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Archive for the ‘Customer Acquisition / Retention’ Category

Pushing Through the Growth Barrier with Innovation

July 26th, 2011 by

Article re-post from February 23, 2011.

“Innovate!” It’s a common rallying cry these days as an important pairing link to business survival and growth. No longer the sole responsibility of the product developers, engineers or technology teams — marketers can (and should) play an important role in driving innovation. And although most companies place a high value on innovation, finding the time to size up problems and develop creative solutions that will have an impact is quite a challenge. Especially when your workday is filled with nonstop meetings, solving a current crisis or even reacting to latest regulations within your industry.

To help unlock this challenge, we spoke with Lois Todd, senior partner of Denver-based Alchemy, a company that guides organizations through strategic business acceleration and innovative processes. She emphasizes why innovation is so important for organizations, especially today. “The benefits of innovation so clearly show up in the outcome of your project, campaign, product launch or organization change. Let’s just say you’re leading a team to roll out a new product positioning. The upside to innovation within the process is more efficiency, with more team support, better alignment, and a faster road to revenue.”

Here are three key questions to start with to help define — and inspire — innovation at your company.

1. Who are you innovating for?Customers. It sounds simple enough. But at many companies (maybe even yours), it’s a mantra that lacks a supporting strategy.

Companies use “Innovate!” to inspire employees. Too often, when the ideas roll in they never leave the building. Innovation experts agree. And Scott Anthony at Harvard Business Review adds, “Most organizations are designed to execute, not to innovate.” That’s a big barrier when you’re trying to push an idea into the world. But you’re not innovating if you’re only talking to yourself, or satisfying the fewest, most important people in the room. Innovation should speak to your audience — the customers.

2. Where and how do I find areas to innovate within my organization? Ignore common misconceptions about innovation, like it has to be unplanned, unexpected and unfettered by rules. You can take a more logical approach: Simply find a problem to solve, and create a new system that solves it.

Again, Scott Anthony at Harvard Business Review offers up some great suggestions to get you started:

  • “Look beyond your best customers to those who face a constraint that inhibits their ability to solve the problems they face in their life.”
  • “Look for a job-to-be-done, an important problem that is not adequately solved by current solutions.”

Innovation doesn’t have to be a grand, overreaching idea. If it helps your customers do something in a new, more efficient way, it succeeds.

3. Why should you make innovation a core competency? Do it to keep your company relevant and helpful to your customers.

Don’t innovate as a reaction to what others are doing. It’s a sure way to fall behind in your industry. MaryBeth Kemp at Forrester’s notices reactionary marketing has become an unfortunate trend.

“Through my discussions with marketers,” she explains, “I’ve noticed two things: 1) Most marketing organizations are reacting to, rather than driving, change, and 2) Marketers aren’t reaching far enough.”

When reactionary innovation takes hold of the corporate culture, new products don’t get made, only competing ones do. Your business becomes entrenched in a race, and when you’re running too fast, great ideas fly buy unnoticed. Your brand and your customers suffer.

How to get started

Lois Todd leads dozens of workshops with top organizations both nationally and internationally where she and her team at Alchemy focus on innovation as a key part of leadership development and organizational change. She often uses a five-step process to bring more innovation into any project:

  1. Start from a vantage point of constant evaluation to improve and make things better.
  2. Gather a team where you can discuss, plan and share — to look for the seeds of the idea. (Alchemy uses visual maps to record the process.)
  3. Determine the resources you need to get your idea off the ground (online research, outside consultant or advisor, personnel, business partner).
  4. Identify the stakeholders and your advocates, who will support you in building change.
  5. “Be a good developer of follow-ship,” says Lois. “You need to be able to articulate your vision so that you can gain energy and support from others. And while it’s good to know your risk, don’t be afraid to fail.”

At the end of the day, “innovate” shouldn’t be a rallying cry — it should just be part of what your business does.
Email us to get started.

Category:  Customer Acquisition / Retention, Marketing Strategy  |  Tags:   |  No Comments

Heinrich Must-Reads for 2011: Your Guide to Success

July 12th, 2011 by

Article re-post from January 18, 2011.

What’s on your agenda for the new year? Popular goals we’ve heard include:

  • Tackling a major new product launch
  • Fostering more innovation from marketing staff or an agency partner
  • Turning up the dial on productivity for your marketing efforts in light of the economic recovery
  • Looking for a new career challenge that really drives your passion

The Heinrich Report’s “What We’re Reading” series is a great resource that can help focus your priorities and clarify your 2011 goals. Here’s a list of our top choices, ones that we think can help you dive into the New Year with confidence.

Books

1) Do More Great Work: Stop the Busywork. Start the Work That Matters

by Michael Bungay Stanier

Why we like it: A quick read with helpful insights on how to jumpstart your passion for the work you already do — or hope to do.

2) Click: What Millions of People Are Doing Online and Why It Matters

by Bill Tancer

Why we like it: It’s a great big Internet out there, and it’s always in flux. This book helps you understand how people keep up, and how they harness the Web as a resource.

3) UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging.

by Scott Stratten

Why we like it: Engagement has been a big theme for us the past year, and Stratten keeps us motivated.

4) Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision and Reality

by Scott Belsky

Why we like it: It’s one thing to have a great idea. It’s quite another to make it a reality. And that’s something almost everyone can relate to.

5) Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard

by Chip and Dan Heath

Why we like it: See #4!

Blogs

Harvard Business Review: http://blogs.hbr.org/

Insightful writing on current marketing happenings and trends.

