AMiable Solution #105: Building a Good Defense

 

In our last blog, we talked about building your offensive team.  As any good sports fan knows, teams don’t survive on offensive plays alone: they need defensive moves, too.  The ability to knock down a threat and turn opportunities into wins.

In marketing, that means countering your competitions’ moves and making big plays.  You can do that two ways.

First, protect your current customers, members, and donors.  In football, players who have possession of the ball protect it from the grasping hands of other players by cradling it their arms and holding it tight against them.  Existing customers need to be handled the same way or else you risk losing them.  Keep them close.  Keep them informed.  Don’t let them feel vulnerable or lost.  Respond to their requests and inquiries promptly.  Talk to them--in voice and in print--with compassion and respect.  Acquiring new customers is important for growth, but holding tight to your existing base is essential for staying in the game.

Second, respond to attacks.  After you’ve worked months or years to acquire and retain new customers, the last thing you want is to see them leave your bench and join the opposing team.  So when a competitor starts targeting your hard-earned market, how can you respond?  What can you do to protect your business and your bottom line?

• Adjust your pricing.  If a competitor targets your pricing structure, it may be time to change yours.  That doesn’t necessarily mean lowering prices to match your competitor’s.  If you can determine that the majority of your customers and new customers would be willing to pay more for greater value, which your product or service possesses that your competitor’s product or service doesn’t, than you may actually be able to increase your price.
• Advertise smarter.  When another company or organization threatens to attack your market, your best marketing response is a repositioning one: identify how your competitor’s product or service differs from yours.  Then, highlight the feature or features that your product has but your competitor’s lacks.
• Improve your product or service.  Here you have three choices: improve your product or service’s strength, improve a weakness, or improve the feature that your competitor excels in.  Just be sure not to change your product or service too much or eliminate features that customers count on or else you risk sabotaging your own efforts.

The most effective defense for any organization is also a simple one: build and maintain a good reputation for quality products and excellent customer service. 

AMiable Solution #104: Making the Big Play

Last weekend, sports fans watched with anticipation and speculation as 32 professional football teams recruited new players. 

Although the first player drafted this year was a defensive end, many people consider the offense, particularly the quarterback, the key to any successful football team.  In fact, Howie Long and John Czarnecki, in the book Football for Dummies, 4^th Edition, say the “typical” professional football team scores a touchdown or a field goal on one-third of its offensive possessions, making it vitally important for a quarterback to perform every time he’s on the field.

In marketing, the expectations are even tougher.  “Scoring,” or procuring an acceptable return, on one out of every three campaigns isn’t enough.  Realistically, despite all of your research and careful planning, you’re not going to score the game-winning touchdown with every campaign, but you must produce results.  Marketing costs money.  Competition is tough.  Loyalties aren’t always there, but mounting pressure to maximize the return and increase the organization’s or company’s bottom line is.  The economy isn’t always predictable.  Things don’t always go as planned.  And yet, you are expected to set a marketing budget and a sales goal and achieve both.

But how can you do that?  First, you need good coaches (management) to make the calls.  Most quarterbacks announce calls, not determine them.  They rely on the strategic thinking and competitive savvy of the folks with the head gear and clip boards.  The people who see the big picture both on the playing field and on the other side of the locker room doors.  Strong management with experience in both the industry and in business can provide the right insight to guide you successfully down the field.

Second, you need good leadership (the quarterback).  Someone who can put the plan into action.  Someone who works fast and has excellent focus.  Someone that others look to and listen to.  Someone who can take a hit and not only bounce back from a loss, but also encourage the team to keep going.  Marketing managers, project coordinators, graphic designers, customer service contacts all have the ability to take charge of a project or campaign and guide it into the end zone.

Good marketing offenses don’t just pop up out of the blue.  They’re chosen.  They’re given tasks and experience.  They experience successes and failures.  And they’re not afraid to take risks.  But most importantly, they know how to go after the big play.

AMiable Solution #103: Building Your Landscape

When it comes to landscaping, there’s no better resource for covering bare spots and beautifying hillsides than ground cover.   Likewise, when it comes to creating a direct mail campaign, there’s no better tool to organize and strategize than a direct mail plan. 

Direct mail plans, like ground covers, lay a foundation for your marketing efforts.  They lay out your goals, target audience, list universe, budget, costs, and projected response rate for all to see.  They identify problem spots (rental lists, deadlines, space restrictions, etc.) and address them. They help stabilize steep areas and help remove the promotional life-draining weeds.  And while they can’t necessarily conserve water and energy, they can help marketers create maximum impact in an efficient manner.

So what should your direct mail plan include?  In short: everything.  The more detail you include, the more informed your decisions will be for this mailing and for future mailings.  Think in terms of the three “Ds.”

Dates.  Identify not only the production schedule and mail date, but also the dates of prior mailings.  You may find that your sales/donations/renewals increase or decrease based on the timing.

Dollars.  The mail plan should identify the budget, all vendor bids, final costs, and the costs of comparable projects for benchmarking.

Details.  Document the size, page count, source codes, and specific contents of the mailpiece itself.  Note the formats, quantities, and response rates of any relevant or similar mailings.  Define the audience, and include detailed information about all house and rental lists that are used or were considered, including reasons why lists or list segments were or were not used.

Every mail plan covers an important part of your marketing landscape.  Plant wisely.