Three Ms of Marketing - Message

Several million consumers every year buy electric drills. The amazing thing about this is that none of them want a drill. That’s right. They could care less about the drill. What they want is a hole. The drill, like most products, is a means to an end. Consumers buy products to get something. In order to craft a selling message you have to understand what they want to get. You have to “sell the hole.”

What we mean by “selling the hole” is determining what the customer really hopes to gain by purchasing a product. For instance, the purchaser of an e-book on starting a home business wants to make money, to gain independence from a boss, to obtain financial security, and probably to be able to spend more time with their families..

In crafting a message for such a book, you would want to focus on how that book will help them achieve those goals.

He it means focusing on the benefits of the product rather than on its features. What's the difference? A product's features have to do with the construction of the product independent of their use. Using the drill as an example, a feature might be that the drill has a half horsepower motor. Okay, that's nice to know, but what does it mean to me the person who wants to drill a hole? The benefit of a product is how that feature will help me as a consumer achieve my goal. For instance, the reason that the half horsepower motor is important may be that it helps me drilled a hole faster and makes it possible to drill through tougher materials.

So, how do you apply this to your own marketing effort? Start by looking at the that you already have. Do they focus on features and benefits? Use a highlighter and highlight each line which specifically indicates how this product will enhance the life of the end user. What's left over? Get rid of it. Consider the following hypothetical ad for that e-book about starting a home business:

Get It Now! Grow Mushrooms in Your Own Basement! New Book Tells You How! Make Big Bucks in Dark Corners!

That's right! This book will tell you all you need to know to start a home business growing mushrooms in your basement. Learn how to choose the right soil, how to get the mushrooms to grow, what type of fertilizer to use, how to hire helpers, how to contact restaurants to sell your product, and how to contact retail grocers for sustaining business.

Don’t Delay! Get Started in the Fungus Business Today!

There is only one benefit mentioned in that entire ad. Can you spot it? That's right. "Make big bucks in dark corners". Everything else does you what the book is like but it doesn't tell you how it will help you. So, let's look at what this would look like as a benefit oriented ad.

Make big bucks in dark corners! Become your own boss growing mushrooms in your own basement!

Escape the 9-to-5 trap! Tell your boss goodbye. Learn how to get into the fascinating, profitable business of growing mushrooms. Whether portobello or button, these little veggies can pave your path to financial independence. Work your own hours. Be at home with your family. Earn a fantastic income. This book tells you how. Learn how to grow the mushrooms, how to sell them, and how to get other people to work for you!

Don’t work for THE MAN any longer than you have to! Change your future today!

The difference between these two ads is that one focuses on what the product is and the second on how the product advances the goals of the customer. So, remember, when marketing your products. Don’t sell the drill. Sell the hole.

Three Ms of Marketing - Media Match

Let’s say you have decided that your target market is middle-class women aged 50-65 years old. Would you spend all your money advertising during the telecasts of college football games? Why not? Women in that age bracket do not form a major portion of the football watching public. Of course, that is an overgeneralization. But good demographic analysis depends on generalizations. While I would not assume than any individual woman 50-65 doesn’t watch football, I can reasonably assume that as a group they do not.

When you choose a media mix for marketing your product or service, you have to make a good match between the medium and the market. To do this you have to do your research. Don’t be afraid to ask your advertising representative for a demographic analysis of their audience. Local radio and television stations usually have Arbitron or Nielson ratings. Newspapers have circulation reports.

But don’t just look to see who has the largest number of viewers, listeners or readers. Find out who those viewers, listeners and readers are. If you have a product, targeting women 45-65, even if the hip-hop station has the largest audience of all the local stations, it will not be effective for you. The Number 3 easy listening station might be a better choice. This is why identifying your target market is the first step in the marketing process.

But age and gender aren’t the only considerations. Also think about economic factors like household income and occupation. I worked at a classical music station. We had a small audience, but our mailing list included most of the high income people in town. Consequently, we had the Cadillac dealership and two high –end furniture stores as satisfied customers. Likewise, if your product or service targets a particular business, consider advertising in trade magazines, newsletters and web sites which serve that business.

For the most part, a little common sense is all you need to match the media to the market. 

Three Ms of Marketing - Market

You have a great product, but no one seems to be buying it. The problem could be with marketing. Many business owners are great at producing a product, but not so good at marketing them. In this column we will be discussing marketing your business.