Junta42: Joe Pulizzi’s Blog: http://blog.junta42.com/

Always a Heinrich favorite, Joe drives his points about content home over and over again, but makes it sounds fresh and exciting every time.

Convince and Convert: http://www.convinceandconvert.com/

For crystal-clear analysis about the impact of social media on businesses (and help making it work for yours), bookmark this website.

Personal Branding Blog: http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/

Because people are brands, too.

Forrester Blogs: http://blogs.forrester.com/

Data and smart analysis from research leaders.

The Financial Brand: http://thefinancialbrand.com/

Financial institutions face unique challenges when it comes to social media, content and brand identity, and this site gets it.

Mashable: http://mashable.com/

Find the most up-to-date digital and social news here.

Apps

Evernote: Tagline, “Remember Everything.” Enough said.

Chronicle: Everything you need to start a journal on your iPad.

Webster’s Dictionary: No more excuses. Correct spelling is in the palm of your hand.

Dragon Dictation: A real time-saver. It lets you “talk” a text message, and more.

Pandora: Background music for your life.

 

Category:  Book Reviews, Content Marketing, Customer Acquisition / Retention, Digital Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Trends, Social Media Marketing  |  Tags: ,   |  No Comments

Online Daily Deals: Don’t Lose Your Shirt – Do Your Homework First!

June 28th, 2011 by

Some of our consumer clients ask whether they should make daily coupon deals, through companies such as Groupon, Google Offers and LivingSocial, as part of their marketing mix.

In these deals, your business offers a discount on food, services or products. If you’re a spa, for example, you can offer an all-day beauty package at a reduced price. A restaurant can offer dinner for two at a special rate and a bagel place can offer a free bagel with the purchase of a cup of coffee. A karate club can offer “trial” lessons.

You then contract your special offer with one of the daily deal companies. The company promotes your offer to their subscriber base. (Groupon, for example, has over 35 million registered users.) These deals also get passed around on social networks, such as Facebook.

Consumers can then purchase your deal. You get new customers in the door and everyone is happy. Right?

Not exactly.

Many businesses learn the hard way that daily coupon deals are expensive, both in terms of upfront and long-term costs. Smaller businesses can get slammed with the sheer number of people who come through the door. And, there’s no guarantee that these new customers will become repeat customers.

If you’re considering a daily deal for your business, it pays to do your homework first. With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of best practices to help you get the most from daily deals and maximize repeat business – without losing your shirt.

1. Do the math first.

Let’s say you offer a spa package normally priced at $150 for $75 (50% off). Groupon and other daily deal companies generally require 50% of the revenue generated, so for every $75 spa package, you have to pay the brokering company $35. This means that for every daily deal spa package you sell, you gross $35.

In addition, you have to consider your “hidden” costs. Whether you charge $35 or $150, you still have to pay employees, taxes, utilities, supply costs, etc. If you sell more daily deal packages than you anticipated, you may have to pay employees overtime, order more stock, and incur other costs.

The bottom line? A daily deal may cost you much more money than you anticipate, so run your numbers first to ensure you can handle and afford the onslaught of new business.

2. Read the fine print – twice!

You can find many articles online that discuss how daily deals benefit the brokering company more than the merchant. One issue is the revenue model – you don’t receive your revenue right away. Another issue, as cited above, is that you pay a huge percentage to the deal company. As a result, you’re effectively offering your product or service as a loss leader.

If you decide to do a daily deal, read the contract carefully and ask questions, such as:

  • Will you get the names and email addresses of the people who purchased your package? How will this information be delivered to you?
  • When do you receive revenue payouts?
  • How long do you have to honor a daily deal?
  • Can you limit the number of daily deals sold?

3. Determine how you’ll manage the influx of new business.

We all love getting new business. However, too much new business too quickly can leave you scrambling. Before you sign up for a daily deal, work out how you’ll manage the new business, including extra hours for employees or more inventory.

Don’t forget “extras”: Will your spa need more towels, candles and laundry detergent (to wash all those extra towels!)? Will your karate club need extra uniforms for trial lessons?

4. Limit the number of deals honored and the redemption period.

Some businesses fail to ask if they can cap the number of deals sold. You can state in your contract if you want your offer stopped once you’ve sold a specific number of packages. Your contract and the deal copy should state how long you’ll honor redemptions – e.g., “This offer valid until [date].”

5. Determine how you’ll track daily deal buyers and their repeat business.

As stated in Tip #1 above, ask the daily deal company if you get customers’ names, email addresses and phone numbers. If you don’t (and you may not), you’ll need to devise a plan for collecting this information when daily deal customers walk in the door.

After all, what’s the point of going to all this effort if you can’t turn new business into repeat business? Some things to consider include:

  • Contact information – How will you collect contact information and where will you store it?
  • Coupon redemption – Which methods will you need to ensure people redeem coupons only once?
  • Ongoing communication – Do you have an e-newsletter or Facebook page where people can receive ongoing messages from you?
  • Repeat business – How will you track new business to see if it becomes long-term repeat business?

Daily deal sites can be a boon to consumer-based businesses. However, to make them work for you – and to turn new business into repeat business – it pays to do some homework and planning up front.

 

Category:  Customer Acquisition / Retention, Digital Marketing, Marketing Trends  |  Tags: ,   |  No Comments

Three Easy Ways to Develop Content That Builds Trust and Sales

June 2nd, 2011 by

Heinrich clients continually ask, “What is content marketing and why do we need it?” Content marketing, according to Joe Pulizzi, co-author of Get Content, Get Customers and publisher of the Junta42 blog, “is a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience — with the objective of driving profitable customer action.”

