It's time for the Marketing Tip of the Week, a feature dedicated to helping marketers get that extra edge.
This week's tip: Realize You're A Publisher.
What business are you in? High tech manufacturing? Health care? IT? Marketing? It doesn't matter what industry we find ourselves in any more because we're all in publishing.
With the advent of web sites and their use to promote companies, we all became publishers without even knowing it. Every business that matters in America has a web site. Even my dry cleaner has one! If you're in business you have to be online. It's just that simple. And, if you have a web site then you are publishing content.
So, the question isn't if you're a publisher or not. We're all publishing. The question becomes are you a good publisher or a lousy publisher? Are you putting out great content that your customers and prospects want to consume? Or, are you careless about content?
Some marketers get this. They see their web site as a digital printing press and they use it to regularly put out great content that they know their audience will love to consume. They're building loyalty, credibility and sales by being great publishers.
But, some folks just don't get it at all. They throw a site up and leave it there to moulder. The content is poorly written and it's not relevant to the needs of the users.
There was a time in England when owning a printing press was illegal. The monarchy knew that a press was a powerful tool that could be used for subversion and so only very trusted people were approved to own a press. The king knew that the ability to mass communicate was power. Today, we marketers have that same power sitting right in front of us. Are we using it?
Buy an offset printing press today and you can easily spend a quarter of a million dollars just to get started. But, a printing press is only valuable when it's in use. You wouldn't spend $250,000 for a press and then just let it sit in your warehouse. But, that's what businesses are doing today when their web site just sits there, unused.
Realize you're a publisher and use the power of your web site to make your business more profitable, stable and healthy.
It's time for the Marketing Tip of the Week, a feature dedicated to helping marketers get that extra edge.
This week's tip: Map the decision-making process.
Everyone goes through a decision-making process when they buy something. We may not consciously think about it, but we all do it. Savvy marketers map the decision-making process of their prospects and then build campaigns that address every step of the way.
For example, I've got an auto lease that ends in 10 months. I'm not going to make any big decisions tomorrow, but I'm thinking about my next car in the back of my mind. Auto manufacturers need to be on my radar now. That's a step: felt need.
Then as time moves along and I'm researching options, they need to be on my list of top three cars. That's another step: research.
This goes on until I sign a piece of paper locking me in for another three to five years of financial commitment. Then the process immediately starts all over again!
Our job as marketers is to understand what steps our prospects will go through in making a purchase and to develop marketing assets and tactics that help them through each step. To do this we have to answer three things:
- What are the steps or phases of their prospect's decision-making process?
- What is our job at each step or phase?
- What tools are available to us for each step/responsibility?
The following table is an example—it's not a real decision-making process, just a quick hypothetical example.
What steps do your prospects go through when they make a purchase? Do they need to get approvals, convince others of the purchase or can they make the decision on their own? Do they have financing issues that play into the decision? Do they need to be informed of technical specifications as they research? How important are customer testimonials? Do they even know you exist?
Mapping the decision-making process not only helps you understand what steps your prospects go through when making a decision and what your job is at each step. It can save you a lot of time and energy because it helps you to focus. You eliminate needless activity and wasted money and put your time and resources behind engaging your prospect in ways that deliver success based on how they make decisions.
It's time for the Marketing Tip of the Week, a feature dedicated to helping marketers get that extra edge.
This week's tip: Think like an executive editor.
Executive editors are publishing's heavy-hitters. They have a lot of responsibility, but one of their main roles has to do with content. It's the executive editor who decides what's worthy of publishing and what's not.
This week's tip is based on their selection criteria; namely, editors only publish content that their audience is interested in. The really good ones are maniacal about this. They know their audience and will move heaven and earth to publish great content. Conversely, they don't worry about whose feelings get hurt when they have to kill weak stories or misguided pieces.
It sounds pretty obvious. But, think for a minute about your publishing platforms: your web site, sales literature and other marketing collateral. Ask yourself, are they full of content that your readers want to read? Be honest.
When a prospect lands on your web site they should feel like they've found a gold mine, like they've just found a rich resource that will help them do the things that matter to them. That's what an executive editor aims to do. She wants you to engage her publication and feel like you just found your soul mate. She wants you to think of her publication as the best resource and she wants you to keep coming back, day after day, year after year.
When creating your next communication piece, be it a pamphlet, video or case study, create it with the executive editor's mindset. Create something that gives your audience what they want and something that will keep them coming back for more.
Note: Post illustration created by Bob Wright Creative illustrator, Ken Townsend
