M Squared Group BLOG

Last week, I met with a company that had the most complete data that I have ever seen.  From web traffic to email/direct mail to transactions and so on, this company had invested in their data infrastructure as a key asset.  But when I met with them, they were still dissatisfied...

Have you ever felt like you had all the facts to make a decision?  If you are like me -- never.  Whether for a new smartphone, a new car, someone to prune your trees -- there is always more information available on the web, another friend to speak with, another competitor to consider.

Valuable growth comes when you engage with people who do not think like you and are governed by a different set of assumptions that you are. For marketers, those people are often the people who actually sell the things you market -- namely Sales.

The current research on diet suggests that it is not the amount of calories you consume in a day that determines your healthy weight; it is your allocation between carbs, proteins, fat and so on that make the difference.  Shift your allocation and you shift your health.

We frequently test variations before deciding on a final choice.

I have read a number of articles over the years talking about how Marketing and Finance are, and ought to be, "natural adversaries." In this depiction, Marketing is seen as aggressive spenders, while Finance plays the role of reining in spending in order to ensure that the company makes their profitability goals. The tension between the two has been called "healthy," "effective," or "expected."

I have never met a marketer that did not say they were trying to measuring the effectiveness of their marketing.  After all, marketers want to see their results, right?

Anyone who has a teenager in the family knows the meaning of the phrase "they tuned you out."  Whether it is with the rolled eyeballs or the glance at the cell phone, you know that you can talk all you want, but they are not going to believe what you say.

1. Build your programs out from your best customer's needs. Remember, your best customers contribute a higher percentage of revenue and profit, as well as refer prospects who are the most like them. Essentially, they are the brand. Treat them appropriately and make sure to meet their needs.
2. Structure cost/benefits appropriately. Provide customers the ability to self-select into each group based on their needs, their perceived value in the service and their willingness to pay. If the programs are distinct in their needs and benefits, and if those differences are explained clearly, then the transition can go smoothly.
3. Communicate with best customers personally and consistently. That is where Lifetime Fitness has not yet succeeded. This change was implemented "behind the scenes" and members only found out from other members. This approach has led to many dissatisfied members and a sense that the company is going to implement whatever they want without asking or even informing their customers. Specifically, I sent two emails to the head of group fitness at our club and never heard back, even when I asked her for a response I could include in this post. There has to be another way.

Your CEO just rejected another proposal that could increase revenue on the grounds that the marketing investment was too much. What are you to do?

I was speaking with a prospective client the other day, and he shared stories of how marketing spending was reduced annually for the past 5 years. As a result, the brand was in decline and the products more like commodities than before. Each time he brought a recommendation to drive revenue by increasing marketing investment – social media, content-based marketing, long-term lead nurturing, improved web analytics – he was told to estimate the absolute minimum amount to get started. Then management delayed for several months, and eventually agreed to even less spending, so that the marketer couldn’t even get a good read from a test, much less roll out a new initiative. When asked, his CEO bragged about the fact that the company never spent money frivolously, that they were always “cheap.”

And this behavior is not uncommon; while other companies do not call themselves cheap, I have seen them steadfastly refuse to make investments that can have a direct payoff to the company, because those investments would be greater than in the past.

Can you wonder why marketers feel more stress and burnout on the job now than ever before?

Now, to be fair, let me overtly recognize the challenges that the “new economy” has brought to businesses since 2008. The market is tougher than ever, and consumers more price conscious. No one is denying that.

But those are the exact reasons that companies must invest in new strategies that have the potential to improve results consistently over the long term. You can choose not to make those investments; however, you may then find yourself in a “race to the bottom” where companies try to out do each other in spending cuts, until there is nothing left to cut. By the way, at that point there is no business either.

Breaking the Log-Jam
To breakthrough and successfully engage your senior management, you have to play on three leverage points:

• Their Peer Group (other executives) – there is no better way to move a CEO to action than to show him that his friends and peers are moving ahead without him.