To put it more simply, content marketing isn’t about selling. Instead, it’s about offering your prospects and customers information that’s relevant to them — in their jobs, in their personal lives, or both. This is one reason social media has become so huge: It’s the one place where content is all about “me” the individual versus “you” the company.

Does content marketing work? Yes! According to a statistic cited by Pulizzi, Roper Public Affairs posted data that shows:

  • 80% of business decision makers prefer to get company information in a series of articles versus advertisements
  • 70% say content marketing makes them feel closer to the sponsoring company
  • 60% say that company content helps them make better purchasing decisions

Here at Heinrich, we’re dealing with the content marketing revolution too. Many of our clients don’t know that we can develop and implement both their content and social marketing campaigns, so instead of telling you what others are doing, I thought I’d show you how we’ve been incorporating content into our own marketing mix:

1. Turned our e-newsletter into a blog.

Like direct mail, email marketing is the workhorse for many companies. Email is wonderful because you can measure response almost immediately, and because performing A/B split tests on headlines, images, or copy is cost-effective. However, email lacks social’s engagement. And as you know, our inboxes are overflowing, which has lead to reduced open and clickthrough rates.

For all these reasons and more, we turned the Heinrich Report e-newsletter into a blog. (Lucky for us, we implement and manage blogs for our clients, so this process wasn’t difficult.)

A blog offers many advantages over an e-newsletter as it allows:

  • People to subscribe via RSS, which reduces inbox overwhelm.
  • Marketers to produce content very quickly, an important consideration if you’re in an industry where you need to comment on current events or breaking news.
  • Prospects and customers to engage with you through direct feedback.

The third point is the most important because it’s this engagement that builds trust over time. People who read your blog learn how you think, as well as how you handle positive — and not so positive — feedback. As the marketer, you have the opportunity to get to know people and, over time, turn those online relationships into business.

2. Became more engaged on Facebook.

For those of us who didn’t grow up with the Internet, using Facebook for business-to-business purposes has been a challenge because it’s just so . . . different from what we’re used to; however, that doesn’t mean you should ignore it.

Because Facebook is all about conversations (and definitely not about selling), it allows companies to show their personality — much more so than is possible with email or even a blog.

On the Heinrich Facebook page we’ve been experimenting with posting pictures of some of our office events and using questions and polls to conduct research. (Pay us a visit and give us a “like”!)

How does using Facebook help build trust? As with a blog, Facebook is a place where prospects can engage with you one-on-one. You can use the platform to ask questions — the way Netflix does about movies — or you can deliver information related to your products that your audience finds relevant.

Cabot Creamery Cooperative in Vermont, for example, posts recipes that incorporate its famous cheeses. In a recent post, someone asked the company to bring back its sliced cheddar “without animal rennet.” Gail from Cabot responded by saying the company uses a “microbial-based enzyme” in its cheeses. The customer replied, “Good to know!”

Not only is Cabot positioning itself as a company that cares about its customers and building trust, it’s also learning what its audience values, which allows it to develop products that meet people’s needs — and thus increase sales over time.

3. Developed a special report.

When I meet with my banking clients, I hear their pain with regard to content and social media marketing. As Pulizzi says, today’s customer expects a brand to be a resource of relevant information, not just sales messages, which is why Heinrich developed a new special report about content marketing specifically for financial services.

Whether or not you’re in financial services, download the report to see how we used nine real life examples of banks, credit card companies and insurance firms using content and social media marketing to reach out to their audiences. (Another report about how to incorporate social into direct mail is in the making!)

Special reports like this one help you build thought-leadership and trust. If the content is particularly valuable, others will pass it around to their networks (think Twitter and LinkedIn).

Content marketing is important because it allows you to communicate with people who have learned how to tune out overt advertising messages.

If you’re ready to develop or need help managing a content marketing campaign, Heinrich can help you. From blogs and social media to special reports and landing pages, we have the big picture perspective plus the tactical know-how to help you grow your business.

Feel free to give me a call at 303-239-5213.  In addition to replying to blog comments, I also love talking to people on the phone.

Category:  Content Marketing, Customer Acquisition / Retention, Lead Generation, Social Media Marketing, White Paper  |  Tags: , ,   |  No Comments

Direct Mail Should Be More Like Social Media — Yes or No?

May 11th, 2011 by

American Express® is using social media to encourage customers to spend rewards points in “less traditional ways.” According to the Advertising Age article, “AMEX Campaign Positions Rewards Points as Social Currency,” the company is rolling out a new campaign that includes print, social media and TV.

Take a look at their new Facebook page “Points” tab.

This clever page includes American Express’s popular Twitter feed where people talk about how they’ve redeemed their points. It also includes the “Deal of the Week,” which members can redeem at a 50% rate.

Deborah Curtis, vice president of advertising at American Express, says, “Card members and consumers are looking for options and choices. There’s also education…because they aren’t aware of what they can do [with their points]. Some of it is an entrenched way of thinking about rewards programs when they were heavily travel-based and people saved up points for a big trip.”

“Entrenched way of thinking.” This phrase stood out for me with regard to direct mail marketing.

Despite the wonderful innovation in the digital space, and despite the fact that so many companies are using social media to engage and interact with consumers, direct mail packages still look the way they did 5 or even 10 years ago.

