Happy customers or Loyal fans - which does your business have?

Happy customers are often on the top ten list of business goals, but what does that really mean?

A customer is happy if their last experience with your brand was a good one.  It's a moment in time thing - I got great customer service or I loved the painless online check out.

Happy, says you met their immediate needs and hopefully left them feeling good about their decision to choose you over the alternatives. With luck, there's a good chance that this customer will come back for more.

What if three months later, that same customer revisits your store or website and the staff have changed or the interface has been updated. Now they might not be able to find what they need. There's no number to call, the customer service is non existent. Are they still happy?

Loyal fans are more than happy customers 

They are completely bought into your brand. They're so convinced of your product that even when you don't deliver to their expectations, they will still continue to favour you, (for a while) because they want to believe in the promises your brand makes.

Humans, like dogs, have an inbuilt need to be loyal.  Maybe you always go to the same garage to have your car serviced, (even though it's not the cheapest) or you wear a particular label (despite it being dry clean only), but in these heady days of limitless choice, our loyalties are regularly tested.

Business goals aimed at making customers consistently happy, through repeatable great experiences lead to loyal fans.











In a world where perception is 99% reality, keeping the promises your brand makes, will take you beyond happy customers and boost returns for years to come.

Think longterm.

Respect is earned.
Honesty is appreciated.
Trust is gained.
Loyalty is returned.

3 Simple Ways to Build Your Brand

Our world is very noisy. Thousands of pieces of marketing content are hurled at us every day and yet our ability to consume these communications remains unchanged.  What has changed is the attention we're willing to give any one thing, so much so, that it's even got it's own term - continuous partial attention.

Our brains are finely tuned to respond to messages which touch our hearts, teach us something new and, or present content in an unforgettable way.  In other words, nobody is interested in information anymore - entertain us, educate us and leave a lasting impression by all means, but don't expect a response if all you serve are the facts.

So how could your business take advantage of this human condition? Think like a publisher.

1. Make an emotional connection

Who is most likely to buy your product or service?. How are you going to convince them to choose your brand over the alternatives available? Answer -  make them feel something. Since hearts often rule heads, those brands which challenge us to become emotionally involved, often pique our interest and therefore get the sale. They don't call it retail therapy for nothing.
e.g. Hyundai message from space commercial 

2. Add the novelty factor

Using the very prim lady in the advert below, to talk about the delicate subject of poo, is both unexpected and funny. It's often the novelty of a companies approach which grabs our attention in the first instance. We like the new and the surprising, but be sure to tailor this to the audience you're trying to attract. Humour is a delicate balancing act.
e.g.  Poo pourri

3.  Be memorable

Making your brand a household name, is every marketers dream and yet much of the content on offer is full of well worn stereotypes and pat phrases (see this is a generic brand video).  We see the same things so often that they become invisible to us, losing their magic.

The mad men of yesteryear made products memorable by adding jingles and bold images.  Some things never change - Apple think different commercial or Nike Just do it 

Think of what you've liked, shared and talked about today and remember that your marketing has to resonate with real people in disguise as consumers, audiences and personas.

In the words of Viggo Mortensen “There's no excuse to be bored.  Sad, yes.  Angry, yes. Depressed, yes.  Crazy, yes.  But there's no excuse for boredom, ever”.

Go, create.

3 lessons in the art of selling from Kickstarter

I have a confession.

I think I'm hooked on funding Kickstarter projects .

It started innocently enough, backing Seth Godin (a noted giant of the marketing world).  I love his work, there was no risk, it was a win win. Then came Duncan Shotton and his glorious rainbow pencils and that was the start of the slippery slope.  I joined the mailing list and now have my credit card on standby, as the ‘Projects We Love’ email drops into my inbox.

How did this happen?  Why do these serial entrepreneurs wield such power?

Searching through those who make and often exceed their targets, the commonalities are clear.

1. They have personality (in spades)

People buy from people - it's the age old mantra.  That's why kickstarters have to present their ideas via video.  According to a new Cisco report, by 2018 over 75% of all traffic will be video based, proving that people really do have to see to believe.

