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December 28, 2007
10 marketing resolutions for 2008
What might marketers and entrepreneurs tackle in 2008? Here's one list, in no particular order.
1. Vow to do more attracting than selling.
To use a high school analogy: Be the charismatic kid with a winning smile, a charming personality and a good dose of humility. Don't be the tard who farts and throws firecrackers at cats in that desperate vein of "Look at me! Look at me!"
2. Adopt the 5th P.
If your company relies on the classic marketing model of the four P's, add a fifth one: Participation. Build a model of how customers, partners and employees can meet, share and participate with the company or with one another.
3. Build a niche.
The future is micro-specific. It starts
with people who share highly specific characteristics that defy
traditional demographics. Define an ideal customer to
the n'th degree, like unemployed college professors who wear corduroy
sport coats (with elbow patches) and drive old Volvos.
4. Conduct a word of mouth audit.
Put every customer-facing
experience up for review, from reception to the floor person, to
accounts payable. Does the customer experience generate good word of
mouth, or bad word of mouth? Adjust then measure again.
5. Create a social network.
Do it on Facebook, or Ning or the good ol' analog way: a customer advisory board. Any form of social network among customers, partners or employees (current or former) is a tangible asset. Treat it as you would your grandparents (respectfully), not as you would your younger brother whom you randomly punch in the head.
6. Vow to eliminate a stupid rule.
You know what it is. Customers (or bloggers) have already told you. So eliminate it already. For extra points, give it a funeral.
7. Create a social media training program.
In 2008, expect word of mouth and customer evangelism to be accelerated by social media considerably more than it was in 2007. What people say online will reach deeper into the B2B world, too, like long-term services contracts and enterprise-wide computer systems. Understanding the basics of social media, how it works and the effects it can have on reputation and sales should be part of annual training programs.
8. Ban use of the word "consumer."
Nothing says "I'm like Borat" more than using "consumers" to describe your customers, or end-customers. If you call the sales channel your customers, then their customers are your end-customers. To call them consumers is so Borat-like.
9. Raise the ethics bar.
Be a hero to people who still believe in ethics. Make 2008 the year you set higher standards for ethical behavior. Make the standards clear to employees, partners and vendors. Enforce them. Gaming the system is for congressmen and crooked military contractors.
10. Do what you love.
It may be trite but if you don't love what you're doing, how can you expect anyone else to?
Other blogs that reference 10 marketing resolutions for 2008:
I especially like #3 - build a niche. If someone hasn't carved out their specialty yet then this should be their first priority going into 2008. It is definitely hard getting most business owners who have been using the same business model and strategy for the past 10-20 years to switch gears for their online presence.
Great ideas, especially number 8. I can't stand that word.
An excellent post Ben. Thanks for sharing it with us. This is great food for thought for my team. I've sent the post to them for further conversation.
Kevin Eikenberry
I LOVE #8 - if more companies would stop doing stupid things they would have a lot more happy customers and customer evangelists. Thanks for this post. I love it and am going to link to it from my blog (customerevangelism.blogspot.com).
Vinny -- If the niche isn't already there, it had better be for '08.
Omer and Kim -- I think consumers is now the equivalent of someone standing before a group and saying "you people."
Kevin -- Awesome. Let us know how it goes!
Love number 9! I think if more companies raised the ethics bar, everything else would fall into place.
I need to work on #3 and #5 with my clients. They insist on being all things to all people. They also have resisted social media, claiming it is only for teenagers. I will show rather than tell them how to improve business using these ideas.
#10 makes all the difference in the world for us. Our restaurant feels alot less like work and more like daily living.
A friend recently pointed out your site to me as she said you are affirming much of what we have been doing in our new startup. We have done no advertising, but focused on creating the word of mouth network as you describe. Its a whole lot more cost effective that way.
All great points and a wonderful list. The only nit I have is the title of "Create a social network" - I know you mean network in the more broad (and perhaps "correct") sense, but I fear too many people reading this will think of it as a specific tool alone.
Otherwise, great stuff!
Shama -- Agreed. Totally. It's one thing to have company principles. I think it's another thing to have company ethics.
Connie -- Being all things to all people means being average to everyone. Number three is a big, big hurdle. Let us know how it goes with that.
Kevin -- More cost-effective and eminently more authentic, which should blend nicely with your restaurant's embrace of simplicity.
Jake -- Good point of clarification. A network is not just a software tool, it's a system of connection whether it be online, offline or a combination of both.
There will be huge growth in the creation as well as usage of niche social networking sites. Companies will create networks for their brands to engage and market to consumers.
We have set up a search engine specifically for the promotion of niche social networks. Users can find sites related to their particulare interests while site owners can get targeted traffic that helps grow their user base and helps monetize their web property.
If anyone runs a niche social network, please feel free to register and submit it for free!
It would great to hear everyone's take on this point-by-point. Here's mine:
#1 - I learned this one the hard way, thanks to the dot-com meltdown.
#2 - This one will be a good one for us to tackle -understated yet all encompassing.
#3 - Last year I had a few customers and employees not understand the importance of #3. I will forward this to them...from a hotmail addy.
#4 - We do this after every meeting - in person or via phone. it helps us hone our message and get on the same page.
#5 - Check
#6 - I like the funeral idea...marketing humility would go a long way for many.
#7 - As an offering to employees. clients or the general public?
#8 - I will scan our site after this post.
#9 - We were just discussing this a few days ago. We are putting together a plan to donate a % charity. Another angle = turn down business from the screamers, penny-pinchers and immoral.
#10 - We love this
I like #1 best. There is way too much hype out there in the internet marketing world. I like what Mike Filsaime says, "Always undersell and overdeliver."
To start this year off right, I made a list of my resolutions and turned it into a sale at resolutionsale.com, my first sale ever! So far the sale is going somewhat slow, probably due to the holidays and my difficulty in reaching JV partners, but the sale is converting at 3% and the OTO is converting at 85% so I can only hope that will keep up!
Happy New Year, blessings to all!
Nelson Minica
Ian -- About #7: Yes to all three. When it comes to training, it's difficult to do too much of it.
Some great points and some things I would hope many marketers are considering. #2 interested me the most as I found that this key area says a lot if you are building persons for task-oriented designs or audience profiling and wondering how people are going to interact with your product as well as perceive your messaging. I'd be happy to share this with anyone as well. happy new year!
This is an excellent list to get 2008 started. I especially like the comments about social networking. I'm fairly new to the scene and am amazed at the kinds of people I am running into. This is where the little guy can rub shoulders with the movers and shakers. This is not just a teen arena anymore, so jump in and have some fun with your marketing.
Great post! I love #6. Every company should review their "policies" annually and be honest about whether each one is serving their customers or their business. You're right. Customers tell you all the time which policies or rules need to change. Why not listen?
When trying to get a handle on how you are doing with helping to develop community. How do you suggest you measure it? How do you figure out if you have more than 1% or less.
The organizational marketing goal I've set for 2008 is to focus on the "vital few" projects that can drive incremental business through the door at the end of the day rather than the "interesting many" that sound good but don't give us an iota of ROI.
