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Have You Tried This?

Another restaurant closed in town. They posted a wonderfully grateful goodbye on Facebook, thanking everyone from the staff to the suppliers to the customers to the city leaders (well, okay maybe not that last one). They even apologized for the inconvenience of closing. They said they gave it their best shot but just couldn’t make a go of it.

One of my staff, when hearing of the closure asked a profound question…

Why didn’t they try something else?

They had the kitchen, the staff, the liquor license, a small group of dedicated followers. Why didn’t they try something else?

They had a premium location downtown, a banquet room (a couple of them), parking out back. Why didn’t they try something else?

They had ambiance (although a little loud), great window seating along the street, outdoor seating, gigantic fish tank seating, and really cool bathrooms. Why didn’t they try something else?

Two things I didn’t see happen. They didn’t change the menu. They didn’t change the pricing. Two complaints I heard the most (besides how loud it was with all the wood floors and vaulted ceilings) were the menu and the pricing.

You gotta get those two right.

The right menu (products).

The right price.

Get those wrong and all the rest doesn’t matter. If you’re doing everything else right and your business is failing, chances are you got one of those two wrong. Why don’t you try something else?

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS I get it that they may have chosen a menu/pricing consistent with the type of restaurant they wanted to be (their brand), but there is a lot of wiggle room within “fine dining” and “upscale” and “top-shelf” and “gourmet” and “specialty” and “unique” and “quality” to work with your particular crowd. Also, it may be that it wasn’t the actual menu and pricing that caused the problem but the perception of the menu and pricing. Perception is reality, folks. You gotta win the perception battle.

PPS I’m sad to see them go. I’m not trying to criticize them, but to help you learn from their experience.

Moms, Mobile Phones, and the Transactional Customer

I have been bombarded with companies selling me on the merits and benefits of Mobile Marketing. The main focus is sending out texts with coupons and deals to people in the vicinity. Some of these companies are offering me packages less than $20/week. Others want me to commit to thousands a month. They have the statistics that show they will bring me gold.

“Lies, damned lies, and statistics.” -Mark Twain

Kids Today magazine just had an article this month with even more statistics on mobile that I found quite enlightening and worth exploring deeper.

Here is the first statistic from the article:

“According to the latest data from comStore, overall mobile purchasing accounted for 11% of e-commerce spending in 2013.”

E-commerce spending, depending on your source, is anywhere from 3% to 10% of all retail purchases, so mobile purchasing is anywhere from 0.3% to 1.1% of all retail purchases. Before you drop a load of your advertising budget on mobile, keep that in mind. Shopping on their phone is an incredibly small percentage of all retail sales.

But what about coupons they get on their phones and then bring into the store?

Here is the second statistic:

“Nine out of ten moms take notice of advertisements on their smartphones. One-quarter clicked to get a coupon after receiving a mobile ad and 15% of moms clicked on the ad to go to the website.”

In other words, almost all of the moms saw the ads, but 75% of the moms did not take the bait, 85% of the moms were not enticed to go to the website. Now, don’t get me wrong. Twenty-five percent is still a pretty good click-thru rate. But remember who is clicking – the Transactional Customer – the mom who believes she is the expert on the product and knows more about it than you do. These moms are loyal to one thing only – the deal. They have no loyalty to your store and only buy from you when you have a sale.

But aren’t all moms all about the price?

Here is the third statistic:

“More than half the moms, 53%, say coupons are appealing in a mobile ad; while 23% want a deal that is located nearby.”

Once again proof that roughly half the population in any category, including the technologically savvy new moms, is interested in the deal (Transactional Customers) and the other half is more interested in the trust factors (Relational Customers).

When you plot out your strategy, decide which customer you want to attract and proceed accordingly. While your competitors go after that 53%, remember that there is a lot of business to be done with the 47% who don’t find coupons on their phones appealing.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Don’t think of me as anti-technology. Smartphones are here to stay. You need a website and it needs to be optimized for mobile. You need social media as one part of your relationship-building portfolio with your customer base – and many moms are using their smartphones as their primary tool for social media. You also need to be smart about where and how you spend your money. Your most loyal customers are not loyal because of your coupons, they are loyal because they trust you. Before you buy a mobile marketing plan, make sure you’ve put enough effort into building that trust and that the mobile plan reinforces that trust, not undermines it.