Let’s begin with the basics of marketing. I call these the three “M’s” of marketing. They are: Market, Media and Message. This month we will be discussing the first “M” – Market.

The first question you should ask yourself in marketing your product or service is “Who is likely to buy this?” That is your market. Unfortunately, when I ask some business people this question, they answer, “Everyone.” Sorry, no one product appeals to everyone. If you try to sell your product to everyone, you will waste most of your advertising dollar. You will buy advertising in places that do not reach your best customers.

It’s simple. Ask yourself one question: “Who buys this type of product?” That’s who you want to reach. Create a profile of that customer.

Your profile should include the following information:

• Age group. Try to keep the age range limited. Typical age demographics are 12-18, 18-25, 25-40, 40-55, 55-65, 65-75, 75+. Age determines interests, tastes, needs, and media preferences.
• Gender. While you want to avoid stereotyping, you do need to recognize the differing needs of the sexes. Some products are of equal value to both genders, but one buys that product more than the other. For instance, groceries are bought primarily by women, even though, men and women equally use the product.
• Occupation. Does your product or service benefit a certain occupation or type of occupation or business? Who would make the buying decisions for that business? It is no good targeting the CEO, if the secretary handles purchasing.
• Income level. I remember being in an investment seminar surrounded by blue and pink collar workers listening to an investment counselor talking about a great investment that had a $20,000 buy in. No one in that room had that much money to invest. You don’t sell high end products to low income people.
• Special interests. Do the people who use your product engage in some sort of special activity or hobby? Are there special interests groups who do not currently use your product who might benefit from it?
• Media habits. What do these people read, watch, or listen to on the radio? Do they surf the web? If so, what places do they go?

You may discover in reviewing your customer list that more than one type of person purchases your product. Create a profile for each type of customer. Be as specific as possible. This is important because you will refer to these profiles as you choose the media for your marketing and as you craft your message.

The Key to Website Traffic - Content, Content, Content

 Many people seem to think that the key to building traffic at their site is to be found in getting listed in all the top search engines in the top 10 of each engine. Or they think that having banners all over the Internet will just draw people from everywhere. Certainly, advertising and promotion are helpful, but I'm afraid this is not "field of dreams" if you build it, you have no guarantee thy will come just because it's there and they know about it. They will only come if the content is interesting to them.

Think about it this way, a business opens up in a high traffic area of your local mall. You go by the mall looking for, say, new clothes. The new store sells buggy whips. Do you go into the store just because it is on the mall? Probably not, unless you are in the market for a new buggy whip. Considering how many buggy's we have around, it is unlikely that store will last long regardless of it's high traffic location.

So it is with a web page. You have to offer compelling content to draw visitors in the first place, and to keep them coming back again.

One of the keys to good content in any type of publishing is summed up in a simple statement "Find a hole and fill it." For instance, I saw a need for an on-line daily devotion about six years ago. At the time no one I knew was providing one. I had been delivering one via e-mail for two years, then I started posting it on my web site eventually we added Bible studies and other materials and soon the website was drawing more than a half-million hits a year.

In creating content you really need to think like a web surfer. A lot of people create web sites thinking "This is what I want to put up on the site." What's wrong with that? Nothing, if you are planning on being the only one to visit that site. But if you want to attract people to your site you have to think like the Web Surfer you are trying to reach. Like I tell my magazine writing students "Think about the reader first, last and always. " So, don't think about what do I want to say. Think about how do I get them to listen.

The first rule in creating compelling content is that you have to clearly identify who you are trying to reach. If you say, "Everybody," then you are sure to fail. You need to have a clear target audience. The better defined your audience the easier it is to reach them with your message and to draw them to your site.

 So, if I have a commercial site trying to sell computers, who are the likely folk to come by? Well, they will fall into two categories: people who have their own computers (the majority) and those who use someone else's computer. Since the largest number of people fall into the first category, then I might target that audience. Now, I ask myself why would someone who already has a computer want to buy another. The answers are (a) The computer they have is inadequate for what they need. (b) Their computer is out of date and needs to be upgraded. (c) The person is a tech-head who always wants the latest in computer technology (d) The person is in charge of purchasing computers for a business and wants the best product at the best price. or (e) The person wants to buy a computer as a gift for someone else. You could target any of these markets. But let's say we are going after categories a and b. The computer is inadequate or out of date. If you create a web site with a lot of forms, frames, graphics, and flash and other bells and whistles, they will exit your site before it even loads and forget about oming back.