We’ve been doing direct mail for more than 30 years, and there’s no argument: Direct mail is still a workhorse, especially for Heinrich’s financial services clients. A proven, response-generating direct mail package still includes:

  • Envelope with teaser
  • Letter
  • Lift note with bonus offer
  • Reply card
  • Reply envelope

Because many of our clients still rely on direct mail — and because it does produce results — we don’t want to change proven formats and formulas just to be creative.

But I, and those of us here at Heinrich, are asking lots of questions in light of consumers flocking to social media:

  • Should direct mail change its ways even though the components of direct mail have been thoroughly tested?
  • Do relatively low response rates mean direct mail is perceived as staid and boring?
  • Can direct mail take a lesson from social media and become more engaging?

A look at direct mail response rates

The Direct Marketing Association’s 2010 Response Rate Trend Report shows the typical response rates for direct marketing campaigns for five mediums: direct mail (five formats), e-mail, paid search, Internet display and telephone. According to the DMA:

“Response rates for Direct Mail have held steady over the past four years. Letter-sized envelopes, for instance, had a response rate this year of 3.42 percent for a house list and 1.38 percent for a prospect list. In addition, nearly 60 percent of direct mail campaigns in financial services aimed to produce a direct sale. The average response rate was a comparatively low 2.66 percent to a house list and 1.01 percent to a prospect list.”

According to John Schlagel, director of strategy for Heinrich, these numbers are in line with what Heinrich clients see with their direct mail packages.  However, many clients base campaign success on lift over the control.

As John explains it, “Many clients evaluate results based on lift over a hold-out group, so while even 2.66% sounds like a strong response, it’s not unusual that the hold-out group has a 2.25% sales rate, indicating that, of the 2.66% responders receiving the direct mail, only .41% of the audience responded due to the direct mail.”

My questions are: Is this good enough? And, can we do better?

Why aren’t direct mail marketers taking a cue from social?

The American Express “social currency” campaign caught my eye because it’s different. The company is featuring real customers in its print, TV and social media outreach because it’s these “savvy” customers who are telling their friends how to redeem points.

With social media, we as marketers have the potential to start a conversation — versus making an actual sale. Writing out a 140-character tweet is a hook to get people to click through to your content. In other words, the purpose of social media is to capture people’s interest.

Direct mail, on the other hand, is a direct sales opportunity. Direct mail packages haven’t changed in five years precisely because direct mail is still a direct selling opportunity — and because it’s profitable for our clients.

But, would we engage more people and get better response rates if we incorporated some of social media’s innovations?

Here at Heinrich, we’re asking ourselves these questions. In Part 2 of this article, I’ll give you a few ideas of how you can add some of social’s innovations to your direct mail packages.

Until then, what do you think? Do you agree or disagree? Leave your comments below.

Category:  Customer Acquisition / Retention, Direct Mail, Marketing Insights, Social Media Marketing  |  Tags: ,   |  4 Comments

Special Report: Attract and Retain Customers with Content Marketing

April 27th, 2011 by

Download now: Attract and Retain Customers with Content Marketing: A Special Report for Financial Services

Heinrich financial services clients ask lots of questions about content marketing:

  • “What exactly is ‘content’?”
  • “Why has content become so important?”
  • “How can we make content marketing work for our firm or bank?”

In this new Special Report developed by Heinrich Marketing for financial services firms, we answer these questions.

As a financial services marketer, creating content that helps you attract and retain customers must become a priority, especially now that educated, savvy — and connected! — consumers can quickly get up to speed on banking industry news, as well as shop for banks, credit cards and insurance, all with the click of a mouse.

Content developed by your firm lets you enter into these conversations with people, whether it’s through a blog post, Tweet or Facebook page. Content helps you communicate your message and educate prospects about changes in your industry, what’s happening at your firm and why you’ve had to make difficult decisions (e.g., cutting your rewards program).

When it’s done right, authentic and engaging content helps build trust in your company and turns prospects into customers — who then tell their social networks about why they like your brand.

But how can you make content marketing work when your company has yet to take a first step? Or, maybe you’re wondering how to integrate your Facebook page and Twitter presence into a more comprehensive content marketing strategy. Relax. We’ve got the answers!

In our Special Report, you’ll find 9 real-life examples of financial services firms, large and small, that are successfully using the following content marketing tactics:

  • Article research libraries
  • Special reports for lead generation
  • E-newsletters
  • Social media — Twitter and Facebook
  • Blogs
  • Video
  • Customer reviews
  • Community forums

Our goal is to inspire and excite you by showing you how your peers in the industry are reaching out and building relationships.

To learn how you can use content marketing to grow your business, simply fill out our short form to receive Attract and Retain Customers with Content Marketing: A Special Report for Financial Services.

Then, if you have additional questions, call me. I am happy to answer any questions you may have.

 

Category:  Content Marketing, Customer Acquisition / Retention, Social Media Marketing, White Paper  |  Tags: , , ,   |  5 Comments

LinkedIn: It’s Not Just for Résumés — 4 Online Networking Tips

April 19th, 2011 by

“LinkedIn is just for job seekers,” said a commentator on a blog I read a while ago. “What?!” I heard myself saying aloud. Of course job seekers use LinkedIn, but the site is also all about business — finding it, building it and nurturing it.

LinkedIn is one of my marketing tools of choice. I use it to connect with clients, prospects and vendors, and to conduct research “on the fly” while on conference calls. For example, if someone on the call chimes in with an astute observation, and I don’t know the person, I’ll look him or her up on LinkedIn that very instant.

