Back when I was in college studying marketing, they showed us the marketing funnel. I’m not sure if they still teach this, but if you’ve studied You’ve probably seen it too. It’s basically a process where you start with a large number of prospects then proceed to a shorter number of qualified leads, then to customers, then to clients. This is the old way of doing things. In the past, marketers had no choice but to interrupt people and inform them about your company’s offerings… whether they were interested or not. The focus was on mass. Marketers needed to constantly fill that funnel with fresh prospects constantly. My how things have changed. Seth Godin discusses the shift away from mass (yet again) with his twelfth trend in Meatball Sundae, “the shift from how many to who”.

We’ve talked about it before, and we probably will again. Now is not the time to waste resources spamming people. Instead you should focus on exactly the people that are interested in what your company offers. Think of it like this. If the old approach to marketing was a hand grenade, then the new approach is like a phaser from Star Trek (or a laser for my readers that aren’t cool enough to watch Star Trek). It’s very focused on individuals not on random groups. These individuals, if targeted correctly will be your biggest fans and will go out and spread the word to others in the community. If you’ve segmented the market properly, finding these communities online should be a piece of cake.

Even if you have a product that appeals to a large group of people (say beer for example) it doesn’t mean you should spam random people. There are appropriate places for your message, and it’s your job as a marketer to find them. Maximize your resources (time and money) don’t waste them, marketing to an audience that doesn’t care or can’t afford you’re offerings.

The problem with a lot of online marketing is that many companies try to focus on using the new tools of the internet to focus on doing things the same old way. They look at things like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and online ads to interrupt masses of people and spam them with their message. It just doesn’t work that way, no matter how much you want it to. Especially online, it’s very easy to click away and ignore your message. In order for me or any other consumer out there to be interested in what you are offering, it must be relevant to what I’m looking for at that instant.

Anyways, you get the point. Focus on individuals not on mass. Only two more trends to discuss!

Notables quote from this section:

• “Let’s be really clear: the web is the single worst medium ever devised for interrupting people who don’t want to be interrupted.”
• “Marketers who are in sync with this new tool realize that it won’t let you do the old thing better, what it will let you do is find people to spread the word for you.”

I remember when I first discovered ebay way back in the day. Thankfully I had a job back then, and spent most of my disposable cash on all kinds of products that I just couldn’t find in stores. I used to by manga (Japanese comics), out of print books, out of print CD’s and old NES games. It was fun and cool, and it opened up a whole new world for both companies and consumers. With ebay and other auction sites like Bonanzle customers can now buy products directly from each other. As a matter of fact it’s about time for another shameless plug (it’s been a while since the last one). If you’re a woman, and are into clothes and stuff, check out my friends auction site here. Seth Godin’s discusses this with his ninth trend in Meatball Sundae, “direct communication and commerce between consumers and consumers.”

Many businesses have been created (or have become more successful) because of this new trend. My favorite bookstore in the world, Half-Price Books has taken advantage of this customer to customer interaction. Sure, they buy and sell used books, but I’m talking about their community meeting groups. I don’t know if all of their locations offer this, but the main store on Northwest highway in Dallas offers a place for clubs and groups to meet up and discuss their chosen topic. That means all you pen-and-paper rpg folks can game it up, all you manga readers can get together and swap and discuss books, poets are welcome to come out and try their new stuff out on an audience, Star Trek fans can live long AND prosper (how about that?), etc. I don’t know of any other company that offers this type of meeting place, and I applaud Half-Price books for doing this (HPB marketing team, please start promoting this stuff).

Instead of fighting against this trend (look at what software producer Electronic Arts is doing to punish people that buy used games; they call it “project ten dollar”), companies should embrace and even encourage their customers to interact with each other. Let’s be honest, the genie’s already been let out of the bottle anyway; we’re going to talk to each other whether you like it or not. Get with the program and create a place where your customers can talk to each other. If you don’t, just don’t be surprised when you competition does (and takes home some extra goodwill and business as well).

Trend ten discussion coming soon.

Notable quote from this section:

• “As social networks become more powerful, consumers will gravitate to each other, not just informing each other about their experiences but banding together into unions that will pressure organizations for more of what consumers want.”