Whether you've heard of the product or not, those who succeed, use their screen debut to ooze personality.  They help us decide to take the risk and make that pledge, by telling a story, from how the idea began, to their vision for the future.  They know that having the viewer trust that they can deliver on their promises, is the only way to get them to press the big green button. As an aside, what a great idea to make the backing button green - green for go, green for good and fresh and new, you get the idea.

2. They make us part of the process

Selling ideas is really about finding or even building a community who want to buy them. That's why marketing departments spend large portions of their budget on generating content to attract and retain relevant audiences. Kickstarter takes this to extremes, adding the emotional factor, that without your funding, this fabulous, new, ‘must have’ will never reach the market.  Feel the pressure?

Here, at the click of a button, a community is born.  Every funder feels like a hero for getting the project out of its starting blocks.  We see that a number of other backers have endorsed what is now, our idea, of a great project. We feel part of something - a secret group of early adopters with a vested monetary interest in success and that makes us care, share and talk about each venture, as though it were our own. Brilliant.

3. They test ideas and listen for feedback

For the price of a two minute video, entrepreneurs can test their audience, to see if there is enough interest to make their idea a viable business.  If it bombs and/or there are no pledges, it's back to the drawing board, without having spent their life savings on marketing and advertising.  TeamYoga is a great example of this.  Maybe there isn't a market for poseable toys just yet, but could that be because not enough children are doing yoga? What could they do to encourage this market?  Their kickstarter investment may have saved them from financial disaster or even inspired them afresh to take a new approach.  Either way, it was worth the broadcast.

So, if you find yourself hovering over that big green button, please get in touch.  We can form a support group.

A Quick Way To Establish Your Brand And Its Values

Branding is generally associated with external audiences e.g. customers, prospects, partners, investors and press. Everything your company does, communicates your brand to the waiting world. From website to letterhead, receptionist to location, it all helps potential customers to decide how to respond to your outreach.

Branding is just as important for your internal audience (existing and future staff), but more often than not, when I speak to a new client, there's a lack of agreement between employees, around who their company is and what it does for its customers.

If you find yourself struggling to reach consensus across your organisation, answering the following questions can really help.

1. What words would you use to describe [insert company name] today?
2. What words would you like to be using to describe [insert company name] 5 years from now?
3. Who or what do you regard as your main competitors?
4. Which words would you use to describe the competitors mentioned in question 3?
5. Why do/would customers choose [insert company name] over the alternatives available?
6. Which one attribute would you want [insert company name] to be known for?
7. In your own words, what does [insert company name] do?

There are no right or wrong answers in this exercise.  Think of it as structured brain storming.  Ideally you should gather as many responses as possible - you can keep it to employees only or invite customer and distributor input too.  Look for patterns in the replies that you collect.  What sort of language is being used - descriptive, market jargon, active or passive voice?  Where are the gaps i.e. which questions did respondents struggle with most?

As a rough rule of thumb, your brand values, are the words which you'd use to describe yourself now and in the future, (the overlap in answers between questions 1 and 2). They are the essence of what your company stands for and should help potential customers to form expectations of service, quality, credibility etc.

Questions 3 and 4 help you define the market that you're in and let you compare the alternatives, just as your potential customers will, when making a purchase decision.  Make sure to include the internet and apathy alongside your named competitors, because todays endless choices often result in people making no decision at all.

Question 5 is designed to make you think about the benefits your product/service supplies, in the minds of your potential customers. Often companies present benefits in terms of product features rather than the actual value that customers gain from buying or using your product.  Think about how your product makes people feel, as well as what they actually get.  Knowing why people choose your brand makes messaging and content creation much easier.

Question 6 cuts to the core value.  What do you stand for?  If you say Volvo, people think of safety, and this trait has been stated in every marketing message that they produce, to convince us of its truth.  Brands need to  have a purpose.  None of us want to buy from faceless corporations.  What's at the heart of your organisation?

Question 7 tests whether you have a value proposition or not.  It's amazing how even people in the same department will paint a very different picture of their brand, when asked what their company does.  This is hardly surprising since we tend to define a company by our role in it, however, building your brand is about clearly and consistently sharing what you stand for, to position your offering in the hearts and minds of potential customers. If it seems like I've now looped back to the first paragraph in this post, then you can see how this all fits together.