As I wrote in my post, Three Ways to Jump into Social Media (Even If It’s Not in Your Job Description), social media fluency is an essential skill marketers must have, and one important way to show this fluency is by developing a LinkedIn profile and proactively maintaining it — even if you’re not looking for a job.

Can your peers find you?

In a March 22, 2011, blog post, 100 Million Members and Counting, LinkedIn posted some of its numbers:

  • The site is growing at roughly 1 million members a week
  • 44 million members are U.S.-based
  • 73 of the Fortune 100 are represented
  • The three largest sectors are Service (20%), Finance (9%) and High Tech (9%)

Google isn’t the only search engine in town. In 2010, people performed over 2 billion people searches on LinkedIn. Having an optimized and complete profile ensures your peers (and possibly recruiters) can easily find you.

Getting started: Develop or improve your LinkedIn profile

Despite the relative maturity of the site, I still meet people who say they haven’t taken the time to develop a profile. As the numbers above show, however, it’s vitally important that you do.

If you already have a LinkedIn profile and want to improve it, you can find lots of articles on how to do so. I especially like this one by executive job search coach Meg Guiseppi, 29 Biggest LinkedIn Mistakes.

If you’re really all thumbs and can’t figure how to get started, I recommend that you get a how-to book, such as Neal Shaffer’s Windmills or LinkedIn for Dummies, and then spend a weekend setting up your profile. Or, ask a well-connected peer whose profile you admire to help you.

The most important thing to remember is that you can’t “set and forget” your profile. To be effective, you need to continually manage and update it.

How to use LinkedIn to drive business

The best way to get maximum benefit from LinkedIn is to view it just as you would a face-to-face networking event. This means you can and should do the following on a regular basis:

1. Invite people you know to join your network

Invite your present and former co-workers, friends at other companies, people you meet at conferences or seminars, vendors and customers. Should you accept invites from people you don’t know? That’s your call — some people do, others don’t. The important thing is to connect!

2. Participate in group discussions

Look for and join one or two moderated groups (meaning, the owner or manager is actively removing spam posts and moderating discussions) and begin participating in the conversations. Why is this important? Because you learn new information as well as meet people (maybe your next customer!).

3. Regularly update your status with business-suitable news

You can post your achievements, links to articles or blog posts you find interesting, or a quick factoid from a business book you’re reading. Keeping your status updated ensures your name regularly appears in the news feeds of the people in your network.

4. Create and share non-promotional content

One of the nice things about LinkedIn is that you can customize your profile by using one or more of the many apps available.

These apps help you build non-promotional content that can spark discussions with people in your network, which is how new business is often generated. A few of the apps that business professionals may find useful include:

SlideShare Presentations: Do you speak or give presentations for your company? Are you an expert on a specific topic? SlideShare is an easy way to share your expertise as it allows you to upload presentations for others to view.

Reading List by Amazon: Being an avid reader, this app is near and dear to my heart; it lets me post the books I’ve read along with my opinion about each one. The nifty thing about this app is that people can follow your Reading List, further enhancing your personal brand and sparking discussions with people.

Polls: This easy-to-use app lets you quickly gather market research from your network — a mini focus group as it were. The poll appears on your profile; you can also post it to your various groups or in the Questions section and ask people to take part in the poll. Post the results to spark more discussion.

As you can see, LinkedIn is far from being a simple résumé site. To get the most from it, make sure your profile is up to date and then experiment with the various apps as well as participate in one or two groups. You’ll quickly see the benefits of using LinkedIn to help grow your business.

Have you generated new business from LinkedIn? Post your story below.

 

Category:  Business Development, Customer Acquisition / Retention, Lead Generation, Marketing Research, Social Media Marketing  |  Tags: , ,   |  4 Comments

Pushing Through the Growth Barrier with Innovation

February 23rd, 2011 by

“Innovate!” It’s a common rallying cry these days as an important pairing link to business survival and growth. No longer the sole responsibility of the product developers, engineers or technology teams — marketers can (and should) play an important role in driving innovation. And although most companies place a high value on innovation, finding the time to size up problems and develop creative solutions that will have an impact is quite a challenge. Especially when your workday is filled with nonstop meetings, solving a current crisis or even reacting to latest regulations within your industry.

To help unlock this challenge, we spoke with Lois Todd, senior partner of Denver-based Alchemy, a company that guides organizations through strategic business acceleration and innovative processes. She emphasizes why innovation is so important for organizations, especially today. “The benefits of innovation so clearly show up in the outcome of your project, campaign, product launch or organization change. Let’s just say you’re leading a team to roll out a new product positioning. The upside to innovation within the process is more efficiency, with more team support, better alignment, and a faster road to revenue.”

Here are three key questions to start with to help define — and inspire — innovation at your company.

1. Who are you innovating for?Customers. It sounds simple enough. But at many companies (maybe even yours), it’s a mantra that lacks a supporting strategy.

Companies use “Innovate!” to inspire employees. Too often, when the ideas roll in they never leave the building. Innovation experts agree. And Scott Anthony at Harvard Business Review adds, “Most organizations are designed to execute, not to innovate.” That’s a big barrier when you’re trying to push an idea into the world. But you’re not innovating if you’re only talking to yourself, or satisfying the fewest, most important people in the room. Innovation should speak to your audience — the customers.

2. Where and how do I find areas to innovate within my organization? Ignore common misconceptions about innovation, like it has to be unplanned, unexpected and unfettered by rules. You can take a more logical approach: Simply find a problem to solve, and create a new system that solves it.