First of all, I’d like to congratulate the Saints on their first Superbowl championship. As a matter of fact, congratulations are in order for both teams for delivering one of the most exciting Superbowl games I’ve seen. Yes, the game was exciting, but what about the commercials? It’s a fact that many viewers only watch the game for the ads. According to various online sources, advertisers spent about $2.6 million on a 30 second spot during the game (which is viewed by an estimated 150 million people). With that much money being spent for 30 seconds of marketing, I’d expect to have my socks blown off, but yet, they are still here on my feet. As a matter of fact, the ads were so lackluster, that I can only really recall the ones that were so bad that I made mental notes.

I’m not a fan of big money ads. I’ve said it again and again that I’d spend that money a little differently. This “let’s spend millions of dollars to reach the largest possible audience” mentality is ancient history. It’s the old way of marketing, and it’s a waste of money. Like I said before in my discussion of old marketing versus new marketing, you can make more of your efforts by telling a story directly to customers interested in what you are offering. Why then did Dove advertise a soap to make a man’s skin silky smooth DURING THE FREAKING SUPERBOWL!? You know, one of the most macho events of the year. Wow, great job there guys. You really did your homework. If you were going to waste $2.6 million dollars, you could’ve just given it to me. I would’ve turned that money into a profitable company (or early retirement, hahaha). If you’re going to make a product like that, advertise during figure skating or something.

So why do I think the Superbowl ads were garbage? Because they completely missed the opportunity. You are in front of millions of people. It was an opportunity to launch a new product in an exciting way. It was a chance to pull off a promotion that is so original that it would move millions of people to take advantage (well, to be fair, Denny’s kind of did this, but they already ran that promotion last year, so it wasn’t as exciting). It was a chance to launch a new viral campaign. No one really took advantage of this opportunity; instead all of the companies focused on the old rules of marketing: make an average product for average people and reach the widest audience possible to promote it. Not very exciting. That worked back in the old days when advertising was one of the more important aspects of marketing. Back then we had effective ads like the 1984 commercial and the classic Budweiser frogs campaign. But those days are history, and it’s time that companies get with the new program.

You know there is one ad that I kind of liked. The Miller High Life ad were they promoted some local businesses was interesting. In these kind of tough economic times, it really spread a bit of goodwill out there, and I think it was very cool of them to do that. Of course, Miller High Life still gives me massive headaches and tastes like… well, let’s not go there. My brand of beer will probably always be Rolling Rock. Not because of their marketing (or maybe it is, but they are just so good at it that I don’t realize it), but because it tastes the best to me.

What do you think of this year’s Superbowl commercials? Thumbs up or down? What was your favorite or least favorite ad during the game? Hit me up in the comments below or email me privately at edwardviator@evil-marketer.com

There used to be only a few channels out there for businesses to communicate with their customers: radio, television, and print. Now there are an infinite number. The eighth trend in Seth Godin’s Meatball Sundae is “Infinite channels of communication.” Today, every interaction with a customer is a channel of communication. Sure, your Facebook page is a channel, so is your Twitter account, but so also are the interactions your customers have with each other and with potential customers. Let’s face it, people talk to each other, and in today’s marketplace it’s easier than ever for people to have discussions about your company and your brand. In the wise words of Luke Skywalker, “you can either profit by this or be destroyed. It’s your choice, but I warn you not to underestimate my power.”

So what does this have to do with you? Everything. Before, companies had to broadcast their messages to anyone and everyone out there in the hopes that the message would reach their target demographic. This meant that it just wasn’t economically feasible to market niche products. Why spend a fortune marketing something using mass media that has limited appeal? Sure, there are specific demographics for specific programs on TV, radio, or print articles, and so it’s not impossible to reach your target demographic in this manner. However, you will waste alot of money reaching people that don’t care about your product. Not only that, but people are actively trying to avoid these types of interruption messages.

On the internet, it’s not only possible to reach these niche audiences, it’s actually preferable. You don’t need to interrupt anyone; customers will look for you and your products if they pertain to them. You can succeed with a smaller market, but a larger market share. All you need to do is stay relevant, and treat every interaction with your customers as a channel of communication.