In your advertising and search engine descriptions, you need to get across the idea that one cannot stand still with technology. You could focus your advertising on Classified ad sites and swap meet type of newsgroups that allow advertising. You could also post notices around a local college or buy advertising in the college newspaper pointing the students to your site.

All of these would keep the focus on the needs of the market you are trying to reach. If you wanted to reach one or more of the other markets you should start from scratch with a new web page and new promotion geared toward that market. 

 Yes, it's a lot of work but to draw people to your site you have to be constantly working on your content. 

Marketing Secret: Find the Hole and fill it

In 1972 Jack Trout and Al Ries wrote a classic book about marketing entitled Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind. In that book they set forth a key to successful marketing: Find a hole and fill it! What they meant by this was to identify a consumer need and “position” your product as the perfect one to fill that need.

A good example of this is Arm and Hammer Baking Soda.  How many boxes of baking soda did you buy this last year?  How many of them did you use for baking?  Probably, not many.  In all likelihood you used them to deodorize your refrigerator or possibly litter box. 

A few years ago, someone discovered that an open box of baking soda in a refrigerator cut down on odors. Eventually, someone at Arm and Hammer (or more likely their advertising agency) caught on to this idea.  They began to create an ad campaign around the purchase of baking soda for your refrigerator.  Sure, there were other products that would do the same thing, but eventually, in the public’s mind Arm and Hammer was THE refrigerator deodorizer.  Today, you can even buy boxes of Arm and Hammer made for the refrigerator.

Some marketing genius identified a consumer need – stinky refrigerators – and recognized that their product could fill that need.  A targeted campaign turned “baking soda” into a natural deodorant.  It was “re-positioned” from something used in baking to something used to make things smell nicer.

Take a look at your product line.  Is there a need that is going unfilled in the marketplace that your product could fill, even if that is not what it is designed to do?  Even more to the point, is there an unfulfilled need that you could develop a product around. 

In this regard e-books come to mind.  What is it that visitors to your web site might need or want to be able to do that is not addressed by other books or e-books on the market?  Can you write it or find someone to write it for you?  Then you might have a winner.

So, keep your eyes open for “holes” in the marketplace.  When you find one, fill it, and you will be successful.

How to Write a News Release

A few years ago, I edited a small science fiction magazine. I got lots of news releases, and I loved it. Any editor who tells you they don’t need PR “flacks” is just posturing for his or her colleagues.  News releases give us leads for stories, basic information, and, when they are well written, the stories themselves.  Editors will love you if you can give them those sorts of stories.

When I was doing PR for a college, I could just about guarantee my press releases would be published as-is, and editors would contact me for news leads.  However, to develop that type of relationship with editors, you have to write news releases from the editor’s point of view.  So, what makes the irresistible press release?

Journalistic Style.  A news release is first and foremost a news story.  That means it must have news value and be written in journalistic style.  The story needs to be an objective reporting of what is happening and not an advertisement for your book or event.  The editor isn’t invested in helping you promote yourself or your product.  Her job is to inform her readers about things she believes will be useful to them.

Too many releases I get are nothing less than sales pitches for the book.  In fact, the cover letters also say how they want to promote THEIR book or THEIR event.  It is assumed that my publication exists solely for the purpose of promoting them.

Go through your release and cut out all qualitative adjectives like “great,” “wonderful,” “valuable,” “fast paced,” “exciting,” etc.  Also cut out phases which belong in a book review rather than a news story like “a good read” or “a big thumbs up.”  Editors don’t want to be told what to think about the book or event.  They want the facts.  And, in case you don’t know it, “a good read” is not a fact, it’s an opinion.

Remember the 5 W’s and H of journalism when writing your release: Who, what, when, where, why, and how.  Answer those questions for the reader.

Journalistic style also follows the “inverted pyramid” format.  While many newspapers and online publications have modified this style, it is still a useful one.  The inverted pyramid begins with the most important information and ends with the least important.  The fact that Jennifer Author will be speaking to the Madison book club on February 15 at 7 p.m. is important and belongs at the top of the release.  The fact that she lives in Fresno with her husband, two kids and a dog is not so important and should appear later in the story. Many people only read the first few paragraphs of a news story, so get out the important information in those paragraphs and provide additional information at the bottom.