Again, Scott Anthony at Harvard Business Review offers up some great suggestions to get you started:

  • “Look beyond your best customers to those who face a constraint that inhibits their ability to solve the problems they face in their life.”
  • “Look for a job-to-be-done, an important problem that is not adequately solved by current solutions.”

Innovation doesn’t have to be a grand, overreaching idea. If it helps your customers do something in a new, more efficient way, it succeeds.

3. Why should you make innovation a core competency? Do it to keep your company relevant and helpful to your customers.

Don’t innovate as a reaction to what others are doing. It’s a sure way to fall behind in your industry. MaryBeth Kemp at Forrester’s notices reactionary marketing has become an unfortunate trend.

“Through my discussions with marketers,” she explains, “I’ve noticed two things: 1) Most marketing organizations are reacting to, rather than driving, change, and 2) Marketers aren’t reaching far enough.”

When reactionary innovation takes hold of the corporate culture, new products don’t get made, only competing ones do. Your business becomes entrenched in a race, and when you’re running too fast, great ideas fly buy unnoticed. Your brand and your customers suffer.

How to get started

Lois Todd leads dozens of workshops with top organizations both nationally and internationally where she and her team at Alchemy focus on innovation as a key part of leadership development and organizational change. She often uses a five-step process to bring more innovation into any project:

  1. Start from a vantage point of constant evaluation to improve and make things better.
  2. Gather a team where you can discuss, plan and share — to look for the seeds of the idea. (Alchemy uses visual maps to record the process.)
  3. Determine the resources you need to get your idea off the ground (online research, outside consultant or advisor, personnel, business partner).
  4. Identify the stakeholders and your advocates, who will support you in building change.
  5. “Be a good developer of follow-ship,” says Lois. “You need to be able to articulate your vision so that you can gain energy and support from others. And while it’s good to know your risk, don’t be afraid to fail.”

At the end of the day, “innovate” shouldn’t be a rallying cry — it should just be part of what your business does.
Email us to get started.

Check out Fast Company’s list of Most Innovative Companies.
Category:  Customer Acquisition / Retention, Marketing Strategy  |  Tags:   |  No Comments

Three Reasons Why You Need a Content Marketing Strategy

January 18th, 2011 by

Content! It’s not just a buzzword. More than two-thirds of marketers are using some form of content marketing to grow their businesses (for B2B marketers, it’s 90%). And for good reason, too. Today, businesses and consumers look for trusted content (rather than sales pitches) to help them solve problems and make purchase decisions.

Not surprisingly, businesses increasingly use content as part of a marketing strategy to help them find customers, persuade prospects to action and turn customers into repeat buyers. But at Heinrich, we still hear plenty of companies asking questions, such as: Can content marketing work for my business? Can I measure the impact?

Yes, and yes. A great content marketing program can help you generate revenue. Here’s why:

Reason #1: Attract and retain customers

Finding new customers isn’t a challenge unique to 2011, but it might seem like a more formidable one than ever before. Potential customers just aren’t where they used to be. As Joe Pulizzi quite bluntly puts it in his book (co-authored with Newt Barrett) Get Content, Get Customers:

“They aren’t surfing aimlessly, hoping to be influenced by marketing messages that arrive from out of the blue. And they aren’t sitting around waiting to hear from you. They have no time to waste, and they deeply resent unwanted advertising messages.”

That’s an assessment of what consumers aren’t doing. So what are they doing? They’re becoming students of what they want to buy! With access to research tools like price comparison sites, apps, customer reviews and blogs, consumers can find a wealth of information before they even set foot in a store.

In 2008, Yahoo! Search Marketing, in partnership with ChannelForce, confirmed this. During a study of TV and digital camera shoppers, they discovered 70% researched online before they went to a store. Today, mobile makes it possible to research while in the store. According to The Wall Street Journal (in an article whose title we can’t ignore: “Phone-Wielding Shoppers Strike Fear Into Retailers”), customers consulted apps for price comparisons right from the aisles.The paper also cited a study by Accenture that found “73% of mobile-powered shoppers preferred peering into their phones for basic assistance over talking to a retail clerk.” Now that’s redefining customer service!

We’re not saying you need to create an app — we’re pointing out what your next customers are doing, and where you can find them. Apps, blogs, customer reviews…these are their trustworthy authorities. When you create content to answer their needs in these mediums, you’re creating touch points that can start a relationship. You might not get the next sale, but you might get the one after that.

Reason #2: Position your brand as a credible expert

With content in the right places, your brand and your business can stay viable in the social-media-driven, consumer-empowered marketplace. Go where the consumers are looking, and put yourself directly in their path. Sounds easy, but getting there is half the battle. That’s why you need a strategy!

Good strategy can help you with the other half of the content equation: creating relevant content consumers care about. We’re not saying you have to pretend you’re not selling a product. But today’s customer also expects your brand to be more — to be a viable resource in your product category.

In the end, maybe it comes down to good old competition: If your rival is establishing itself as a presence through content (and more will be in 2011), you need to be there, too.

Reason #3: Motivate and drive purchase action

What keeps your customers coming back to buy? For 2011, you need to know: It’s not you. On his blog Junta42, content guru Joe Pulizzi explains:

“New content marketers…like to talk about ourselves all the time. Our products, our services, features and benefits…[But] successful publishing is all about the reader…your customers. If you are not solving their pain with relevant and compelling content, you are adding to the noise, the clutter.”

