Marina on Marketing

The best salespeople can sell snow to Eskimos, as the saying goes. Even so, you can imagine my surprise when an enterprising Eagle Scout showed up at my front door in our new home in Eagle, Idaho selling…potatoes. Yes, potatoes!

My first reaction was to laugh and he laughed right along with me. I liked this kid and his chutzpah on a cold November evening. He and his mom had a minivan loaded down with huge, Idaho-grown spuds. Turns out, his troop sells them every year. And they do a brisk business.

Which made me think about this from the perspective of a marketing writer. How often do companies really embrace their quirks? Mostly, it seems, corporations want marketing copywriters to spiff up their image with slick press releases, sparkling brochure copy and eye-catching web writing. All of that is well and good. But there’s also something lovable and appealing about a company that knows itself and puts that personal quality out to the buying public.

It’s a little like Les Schwab Tires with its fresh-scrubbed mechanics and sales folks running to greet you, selling you some new snow tires, and yep, rewarding you with some free beef! After all, Les Schwab was from Prineville, a Central Oregon town whose denizens know plenty about cattle and cold-weather tires.

Here in Idaho, the potato is more than a vegetable: it’s an emblem of state pride. Heck, Famous Potatoes used to be on many an Idaho license plate. So when I bought some of those potatoes from the Boy Scouts I was embracing a little of what it means to be an Idahoan. And because the Scout at my door is a natural at sales, he made sure to deliver a persuasive marketing message--as potent as any dreamed up by a marketing communications writer.  He emphasized these are “export quality” potatoes, meaning they were grown in Idaho but are a higher grade of potato than Idahoans normally get to eat. These were, in essence, gourmet potatoes!

So I bought a big bag of special potatoes—great for state pride, a nice contribution to the local Boy Scout troop and a starchy staple I needed anyway. Now I just need to find some way to use all these spuds!

Some of the best marketing around doesn’t come with a big price tag-- just clever thinking. Or, in the case of one Whidbey Island karate school, clever footwork.

Every year my family and I used to snag a place at the curb, plastic flags in hand, to watch the Fourth of July parade in our former hometown of Oak Harbor, Wash. We saw plenty of corny floats, earnest politicians and military color guards in this Navy town. But we also got to see smart marketing in action. The local karate school trotted out with its students kicking, jumping and bowing. And periodically, they would hold out a thick piece of wood and one brave student would cleave it in two with a bare foot. Couldn’t beat that for attention getting public relations. But then they took that piece of showmanship, ahem, a step further.

Once the wood was broken, pieces were handed out to people along the parade route. Ok, that’s an even better marketing move. But the karate school had pre-stamped the wood with their name, address, phone number and the offer of one free karate lesson. What parent was going to say no to that?

It comes down to thinking outside the marketing box—or in the case of the karate school, breaking through that box with a targeted message that’s clever, fun and more effective than all the e-newsletters, advertising copy and public relations they could have paid for.

Which brings up another point. A lot of small businesses don’t have big marketing budgets. But they still need to find a way to grow sales. Turns out, those small business marketing tips can be found online in “Marketing in a Minute.” The recently released e-book by Sharon Baerny, owner and marketing guru of our very own We Know Words marketing agency, hits virtual bookshelves as we speak. This handy marketing book gives small- to medium-size business owners practical tools they need to create buzz for their business without expensive copywriting, advertising and other traditional forms of small business marketing.

Take a peek at www.marketinginaminute.com and see for yourself why sometimes the best marketing, simply means doing things smarter. Hey, if a karate school can kick start business by splitting wood, think what you can do with one of these 104 practical marketing tips!

I was trying to buy a pair of shoes from a one-stop-shop that shall go nameless. I had money in my pocket and two pairs of feet. (Ok, I had my two rapidly growing boys with me, and a desperate need for new shoes). As I went along the shoe aisles in this mega-store, there was not a soul in sight to help me as I faced disorderly piles of shoes of different sizes in different places.

It was a definite do-it-yourself moment. And I thought, what was this store’s marketing team thinking? Had their corporate mar com folks thought up how a typical customer would navigate this section of the store? Had anyone with a communications background or marketing mindset even been in the shoe section lately? Apparently not.

