful websites do not sell products and services (although they should look
great too!). Online strategy coupled with effective content, website
architecture, compelling calls to action, and great SEO do.
There are many agencies which provide excellent SEO,
Social Media and Web Design services. We would be happy to provide a
recommendation or simply some advice on the types of questions you should ask
when looking to outsource those services. Drop me a line at kris@marketingflexibility.com.
Marketing Flexibility, LLC
www.marketingflexibility.com
Marketing Flexibility, LLC
www.marketingflexibility.com
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
4 Types of Market Segmentation
If you looked at my Pandora radio playlist, you’d see a
pretty eclectic mix of music. My stations include The Police, Bon Jovi, Pink
Floyd, Sugarland, Nickel Creek and Crosby Stills & Nash. Like most people,
I never paid attention to the occasional ads that interrupt my music stream,
but something caught my attention this week. Some days, I heard ads from water
parks and Chevrolet, and other days I heard from Mercedes Benz. And it occurred
to me that each playlist was streaming ads appropriate for the expected
listening audience. In marketing terms, Pandora had segmented their listeners
into market segments, based on the typical demographics and interests of Bon
Jovi versus Crosby Stills & Nash fans.
The goal of market segmentation is to separate the
general market into categories, which can then be targeted and marketed to most
effectively. There are four general types of market segmentation:
1. Geographic segmentation
separates a market into different geographical boundaries which can impact the
marketing mix of product, price, promotion and channel to market. For instance,
you may not sell many down comforters in Arizona, but the market in Michigan is
pretty good. Ever been to Hawaii? The price of goods is substantially higher
than the continental United States. And the way you promote and sell a product
in southern California will be quite different from Vermont.
2. Demographic segmentation
separates a market by demographic indicators including gender, age, household
type, education level and income. Simply put, the type of products we buy, how
much we spend, and how we buy them are largely determined by demographic
factors.
3. Psychographic segmentation separates
a market by lifestyle as well as values and beliefs. There are large target
markets which fit psychographic segmentation, such as outdoor recreation and
fitness.
4. Behavioral segmentation separates
a market by shopping and buying behaviors. Are you an online shopper or do you
prefer to handle products in the store? How often do you shop? Do you research
a purchase carefully before making a decision, or do you tend to buy on
impulse? All of these factors determine how consumers are segmented and
marketed to.
If you’re a critical thinker like me, you may be
wondering about those people who fall in between, or are made up of a
combination of, those segments. My experience on Pandora is a great example. Am
I the Chevy or Mercedes demographic? Although market segmentation isn’t a
perfect science, it will certainly get you closer to understanding your target
audience and increasing your marketing return on investment.
For more information about Marketing Flexibility, visit www.marketingflexibility.com.
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