As a result of the “me-focused” consumer marketplace, the emotional attachment your current customers feel to your brand is more tenuous. But fear not. Relevant, informative content can reinforce that bond, provided you have a strong vision for your brand and content with social currency. As Marketing Profs put it, it’s time to ask yourself tough questions:

  • “What’s your position on things, your point of view? Where’s the evidence that you’re serious about content? What’s your story? What’s your purpose? Why should people care?”
  • “What value does your content deliver directly to people? What value does it deliver indirectly (i.e., the payback you get for telling someone else about it)?”

When you can answer all of these questions succinctly, and deliver your message consistently, you can create content that helps your brand become a trusted resource for your customers, not just a place to buy things. It requires a serious change in the way you do business. Steven Van Yoder’s compelling headline for Marketing Profs says it best: “Stop Selling and (Instead) Help Your Customers Buy.”

Make time for content

The value (and profits) content can bring make it a necessity worthy of your attention and ideas. Heinrich can help you produce engaging content, and find a way fit it into your already full schedule for 2011. Let’s talk!

Examples of Content Marketing

  • Blogging
  • Email Newsletters
  • Video Tutorials
  • White Papers
  • Free Reports
  • Social Media
  • Articles

Take the survey!
Category:  Content Marketing, Customer Acquisition / Retention, Marketing Strategy, Social Media Marketing  |  Tags:   |  No Comments

Heinrich Must-Reads for 2011: Your Guide to Success

January 18th, 2011 by

What’s on your agenda for the new year? Popular goals we’ve heard include:

  • Tackling a major new product launch
  • Fostering more innovation from marketing staff or an agency partner
  • Turning up the dial on productivity for your marketing efforts in light of the economic recovery
  • Looking for a new career challenge that really drives your passion

The Heinrich Report’s “What We’re Reading” series is a great resource that can help focus your priorities and clarify your 2011 goals. Here’s a list of our top choices, ones that we think can help you dive into the New Year with confidence.

Books

1) Do More Great Work: Stop the Busywork. Start the Work That Matters

by Michael Bungay Stanier

Why we like it: A quick read with helpful insights on how to jumpstart your passion for the work you already do — or hope to do.

2) Click: What Millions of People Are Doing Online and Why It Matters

by Bill Tancer

Why we like it: It’s a great big Internet out there, and it’s always in flux. This book helps you understand how people keep up, and how they harness the Web as a resource.

3) UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging.

by Scott Stratten

Why we like it: Engagement has been a big theme for us the past year, and Stratten keeps us motivated.

4) Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision and Reality

by Scott Belsky

Why we like it: It’s one thing to have a great idea. It’s quite another to make it a reality. And that’s something almost everyone can relate to.

5) Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard

by Chip and Dan Heath

Why we like it: See #4!

Blogs

Harvard Business Review: http://blogs.hbr.org/

Insightful writing on current marketing happenings and trends.

Junta42: Joe Pulizzi’s Blog: http://blog.junta42.com/

Always a Heinrich favorite, Joe drives his points about content home over and over again, but makes it sounds fresh and exciting every time.

Convince and Convert: http://www.convinceandconvert.com/

For crystal-clear analysis about the impact of social media on businesses (and help making it work for yours), bookmark this website.

Personal Branding Blog: http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/

Because people are brands, too.

Forrester Blogs: http://blogs.forrester.com/

Data and smart analysis from research leaders.

The Financial Brand: http://thefinancialbrand.com/

Financial institutions face unique challenges when it comes to social media, content and brand identity, and this site gets it.

Mashable: http://mashable.com/

Find the most up-to-date digital and social news here.

Apps

Evernote: Tagline, “Remember Everything.” Enough said.

Chronicle: Everything you need to start a journal on your iPad.

Webster’s Dictionary: No more excuses. Correct spelling is in the palm of your hand.

Dragon Dictation: A real time-saver. It lets you “talk” a text message, and more.

Pandora: Background music for your life.

Category:  Book Reviews, Content Marketing, Customer Acquisition / Retention, Digital Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Trends, Social Media Marketing  |  Tags: ,   |  No Comments

The Power of Thank-You

November 16th, 2010 by

“The deepest human need is the need to be appreciated.” William James, premier American psychologist, 1842-1910

When’s the last time you thanked your customers and employees? A graceful, sincere expression of thanks toward the people who support your company can go a long way toward showing you care, and generating loyalty.

There’s no one right way to express thanks. Sometimes you need the actual words “thank you.” For example, when you shop in-store at Nordstrom, don’t be surprised if you receive a handwritten thank-you note from the sales person a week later! Other times, it’s enough to show customers you’re paying attention.

There’s always an opportunity for thanks. Here are just a few to consider:

  • Send a note of congratulations and/or thanks based on a customer’s anniversary.
  • Acknowledge birthdays with a special offer.
  • Follow up a purchase with a thank-you email.
  • Surprise your customers with a special thank-you discount on a day of their choosing.
  • Acknowledge spending thresholds or loyalty tiers with a letter and a reward.

Spread the gratitude in-house, too.

Gratitude as part of your corporate culture can drive innovation in your company, and help ensure the sentiment gets paid forward to your customers. Zappos, who we covered in The Heinrich Report last month, is a great example of a company that stands by this philosophy, and enjoys success as a result. In Boom!: 7 Choices for Blowing the Doors Off Business-As-Usual, authors Kevin and Jackie Freiberg eloquently explain why gratitude works:

“Show us a corporate culture infused with gratitude, and we will show you a culture of civility, compassion and courtesy…a culture where people find freedom to soar.”

Is that your company? If you do a culture check, do you find “thank you” is part of the conversation?