What are You Doing to Reach the Influencers

McDonald’s spent millions advertising the Happy Meal to children. Yet, who ultimately controls what a child eats? The parent, of course. Yet, McDonald’s made billions from the Happy Meal by advertising to the strongest influencer.

There is a bra store near me that specializes in custom-fitted and hard-to-find sizes of bras. They advertise on the local ESPN sports/talk radio station. Yes, a bra store on a sports/talk station. And they’re making a killing by saying, “Hey guys, tired of hearing your wife complain about her bra not fitting?”

Later this fall I am going to give out about seven thousand $5.00 gift cards to the students of one of our school districts. In a couple weeks I am going to wine and dine and bribe their teachers through a Teachers’ Night Out private party at our store with food & drinks, prizes, fun activities and incredible incentives for attending. I want to make sure that when the teachers hand out these gift cards that we get a great return on our investment.

Too many retailer make the mistake of thinking they have to focus all their efforts only on the person who might buy or use their product. The most powerful push someone gets to shop at your store usually comes from someone other than you. It seems counter-intuitive, but sometimes your best advertising and marketing needs to be directed at a non-customer.

If you can convince the influencer of the benefits of your business, they will convince the end user of your benefits.

There are two advantages to this approach.

First, since you are advertising to an indirect target, they are going to be more surprised (which is a good thing) and interested in your ad. It won’t come off as such a sales pitch. The bra ladies weren’t trying to sell a product, just to offer a solution to a common problem heard by married men all over the planet.

Second, the influencer has far more power to affect the actions of your intended customer than you do. Word of mouth from a friend always trumps advertising by a company. Let the friends and family and influencers do all the heavy lifting for you.

Yeah, it’s risky. All advertising is risky. At least this one has a pretty good track record (or why else would people be trying to ban the Happy Meal toys?)

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS To do this you just have to do two things. First figure out who is that non-customer that has the power to influence your shopper. Is it a parent, a child, a spouse, a friend, an authority figure? Second, figure out a message that will resonate with that person. It is powerful and it works.

A Clean Business is a Happy Business – Three Reasons to Get Out the Paint Brush

I hadn’t washed my car in weeks. When it was sunny, I didn’t have the time. When I had the time, it was raining. I finally got it done two days ago.

As I was toweling off a few last sprinkles, I felt a little extra bounce in my step. There was a little more pride driving around town in a shiny vehicle. Even walking up to it, I thought my Pilot winked at me in the sun. The car was cleaner. I felt better. More pride.

Yes, a clean car is a happy car.

I felt the exact same way a few weeks ago. The cottonwood trees had slowed down enough for us to put a fresh coat of paint on the front of the store. Coincidentally, our business skyrocketed 20% after the paint job.

A clean store is a happy store.

I’m smart enough to know that our success the past three weeks is not just because we painted the building, but never underestimate the power of a simple cleaning job.

  • It puts you and your staff in a happy mood. A happy staff delights your customers more.
  • It sends a signal to your customers that you care about your business and, likewise, that you will care about them.
  • It sends a signal to your customers that you are fresh and new and on top of things.

Those last two are the kickers. A fresh coat of paint on the outside of your building is often a much cheaper and more powerful marketing tool than a month of billboard and newspaper ads.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Landscaping, painting the inside walls, moving the merchandise around, mopping/shampooing the floors, and updating the signs all have the same effect. The inside stuff, however, doesn’t send those signals to the outside world, only to the current customer base who already love you despite your messiness.

PPS None of that cleaning matters, however, if you aren’t first taking damn good care of your customers. Otherwise it’s just a band-aid on an amputation. If you don’t have a capital fund for repairs and improvements, take the money from your advertising budget, not your customer service training budget.

Write Your Ad to One Specific Person

Christmas Eve, Nineteen Sixty-Five. He didn’t know if he would make it. Nine months of active duty, he missed his family. And he was an uncle now. His sister had a baby girl, a precious little child for which a stuffed animal from an airport gift shop just wouldn’t do.  
As his dad picked him up in the family sedan, he asked, “We got time to stop by the Toy House?”
“Of course, son. Welcome home.” 
Merry Christmas from the Toy House in downtown Jackson where Christmas magic happens.

I talk a lot about speaking to the heart of your customer. But which heart? Too often we try to include as many people as possible in our ads. We write them to reach the widest audience. But the wider we cast our net, the shallower the net can go.

If you really want to snag the best customers, you have to go deep, not wide. Write your ad to one specific person in the language that he or she will understand the most.