Notable quotes from this section:

• “In order for a customer to make a decision, two things need to happen. The second is that she needs to determine that it’s worth the time or money or risk to take action. But first, she needs to know about the opportunity.”
• Instead of reaching everyone (because you have no other choice) and creating generic products for large audiences, you can now reach a tiny slice of the market - just the people who are passionately interested in your products and services.”
• “The product is everything the company needs to spread the idea itself.”

One of the first rules of marketing is to segment the market. You probably already know that, but if you don’t, now you do and remember kids, knowing is half the battle (the other half is apparently blowing stuff up). What’s been happening lately though is that the market has actually been segmenting your business. Before, you could get away with packaging products together, but in today’s market, customers are demanding pick-and-choose component based solutions. Look at products like iTunes where you can purchase individual songs instead of complete albums. This phenomenon is Godin’s seventh trend, “Google and the dicing of everything.”

I’m not sure exactly when Google became the standard for web searches, but one thing is certain. They have completely changed online business forever. Before Google, we had to go though a company’s main web page and then click though different pages to find the one with the information we needed. Now with Google, we can jump directly to the page that pertains to our search. This means that your company’s offerings should be very specific as opposed to the pre-packaged offerings of the past. If I’m looking for an adult sized banana costume, I can Google my query and pull up a number of sites where I might find exactly what I’m looking for. That’s just an example… no really, I’m not looking for a banana costume, stop looking at me like that!

The point is that no matter what your company offers, you need to understand that the customer will not be satisfied with the package that you put together. They demand to pick and choose the best elements themselves. They want to jump directly to the products (or services) that pertain to them, and they want to do it with minimal clicks. Respect your customers time, and segment your products accordingly. If you don’t, your competition will, and then they’ll reap the benefits while you go out of business.

Trend eight discussion, “Infinite channels of communication” coming soon.

Notable quotes from this section:

• “Specific searches mean that bundling is not necessary.”
• “If you can’t offer more than a commodity, someone else will sell it cheaper.”

The sixth trend that Seth Godin discusses in Meatball Sundae is “Outsourcing.” It’s no secret that outsourcing has become a way of life for business people today. It’s an easy and inexpensive way to get things done, and can really boost your productivity. That being said, you should use caution when choosing to outsource; just because you can doesn’t mean that you should. The best tasks to outsource are those by-the-book things that are necessary for business, but are too expensive to do in-house. If you are a small business, outsourcing things like payroll or accounting may be the only way to get things done. Rather than spend the money to purchase a new server it may be a good idea to hire a web hosting service. Instead of paying for a silk screening machine, perhaps you should order T-shirts from a company that already has the equipment.

So when shouldn’t you outsource? When it involves your customers, when you can genuinely do a better job in-house, when you have a specific process or philosophy that cannot be duplicated, etc. One thing that always bothers me when companies choose to outsource customer service. How can you say you care about your customers when all you are doing is putting them off on someone else. Who else understands your clients better than you? Sometimes it’s best to take matters in your own hands, especially when it’s something that the customer is going to see.

It’s possible that you are currently in a job that may be outsourced. It’s a scary thought, but the sad reality is that if something can be outsourced, it will be at some point. The best way to cope with this is to do something in a way that cannot be duplicated. This means that you need to have the freedom to take on your tasks in a creative way. If successful, it can be a great way to differentiate yourself from other companies that rely on the one size fits all strategy of outsourcing.

Notable quotes from this section:

• “No industry is going to be untouched by the move to outsource anything that saves time or money.”
• “If a job can be codified, it will be outsourced, usually for less money.”

Every time I go see a movie in the theater there always seems to be some person right in front of me texting away like (s)he was at home. It’s not just the kids, you see it with adults and their Blackberry’s too. Why do people do this? It’s the same reason why they talk on the phone while driving, or have those DVD players in the car, or listen to the radio while doing something else: There are an unlimited number of distractions out there which divide our attention constantly. We focus less and less on the task at hand, and therefore attention spans are very limited. Godin discusses this with trend #4: “extremely short attention spans due to clutter.”