Because when I finally did grab a pair of shoes that actually fit, there was an anti-shoplifting tag that took over the entire opening of the shoe. In other words, this store was so afraid their customers might steal, they were doing their darnedest not to let us buy. I literally could not get my son’s foot past the anti-shop lifting tag.

Now I understand there’s a give-and-take in play here. According to the National Retail Federation, retailers lost about $40.5 billion in 2006 because of shoplifting, employee theft and other losses. So loss prevention is not a trifle. But still…if you can’t try on the merchandise, then haven’t you given up on making the sale? What kind of message are you sending your customers? No matter how fresh your ad copy is or how moving you make your marketing communications, if a customer can’t try it on before they buy, it’s going to seem like a bit of a bait and switch. We’ve got shoes aplenty, but none that you can try on without injuring yourself and others.

To be fair, these tags took up prime real estate in only some of the shoes. Other tags were placed in a different portion of the shoe—ensuring loss prevention and the chance to actually let a buyer buy. And because the tags were placed on just one shoe, you could take a chance that if it fit one foot, it might fit the other. But my son couldn’t go for a test drive of walking around the store. Or, in his case, running…really…fast.

If I may be so bold, it’s time for marketing teams and other communications folks (let alone store managers) to come out and see the products they’re trying to move with email marketing campaigns, Web writing and more. Because the best marketing in the world won’t work if customers can’t touch, feel and try on what they’re trying (desperately) to buy.

When life hands you lemons you're supposed to whip up a pucker-worthy batch of lemonade. Right? But what if you don't get any lemons at all. Yes, there is a marketing truism here and one that applies to anyone involved in marketing, advertising, public relations or communications. It's called the add-on sale. Or, in come cases, what I and other marketing communications writers like to call a package deal. When you get your oil changed, don't they check your car's other fluids? Or when you buy an expensive gift, don't you expect some nifty gift-wrapping, gratis?

Well, I had come to expect the same kind of inclusive, forward-thinking marketing at my local supermarket fish counter. When I buy fish, I always want a lemon to go with it. Always. And that's what I got in the store where I used to shop. Didn't pick up a lemon in the produce section. No problem. They always featured a basket of lemons right on the fish counter. And sure as shooting I always bought one. This isn't a tale of selling more lemons...although the grocery store surely did. It is a tale of selling a complete customer experience, of knowing that I was getting good service, that they were thinking about me and my needs...and meeting those needs.

So when I moved from my little town in Washington state to another little town in Idaho, I didn't really think about lemons. I had too much other stuff on my mind (more fodder for another blog). But when I reached the fish counter and bought my fish I realized that they had no lemons on the counter. I had to backtrack all the way to the produce section with a toddler trying to jump out of the moving cart and a 4-year-old complaining about having to go to the bathroom. Yes, making my shopping trips easier is very important when it comes to customer service.

So am I sour on my new grocery store? Not really. But I am a bit disappointed that I'm not treated to the same level of service. Because when it comes right down to it, marketing and public relations are often about the little things, not grand e-newsletters, whiz bang Web site writing or awesome advertising copy (although all those things help!). Sometimes it's as simple, and essential, as a lemon!

You've got a general plan in mind on how to market your must-have product. You've brainstormed all the steps and they seem to hang together for the most part. You'll start with a trade show booth, demonstrate what your widget can do, then send out an email marketing campaign to your in-house list and follow that up with a direct mailing that knocks their socks off. Problem is, you're headed in the wrong direction and each step will take you further afield.

How so? Have you really considered the best way to reach your target audience? Are they likely to attend a trade show? Or enjoy being hit by email marketing? In fact, do you really know who your customer is in the first place, or is it more of a best-guess hunch.

Without knowing for sure, all of your marketing communications could be leading you away from your prospects, instead of toward them.  

When it comes to marketing, it's all about filling a niche. But first you need to figure out what it is. Often, when we sit down with clients, we ask just those questions. You'd be surprised how vague the answers can be. That doesn't make for great copywriting. And it's even worse when it comes to selling a product or service effectively.

Our marketing team at We Know Words regularly helps clients dig deeper into details. We call it customer-centric copywriting. Because, at the end of the day, it's all about the customer. And if you don't know who your customer is, or their habits, desires, dreams and practical constraints, then you can't make an honest and lasting connection.  

Sure, it can take a bit longer at the beginning to craft an effective email marketing or web writing campaign. But all those baby steps will ultimately lead in the right direction...to sales.