The ad above was written to anyone who has a loved one who has served in the military. They got that ad. They got it deeply. Others may not. You might not. But I wasn’t writing to you.

My buddy Rick says (and I paraphrase)… You can blast your ad to Everyone, but in the process you won’t reach Someone. I would add that you’ll end up moving No One.

Write your ad to Someone, not Everyone, and speak to that Someone’s heart.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS The best example I’ve ever seen is the store Bras That Fit. Yes, they sell bras in hard-to-find and custom sizing. Yes, they sell primarily to women. Yes, they sponsor an ESPN Radio talk show. Sports. Men. Bras??  Their message is simple… “Hey guys, tired about hearing your wife complain about her bra not fitting?” They are targeting a very specific group – married men whose wives complain about their bras – and it works!

PPS Before you write anything, know exactly who you are targeting and what you want them to do. Tim Miles calls that the Relevance. Speak to me in my language and the ad instantly becomes relevant to me.

Do Sex and Humor Sell?

Some like to rip theirs off quickly in the heat of the moment.  Others run their fingers down the seam, taking it off slowly savoring every second.  Pulses quicken, breathing deepens, the anticipation is almost agonizing.  Usually it’s the teddies, occasionally polka dots.  Always there is a smile.  There’s nothing like Free Giftwrapping at the Toy House.  What were you thinking about?  Toy House in downtown Jackson.  The giftwrapping’s free, the smiles priceless.

I ran this ad back in October 2009 and I got some flack for it. Yet it brings up two important questions about advertising.


DOES SEX SELL?

Should a toy store (or anyone else for that matter) be using sex in their ads?

You’ve all heard the adage, “Sex sells!” I agree, but would add the following disclaimer, “but only when the sex is related to the message.”

Take that same statement and replace the word sex with humor. It still applies.

Every Super Bowl someone uses stupid humor or blatant sex to get your attention, often with backfiring results. You remember the sex/humor, but not the company. Sex and humor are attractive. Sex and humor get your attention. Sex and humor make a larger impact. But if they don’t tie into your message, you get all the attention and none of the benefit. Use them with care.

ARE COMPLAINTS ABOUT MY ADS BAD?

What is your first goal with your ad? If you said draw traffic, you’re wrong. Your first goal is to get someone’s attention. Your second goal is to move the needle so that someone takes action.

You have to remember that your ads are like magnets. Their ability to attract is equal to their ability to repel. The more strongly you attract one type of customer, the more likely you will turn off another type.

If someone is complaining about your ads, then you know two things. You got their attention and you said something strong enough to repel (and attract). You’re moving the needle!

Just make sure you are attracting the right people.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Don’t write your ads just to get complaints. Write your ads to make powerful statements that you can back up with your actions and don’t worry about the people who complain. Haters gotta hate.

What Will it Take to Move the Needle?

Most people trying to persuade others to their point of view will bring out mounds and mounds of data. Stacks that reach as high as the ceiling fan. Piles that will collapse all but the most stout table. And if that isn’t enough, we’ll pile on even more.

But does the needle move?

Data is rarely enough to move the needle. Data usually only emboldens the base. The two sides in the Climate Change debate have more data than they can process. Yet there are still two sides.

Data won’t move the needle for your customers either.

You’ve heard it said when someone changes their position on something… “I’ve had a change of heart.” That’s all you need to know right there. If they said, “I’ve changed my mind,” you expect they will change it right back when the mood hits. But when they’ve had a change of heart, it’s much more powerful.

The one thing that really moves the needle, whether it be politics, science, or retail, is the heart. Emotions and feelings move people. Data doesn’t.

If you want to persuade people to do business with you, you have to move the heart. Don’t tell me what you do (data), tell me why it matters (emotion). Don’t tell me what you know (data), tell me how it helps (emotion). Don’t tell me where you are (data), tell me why I want to find you (emotion). Don’t make me think, make me feel.

When she was three she galloped down the aisles on stick horses.  At six, she brushed the mane of her My Little Pony.  At nine she used her own allowance to start her Breyer Horse collection.  And on her sixteenth birthday, she drove the car here just for a book on how to draw horses.  Now on her way to college, her parents wanted a gift.  I handed them Horse-opoly.  They smiled and said, “How did you know?”  Just a guess.  Toy House in downtown Jackson.  We’re here to make you smile.