Some companies seem to think that they can go on and on about a products features and benefits, just because the product is good. The truth is, if you don’t capture a customers attention in a few seconds, they’re clicking away from your site (wait! don’t go yet, you #@!$%*%). This means that you should always respect your customers time, and realize that they have better things to do than sit around and listen to your marketing message. You need to think about what your customers want, and then deliver with something that directly pertains to them. Don’t just interrupt people’s television or radio programs to let them know. Look for ways to talk directly to the people interested in what you’re offering. The era of spam is over. Or at least it should be. And if you don’t understand that, then your competition will.

I could go on, but I’m going to be brief (that is the point of the post after all). Trend 5 discussion later.

Notable quotes from this section:

• “It means that every interaction with a consumer is a make-or-break proposition.”

I’m sure it’s happened to you too. I’m sitting there talking to someone, passionately discussing something that’s important to me, and then I notice something disturbing; the person I’m talking to couldn’t care less, and judging by the look they give me, they haven’t heard a word I’ve just said. It’s a devastating feeling to know that no one is listening to you, especially when you feel so strongly about something. It’s one of the main reasons why I started this blog. Here I can discuss the things I care about, and at least a few people out there are listening (by the way thanks to all you guys that have started following me on Tumblr and/or Twitter, or you guys that have me bookmarked or whatever). Godin addresses this need to be heard with trend #2: “amplification of the voice of the consumer and independent authorities.”

Back in the day, companies needed to cater only to a small group of critics. If they got a good review in the newspaper, or magazine, or got featured on some television show, then they were guaranteed millions. Today though, everyone’s a critic. It’s nothing new really, people have always been this way. The difference is that they now have a way to instantly spread the word to millions. The internet, and blogs in particular, have given a voice to anyone and everyone that has something to say. And you know what? People are listening. Every interaction your company has with anyone can quickly be shared with the world.

This may seem like a bad thing, but in reality it’s actually a huge opportunity. As a marketer, it’s your job to make the most of every interaction with the customer or client. Shut up and listen to what the people that you market to are saying. They want to be heard, and if you care at all about your brand, you will listen to what they have to say. If you are unjustly criticized you can always address the situation directly. Set up a discussion board for your clients to talk, and interact with them. It’s not that complicated really.

Trend #3, “Need for an authentic story as the number of sources increases”, discussion coming soon.

Notable quotes from this section:

• “It’s not us and them. Now it’s us and us.”
• “A post on a blog anywhere in the world could very well rank higher in a google search than information on that same topic on your company’s website.”
• “The easiest way to understand blogs (text, audio, or video) is to understand that they (finally) connect three real desires: to hear our own voices, to be heard by others, and to hear what the crowd thinks.”
• “Big numbers matter when you run mass ads that are ignored. Small numbers are just fine when you deliver powerful messages with permission.”

For years, companies have searched for ways to “eliminate the middleman.” Well, we’ve gotten to the point where this is a reality for many types of businesses. Unfortunately, many companies mistakingly see this as a problem, not a solution. The first trend that Seth Godin discusses in Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing out of Sync? is “direct communication and commerce between producers and consumers.” Basically this means that consumers now have (and expect) the ability to communicate directly with companies. This also means that it’s possible for companies to market and sell directly to consumers.

In the past businesses relied only on mass media to reach customers, but today the average consumer is going out of their way to avoid these interruptions (commercials are skipped, radio stations are changed, ads are forgotten). So much money has been wasted, and continues to be wasted on marketing to masses of people. Only a small percentage of people will even pay attention, much less be moved, by these mass marketing messages. So why do companies spend so much time and money on these methods? Because it’s the way it’s always been done. Like I said in an earlier post, instead of spending a ton of cash on ads, I would instead hire a team of excellent marketers that can take advantage of the free and cheap tools on the internet… but (you guessed it) that’s another story.

So, how can you take advantage of this new trend? Well for one, you should be immediately responsive to your customers. When they send you and email, they expect a reply. And fast. I’ve been guilty of leaving email unanswered for too long, and I’m sure you have too. It’s a mistake, and smart people learn from mistakes. Be smart, and remember that every unanswered email is a missed opportunity for you. Every interaction with the customer matters, and yet many companies seem to go out of their way to avoid customers (how many times have you been given the runaround?). This is a big opportunity for you to differentiate yourself and your company. Instead of ignoring those emails, answer them; engage yourself with your clients.