Quote Yourself.  Quotes add flavor to the story.  Let many of the facts come through in quoted material.  But be careful that you don’t do the “hard sell” just because it’s contained in quotation marks.  Use quotes to tell about your motivations for writing the book, some details of what you will be discussing at the lecture, or your experience with the topic.

Avoid “Insider” Language.  Since mine was a science fiction e-zine, I got a lot of releases referring to “spec-fic.” As an editor, if I’m not familiar with the genre, I’m left scratching my head saying, “What is ‘spec-fic’?  Fiction sold on speculation?  What does that have to do with anything?”  Even colloquialisms that are probably understood like “sci-fi” are better spelled out.  It’s just a little too casual and sounds more like a blog post than a news release.

Check the mechanics. I have to admit this is one of my failings, but I’m getting better since I have to do this now.  If you make an editor work to hard fixing  your spelling, punctuation and grammar, then he or she is likely to say, “That’s too much work,” and file it in the refuse bin.

Get to the point. Fiction writers especially seem to take forever to get to the point in their news releases.  They set a scene or give a character sketch at the beginning of the article.  As an editor, I’m wondering, “What’s the point?”  I don’t care that the author’s room is decorated with Garfield memorabilia.  I want to know what’s happening or going to happen.  You should get to the point in the first 25 words or less: “Jonathan Writer, author of She Lost Her Way, will be the featured speaker during the 11 a.m. service, May 14 at First Community Church.”  This isn’t easy.  It took me about 10 minutes to write that sentence and get it under 25 words.  But in that one sentence, I have everything I need to know about what it going to happen.

Condense, Condense, Condense.  Remember, book authors, you don’t have 100,000 words to tell your story in a news release.  You have 200-300 words.  Make them count.  Cut out almost all adjectives and adverbs,  Cut out every glowing praise for the book.  Cut out phrases when a single word will do.  Cut out everything which is not relevant to the event.

One place most writers can cut is in their personal biographies.  Unless it is relevant to the book or lecture, leave out family information.  The fact that Mary Physicist is married to Jacob and has two sons Fredrick and Jason is irrelevant to the story about the release of her first Science Fiction novel dealing with time travel through black holes.

These are just a few tips to help you write a better news release and increase your chances of actually getting it published.  Basically, it just comes down to one tip: Think like an editor with a readership to serve and not a writer with a book to sell.

Sunday Bible Study: The Adoption of Sons - A Historical Perspective

"To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons" Galatians 4.5.

In the modern world adoption is a complex, bureaucratic maze of paperwork, inspections, character and criminal checks. The most frequently heard word from adoptive parents-to-be is "frustrating."

In contrast, adoption in the Greek culture that Paul addresses in Galatians 4.5 was a simple, joyful celebration.

There were two basic methods of adoption in Greek society. In the first, a parent who could not keep a child or who did not want the child would take and place the child on the steps of the temple. If someone saw the child and desired to adopt him or her, he would pick up the child and say in a loud voice to all around, "This is my child. His name will be ___________. He will be my son. I will be his father. All that I have is his." He would then take the child home and have a great feast of rejoicing over his new son. Of course, children who were not adopted or taken to be raised as slaves in the temple died of exposure. So, this loving Father not only gave a child a home, he also saved his life.

We can easily see the similarities of our adoption as children of God. He saw us as orphans, dying in our sins. He reaches down to us and saves us, but not to be a slave but to be an heir.

The other way a man would adopt a child would be to take a slave, usually a young man who was a trusted servant. He would offer sonship to the slave. If the slave accepted, the father would choose a time for a feast and at the feast in the presence of all his neighbors and friends proclaim that this person who was his servant would no longer be a slave, but would be his son. In addition, some historians believe, that after this proclamation, the newly-adopted son would cry out "Abba, Father" (Abba literally means "Papa or Dad") and embrace his new father.

Notice verses 6 and 7 "Because you are sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ."

I don't know about you, but that causes me to sing and shout and dance a little. I who was once a slave to sin and headed toward death, am now made alive, but also I am made an heir of one who is much greater than any earthly nobleman. I am an heir of God and I am promised even greater things to come.

"Beloved, now we are the children of God and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is." I John 3.2.

Even so, Come, Lord Jesus!