The Follis Marketing Report

It pays to be creative. The more creative your message is, the more memorable it will be. The more memorable it is, in a positive way, the better your chance of making a sale. Here’s one Follis example:

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Don’t confuse marketing with selling. In the B2B world, the job of a sales force is to sell, sell, sell. They work on commission so the more they sell, the more they make. Problem is, that no matter how smooth or sexy they do that, most prospects know they’re being sold. And, they have good reason to question if a sales person truly cares if the product or service they’re selling is really right for the prospect’s business. It’s an inherently faulty dynamic.

The job of marketing is to inform prospects in way that lets them come to their own decision. Done right, it grabs a prospect’s attention in a positive way, and then informs persuasively once it does. Bottom line: The better you market your product, the less you have to try to sell it.

“Expert advice.” — Andrew Mede / NY, NY

“Cogent, sage, essential.” — Barry Malvin, Pres./Internet Solutions, NY, NY

“A tremendous kick in the butt.” — Joanne Meurer, ID Inc. NY, NY

Don’t confuse “marketing” with “advertising”. Some people hear the word “marketing” and think “advertising.” Not the same thing. And to grow your business you must understand the difference.

Traditional “advertising” is about paying for traditional media exposure via newspapers, magazines, Yellow Pages, radio, TV, billboards, etc. It’s generally designed to reach a broad audience and the ad/media costs will reflect that. For many products and services advertising works great if it’s done right.

“Marketing” is a broader term that involves any possible way to get your message out. That includes PR, direct mail, your logo and tagline, personal networking, giving talks and writing articles, and many non-traditional and online strategies like having an effective website, sending out email newsletters and promotions, buying Google Adwords, pay-per-click, SEO, and using “social media” like blogs and podcasts.

Effective marketing includes the right mix of traditional advertising and non-traditional online strategies.

You can’t expect to do it yourself and do it well. I don’t know why some business owners still challenge that idea. Then again, maybe I do. Because it doesn’t seem like it should be that hard a thing to do. After all, it’s your business, right? So, when they try something and it doesn’t work, they simply conclude that marketing doesn’t work. It doesn’t occur to them that their marketing strategy is off base, or that they’re not really targeting the right audience, or that their creative excecution or production value is horrible, or that their website and/or online strategy sucks, or any number of other things that they’re not aware of because 1) it is their business and they don’t have the necessary objectivity, and 2) they don’t have the marketing expertise.

Businesses that are most successful, hire the best lawyer when they legal help, the best insurance person when they need insurance help, the best CPA when they need tax help, and the best marketing resource when they need marketing help.

I can’t recall being around as many people with a passion as I was last week at PodCamp NYC. It was delight to be around such positive energy and so many friendly folks sharing ideas and information about podcasting.

In his visionary book, The Pursuit of Wow, Tom Peters describes why the only products with a future are those created by passionate people. A bold statement. And yet, in an equally fascinating book, How They Achieved: Stories of Personal Achievement and Business Success, by Lucinda Watson, it turns out that twenty-one of the country’s most successful CEO’s, entrepreneurs, and visionaries all share one powerful characteristic:

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www.podcampnyc.org

Yeah, I know this has nothing to do with marketing. But, I couldn’t resist.

There is a big difference between creativity and disciplined creativity. Disciplined creativity is not about pretty colors and clever puns. It’s creativity that helps to communicate the right message, to the right audience, the right way. It’s not just clever, it’s also strategically smart. And, it doesn’t just get attention, it persuades once it does. Advertising legend Bill Bernbach put it this way:

“Verbal gymnastics and graphic acrobatics is not
being creative. The creative person has disciplined
his mind so that every word he writes, every line
he draws, every shadow in every photograph he
takes, makes stronger, more vivid, more
compelling, the selling proposition he has decided
he must convey.”

Disciplined creativity makes a smaller budget seem larger because it works smarter and more effectively.

See examples.