One of the advantages of this type of communication is that you can learn more about your customers, and even begin designing products based on their needs. In the past, companies created products and then used marketing to find customers. Now, you can communicate with your customers and create products and services that are specifically tailored to their needs. Pretty cool, huh? Godin has tons of examples in his book, and I’m sure you could think about many more.

Another way to take advantage of the changing relationship between companies and consumers is to begin taking part in permission marketing. Godin talks alot about this, and it’s easy to see why. With mass media becoming less and less effective (and therefore more and more expensive), permission marketing is the way to go to reach customers. Here’s how it works, instead of spamming tons of people with a message that may or may not pertain to them, you should find (and eventually build your own) communities built around the types of people that your product appeals to. Talk to them, respect them, don’t waste their time. Godin outlines some basic rules for permission marketing. Here’s the short version…

1. Serve your customers, not yourself.
2. Permission is not to be bought and/or sold.
3. Keep your message relevant. If it has nothing to do with the customer and their life, they will leave.
4. Legal print and privacy policies are meaningless. If you do wrong by your customers (even if you are legally correct) they will leave.
5. Respect your customers.
6. Strike first, strike hard, no mercy sir! (okay, I just made that one up)

Next we will discuss trend 2, “Amplification of the voice of the consumer and independent authorities.” See you then.

Notable quotes from this section:

• “The fact cannot be denied: Your people (customers, employees, prospects, readers, whatever) want to be heard. They demand it.”
• “An inbound e-mail is not (just) an expense; it’s (also) an opportunity - a chance for your organization to eliminate barriers and have a dialogue with a prospect or a customer.”
• “The job of marketing is to grow the organization, and growth comes, obviously, from putting yourself in front of people who didn’t know about you before you got there.”
• “Outbound marketing now demands respect for the people on the receiving end.”

It’s time for another book discussion. This time, I’m reading Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing out of Sync? by Seth Godin. The general idea is that not all organizations are optimized to take advantage of the new marketing opportunities out there today. Instead many companies are still focused on old marketing techniques. Godin discusses 14 trends that have re-shaped marketing, and illustrates how you can optimize your business to take advantage of these trends. Since the organization of the book is a bit different (and you really should read it yourself), I won’t be discussing the book chapter by chapter. Instead, I’m going to discuss each of his 14 trends in turn.

Let’s start the discussion by defining old marketing vs new marketing. Godin describes the era before advertising as a time when small and local businesses thrived. Products were usually made by hand, and sold locally. Many of these companies failed to invest properly in marketing to the masses and therefore died out when the advertising age hit. The era of advertising is what really describes “old marketing”. Godin define’s old marketing as “the art of interrupting masses of people with ads about average products.” (reminds me of those old toy commercials when I was a kid) Many companies are optimized to take advantage of this approach. However, we are in the era of “new marketing”, and many companies aren’t set up to take advantage.

“New Marketing” Godin says, “leverages scarce attention and creates interactions among communities with similar interests. New marketing treats every interaction, product, service, and side effect as a form of media.” See the difference? Let’s break it down a bit. Old marketing relies on a limited number of media outlets (print, radio, television, etc); new marketing has unlimited media outlets. Old media is focused on appealing to masses; new marketing focuses on appealing to niche audiences. Old marketing is based on marketer-to-consumer communication; new marketing is based on consumer-to-consumer communication. Old marketing sells with features; new marketing sells with stories. The book outlines many more differences, but you get the idea.

Think about it for a few minutes. From the ground up, many companies are designed with this old marketing approach in mind. They create average products for the average consumer, and use mass media to let the world know. If this describes your approach to marketing, then you will not be able to take full advantage of all the new marketing opportunities available. I’ve talked about companies using social media poorly. Many times, it’s because they focus only on the new toys and not enough on organizational changes. If you want to take advantage of new marketing opportunities, you need to create outstanding products and then tell stories directly to the people that you’ve gained permission to talk to.

What do you think defines old marketing and new marketing? Do you agree that we are in a new era? Discuss in the comments or send me an email.

Next time we’ll discuss the first trend, “direct communication and commerce between producers and consumers”.