Heinrich can help you find a way to express your gratitude. Email us today.

Category:  Customer Acquisition / Retention, Loyalty / Rewards Marketing  |  Tags:   |  No Comments

Delivering Happiness: A path to Profits, Passion and Purpose

October 25th, 2010 by

Like a lot of marketers, we find inspiration from our always-growing marketing library. Our pick this month: Delivering Happiness: A path to Profits, Passion and Purpose by Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh. It’s all about solving business problems and keeping customers happy. Now that’s something we can relate to!

In barely 9 years, Zappos went from zero to a billion dollars in revenue, and became an online powerhouse and shining example of business done right. Delivering Happiness tells us how it happened — and how CEO Tony Hsieh redefined the concepts of “marketing strategy” and “corporate culture” along the way.

Customer service as a marketing strategy

“Customer service shouldn’t just be a department, it should be the entire company.”

No matter how tough it got financially, Zappos focused its business around delivering great customer service. It wasn’t just a department that existed to solve problems; it defined the Zappos brand. In fact, every customer perk Zappos offered — free shipping, free returns — counted as a marketing expense. As Tony explains it:

“Our philosophy has been to take most of the money we would have spent on paid advertising and invest it into customer service and the customer experience instead, letting the customers do the marketing for us through word of mouth.”

Zappos created advocates for the brand simply by showing customers they cared. It’s a shining example of loyalty marketing at work! Not surprisingly, Zappos refers to their call center reps as the “Customer Loyalty Team.” And the focus on people power doesn’t stop there.

Creating a corporate culture that supports growth

“Your culture is your brand.”

At Zappos, fitting into the culture as an employee counts for everything. When hiring, they’ve turned away many great candidates because they weren’t great “culture fits.” The employees, no matter what job they do, help make Zappos great — and Hsieh wants them to know it and believe it. “We’re always on the lookout for ways to improve our company culture, no matter how unconventional or counterintuitive the approach may be,” says Hsieh. As part of a periodic culture check, they survey their employees with these questions, asking if they agree or disagree:

  • I believe that the company has a higher purpose beyond just profits.
  • My role at Zappos has a real purpose — it is more than just a job.
  • I feel that I am in control of my career path and that I am progressing in my personal and professional development at Zappos.
  • I consider my co-workers to be like my family and friends.
  • I am very happy in my job.

To Hsieh, company culture can influence every part of the business, so staying in touch with the mood of the culture, and the people who contribute to it, is imperative to the company’s continued success.

Book club roundup: What can we learn from Zappos?

Delivering Happiness made us cheer out loud for the way it reinforces two core marketing beliefs that drive us at Heinrich:

1) Customers want to know you’re listening.

2) Treating customers well creates advocates, and generates loyalty.

It also made us look at ourselves. We like the idea of asking our employees the very same questions Hsieh asks his, to get a sense of our own corporate culture. What about you?

  • Would you ask Hsieh’s agree/disagree questions?
  • Would you ask different questions? If so, what would they be?
Category:  Book Reviews, Customer Acquisition / Retention  |  Tags: ,   |  No Comments

Three Ways a QR Code or Barcode Boosts Direct Mail Response Rate

September 29th, 2010 by

QR Code Boosts Response

When we think about creative work, we think about big ideas, visual concepts, and even catchy taglines. But technology has hatched new creative tools that can help you add a “wow” factor to your creative campaigns, and boost response along the way.

Rob McPhee, creative director here at Heinrich Marketing says these new tools offer more choices for consumers: “They’re giving people a chance to respond in their own individual way, while staying in a controlled environment…there’s just more than one path to the call to action.”

According to Rob, the tools to keep your eye on are any that involve smartphone applications — but especially barcodes or QR codes. A code can work in two ways:

  • As an engagement tool. The recipient can scan a mobile device over the code to receive information.
  • As an attention-getting visual element more likely to get a second look in a stack of mail.

And the benefits just get better from here.

Satisfy consumer needs fast

Barcodes and QR codes can help you bridge the gap between direct mail and digital technology, and unite the best benefits of both. That’s key when you’re up against today’s consumer, characterized by a “need-it-now” attitude and a desire to research online before making purchase decisions. A direct mail recipient can simply swipe their smartphone against a code to receive information on their personal device. It’s fast, easy and a great way for you to satisfy their desire to know more while still controlling the content.

Simplify the response process

Think of a barcode/QR code as an engagement tool that pushes consumers along the sales cycle more quickly. Your response channel is built right into the direct mail piece, so the recipient doesn’t have to type in a web address or call a number. They don’t even have to go to a computer. All they need to do is scan their phone to respond. The call to action becomes an almost effortless step for the consumer, and an invaluable lead generator for you.

Deliver personalized information to a personal device

A barcode/QR code can make you a better communicator. It enhances your ability to deliver more personalized content immediately, and continue the conversation your direct mail began with your consumer. There’s no unique (and possibly complicated) URL for your recipient to type in. With just a quick smartphone scan, they can go directly to a customized landing page that speaks to them.

Summary: When it’s easy to respond, more consumers will do it

A simpler response process makes a world of difference to today’s busy and more discriminating consumer. A barcode/QR code speeds up the delivery of customized information. It can help you foster a relationship built on trust and reliability — and turn a “response” into a sale, fast.

Heinrich can help you create a code strategy. Email us today.


 

Category:  Customer Acquisition / Retention, Digital Marketing, Integrated Direct Marketing, Marketing Trends, Mobile Marketing, Social Media Marketing  |  Tags: ,   |  No Comments
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