In this age of social sharing, understanding your brand and its values, let's you define and reach your audience in ever more granularity.  Knowing who you appeal to and why, gives you the best chance of return on your marketing budget and there's no longer any excuse to mass market and hope something sticks.   As the saying goes, if you aim at nothing, you're bound to hit it.

Keeping Pace with change

I found it amazing to watch Richard Branson's latest launch.

The time, effort and people skills needed to create this 3 mins and 26 seconds of wonder is undeniable and the wow factor created, reinforces the brand as forward thinking and innovative.

My children (7, 5 and 2 years respectively), were under whelmed. In their world the iphone has always existed. Their entire lives are on a hard drive. Their minds are wide open and everything is possible. Does this make it harder or easier to grab their attention? What kind of consumers are we raising and how can we keep them interested?

I think the answer lies in three little words
- Anticipated
- Personal
- Relevant

Those of you who follow Seth Godin might recognise these terms from 'Permission Marketing' published in 1999. I'd urge you to read it if you haven't already http://www.sethgodin.com/permission/. Thirteen years on it's comforting to find that while technology seems to evolve daily, human nature takes longer to catch up.

Stop worrying about which social media platform to master next and instead think about
- what you have to say
- who you're going to say it to
- when they need to hear it
- why they'll bother to listen 

Small businesses only need to keep pace with the changes that are important to their customers. Build your marketing around what's in it for them and you'll have a loyal audience no matter how or where they find you.

Do you meet my needs?

I read an article recently which stated that customers were generally 60% through the sales cycle before they engaged a sales person. Its called self education, or in plain english, the online researching, discussing with friends and family, article reading and general background checks we do, to convince ourselves that our money will be well spent.

In marketing terms it's the consideration phase and it's important. You've got a need in mind and you want to know that the company/product/service you choose, will help you meet that need. So, how do you evaluate? In a word - positioning.

Positioning sounds rather old fashioned now, but it's simply creating ideas, images and feelings in the mind of your customer. Some examples of great positioning

• answering the questions your customer is likely to have through web content, tweets and facebook discussions, before they need to ask them directly 
• recognizing the bigger reasons around a need and playing to them i.e. I want a watch but if I get a Rolex all my friends will know it cost a lot and be jealous. Rolex play to the idea of prestige rather than the ability to tell time 
• creating an emotional link to a brand i.e. John Lewis (never knowingly undersold), gives the impression of being on the customers side and having their best interests at heart. They are selling integrity as well as merchandise 

Of course the most obvious example of positioning is whether you consider yourself to be a Mac or a PC. Apple positioning their products in the world of Art, free thinkers, rebels and creative geniuses. The Apple brand has created a loyal fan base who will sleep outside to be first in the queue for the latest gadget. They're convinced of greatness as soon as they see the icon. Now that's positioning.

Ask yourself

• Who is my product/service for?
• What do they expect it to do for them?
• Will my product/service meet my customers needs better than the alternatives they can choose from? (in other words help customers choose you over the competition)

Thinking as the buyer rather than the seller will help you position your offering and see where improvements can be made. If you don't position yourself, others will, so make sure it's your choice to gain maximum advantage.

Now, Pret or Subway for lunch?

Do I know what you do?

I wrote an earlier post on the first question which we all ask when making any kind of purchase decision, "have I heard of you?" and "do I know what you do?" is the logical next step.  These days we're all time poor, and if we don't understand, its easier to walk away than take the time to learn.


Telling the world what you do starts with a simple business description.  It's the text you need to fill your profile page on LinkedIn, or Twitter or Facebook (assuming you've build a business page).  It should be clear and concise and free of jargon.  Think of this step as a foundation stone.  Your business description/profile should be the facts without frills version of what you do, but attracting customers means taking a step further and building familiarity.