Speak to the heart.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS That was a radio ad I ran back in October 2010. Note, it doesn’t tell our hours or our services or that we have more horse-related toys than anyone else in town (data). Instead it told a story of a girl who grew up before our eyes, who just happened to like horses.

How to Write Like a Poet

Poets force you to see things differently.
Poets get you to feel things you weren’t already feeling.
Poets influence you with words.

Advertisers rarely make you crack open an eye.
Advertisers rarely make you feel anything but indifference.
Advertisers rarely use the right words.

Unless the advertiser writes like a poet.

A groan echoed through the terminal.  A gate change, and now another delay.  Grumbling, shaking heads slumped in their seats.  Then it appeared, a small white rabbit on a mother’s hand, and a two-year-old boy became unaware of the discontent surrounding him.  His laughter?  Contagious! …infecting smiles on travelers of all ages.  Smiles? In an airport? The power of puppets.  Your puppet smiles are waiting for you at Toy House in downtown Jackson.

But how do you learn to write like a poet?

Roy H. Williams told me that we write as well as we read. He told me to go get a poem-a-day book. If you want to write poetry, you have to read poetry.

I took his advice and got this book.

You should get one, too.

Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS Read one poem a day. Read it two or three times. Read it out loud and try to figure out how it would sound in the author’s voice. You won’t need a whole year to see your own writing begin to improve.

No One Likes to Listen to Your Ads

Could you stand up to the microphone at a poetry slam and read your radio ads?

How fast would you be booed off the stage?

I read fourteen of my radio ads the other night. One after the other. Didn’t get booed. Lots of snapping of the fingers (the way you applaud a great line at a poetry slam). Lots of real applause at the end. One audience member wanted a copy of the ads to make posters.

The language of the poet is the language of emotion. The poet uses words to make you feel.

The only thing you feel after most radio ads is the need to change the station.

But what would happen if instead of commercials, your favorite radio station did a string of 30-second poems? What would happen if each of those poems was written to make you feel something? Would you listen? Of course you would!

If you want your ads to be heard, write like a poet.
If you want people to be moved, write like a poet.
If you want a new way to reach a new audience, go to a poetry slam. They’ll let you know if you’re hitting the mark.

No one likes to listen to crappy ads. Make your ads move people.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS This morning I did a presentation on Branding to a group of high school students taking a CEO class. When I got to Q&A, the first question was, “Do you have any radio ads to read?”

Take More Risks with Your Advertising

(Warning: this blog post contains math – lots of math. Proceed at your own risk)

Your traffic comes from three sources…

  • Repeat Customers
  • Referral Customers
  • Ad-Driven Customers

I was asked once to write down the percentage of customers I believe are Repeat Customers. I wrote down 60%. I guessed 25% for Referral Customers. That left only 15% of my traffic being Ad-Driven.

With such a small percentage of our business being driven by our ads, if I want to move the needle through advertising, I have to take some big risks.

Here is the math…

Assuming you have 10,000 customers a year and your percentages are similar to mine you have the following:

  • Repeat Customers = 6,000
  • Referral Customers = 2,500
  • Ad-Driven Customers = 1,500

A 10% increase in effectiveness of your ads would only net you an additional 150 customers, a modest 1.5% increase in your overall traffic.

If you want your advertising to make a difference you can see, you need a 100% increase in the effectiveness of your ads. Anything less and you would be better off spending that money on Customer Service training.

But since you’re going to advertise anyway, you might as well climb way out on the limb where the fruit is.

To be effective, your ad campaign needs to drive another 1,500 new customers into your store. 1,500 new people. What can you say that will convince 1,500 people to take an action they haven’t yet taken? You have to say something fascinating and interesting. You have to say something emotional and heartfelt. You have to say something memorable.

You have to craft a message so powerful that it moves the needle for 1,500 people. That takes some risk. Are you willing to risk insulting someone who most likely wouldn’t be your customer anyway? Are you willing to say something that doesn’t sound like anything else in any other ad anywhere? Are you willing to be open and honest about your shortcomings as well as your strengths?

The good news is that the math also works in your favor. If your ad campaign backfires or falls flat, you still have that 85% of Customer Service-driven traffic to keep you afloat. And 1,500 people is a mere pittance in a trade area of 150,000 people. You just need to convince 1% more of the population to shop with you to get 15% growth.

Say something powerful and the math will all work out.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS You got the math. Here is the science… Download my free eBook Making Your Ads Memorable to learn four techniques that raise the power level of your ads.