1. Think about your ideal customer.  Who are they?  What age are they?  Where do they live?  What do they do?  How much spare time do they have to hear your message?  What are they reading your message on?   The language you use to describe your business is key.  Which words would your ideal customer use to describe what you do? (It's often helpful to get a friend or family member to tell you what they think your business does.  If your mother doesn't understand your description, there's a good chance no-one else will).
2. Does your company produce products/services which mean the same to everyone? If you sell ice cream then most people know what that means.  If you're an applications developer then explaining what you do to a technical audience, requires the use of terms they understand and would expect you to use for credibility.  An applications developer pitching to the marketing team needs a different slant.  Don't leave any group to assume they know what you do.  Tell them.
3. Familiarity comes from meeting your ideal customer where they already are.  Often I hear SMEs moaning about the uphill battle to attract customers.  These days we all have so much choice that its unlikely we'll go looking for the next big thing unless it comes to find us.  Having worked out who you want to target, consider where those people are now.  e.g. Twitter is a great tool for finding others interested in what you have to say.  Type relevant words into the Twitter search bar and it will return lists of those already talking about that subject.  Also think about the publications/blogs they might read.  If you know who's already influential to their world, you can work on a plan to be seen in the same space etc.
4. Be there when people are looking for you.  Seems like the opposite of what I've just said above, but now that we're all so google dependant, make sure that you can be found when someone types in a search term relevant to your business.  It seems so obvious, but without visibility there can be no familiarity.  Your google rankings is a whole other blog post though.

Have you guessed what I do yet?

Generalist

A morning coffee with some fellow freelancers kicked off the generalist versus specialist debate. Which is best and does it matter? Should one be more expensive than the other?

On reflection both attributes carry equal weight and we all need to balance the generalist and specialist elements of what we do for the companies and products we represent.

Generalists because

• everyone needs a level of education to make sure you're not assuming anything e.g. top of the funnel* marketing messages designed to set the ground rules 
• customers want value for money, knowing about lots of different areas, how they interact, what to consider, where to prioritise etc. before making further investment. Think wikipedia versus squidoo pages
• wisdom is gained from experience and generalists tend to have a wealth of experience to draw from, earned from a number of years of 'doing' 

*in the spirit of not assuming anything, top of the funnel refers to the lead generation or sales funnel where lots of potential customers start the sales process and the aim is to retain as many of these as possible through to actual sales.

Specialists because

• audiences like 'boxes'. She's a social media expert, he's a copywriter etc. Putting a label on who you are and what you do is essential to finding and retaining your audience 
• the devil is in the detail. Specialism drives differentiation (giving your customers a reason to buy your product/services over the available competition) 
• narrowing your focus ensures you can keep up with the latest developments in your field, spotting the opportunities, increasing your usefulness in a particular area and as a result the likely success of the endeavour. 

As to whether one should be more expensive than the other, I think your customers will ultimately decide.

Perception is 99% reality

For me, Pringle knitwear suggests golfers and odd diamond colour combo's, reserved for unsuspecting Dads and Uncles at Christmas.  Younger generations probably don't recognise the brand at all.  So it was a brave move when early last year, Pringle of Scotland tried to change its stuffy perception and hit a new demographic at the same time, with its youtube outreach.

Being Scottish, I might find this funnier than most, but it's a great example of how major brands are embracing social media to expand their existing audiences.  
I think I might even ask Santa for a cardi.

Have I heard of you?

On the web, you are what you publish. In cyberspace it seems that familiarity does not breed contempt, but rather puts our fears at ease. The more we know about you the better.

That's why the 'have I heard of you?' question is so important. It's the starting point for every decision - which brand to buy, which deal to take, who to use? It's all about trust. Knowing, or at least having heard of someone or something, reduces the risk, if only in our perceptions, and helps us move a step closer to buying/choosing and committing our hard earned cash.

With my SME helper hat on, there are some simple ways to increase visibility for yourself and/or your brand.

1. Make sure that as a company, you can express who you are and what you do
It's amazing how often I work with SMEs who can't agree on these basics. Every employee making up their own version confuses customers and reduces sales. Keep it simple and memorable.

2. Have a consistent face to the world
People buy from people, so stop worrying about whether social media is for B2B or B2C and instead think of it as a chance to engage and be seen. Customers are reassured by the same branding, colours and imagery across all media you use, so stick with it.

3. Look for listeners
Building visibility with niche groups, is far more beneficial for SMEs than trying to shout over the noise of a mass market. Who is going to be most receptive to what you have to say? Look for the smallest, most defined group you can e.g. 40+ women, living in London, with a passion for knitting etc. Find them and amaze them and you'll never have to worry about being invisible again.