Maybe I just pay attention to marketing more than the average person, but I am continually surprised by the amount of wasted effort and money people spend on marketing. So much so, I thought maybe I would just simplify the process for companies and easily define for them 5 ways to waste their marketing dollars

Wasteful idea #1: Don’t collect email addresses.

One of the most cost effective ways to communicate with clients and prospects is through email. When you don’t spend the effort to ask permission to add your contacts to your email distribution list, you are not utilizing one of the most cost-effective ways to stay in front of them.

Wasteful idea #2: Get big Yellow Page Ads

I am constantly surprised by the amount of money still spent in this area. Do people still think Yellow Pages is worth the money? Come on! I have talked with companies who spend $1,000, $2,000, even $5,000 per month on ads.

Wasteful idea #3: Don’t put effort into your website

Your website is a view into your company 24×7. It speaks for you when you are not there to speak for your company. Many times, it is the first impression a prospect or “influencer” may have for your company. For many of our service clients, one or two new sales in a year as a result of website improvements can more than pay for the effort.

Wasteful idea #4: Sponsor events without purpose

It’s amazing how many opportunities small businesses have to sposor something. A table at a networking event here, or a sponsor at a community event there, or for $$ we will put your logo on this here. Unless you see it worth doing as “good-will” such as an opportunity to give back to your community (which is not marketing any more by the way), you must adhere to a couple of principles: first ask what you should expect as a return on your investment, and secondly ask to speak to someone who has done it before you to make sure they feel it was a good investment for them. Not always does that mean it will be for you, but you can learn an awful lot that way.

Wasteful idea #5: Buy print ads

You want to blow through a marketing budget quickly, buy print ads. They are as expensive as they ever have been, but now there are much more cost effective ways to advertise including Google ads, even Facebook ads if your target audience is found there. Be creative when trying to reach your audience. We have two clients that actually traded ad space. One placed the other’s ad on their website, and the other printed flyers and taped them to their take-out boxes. Little to no cost for each!

These points seem pretty simple when you step back and think about it. Be honest with yourself if you are spending money in the above ways. Are you just doing so because you want to do “something”? Is there a better way to spend your marketing dollars? If you want some help doing it better, give us a call.

First let’s take a look at who the Gen-Y-ers are.

• Generation Y is generally considered, those born in the 1980s and 1990s.
• Gen Y is the largest generation in U. S. history. You thought Boomers were a big generation? Check out their kids. Generation Y is estimated at 77 million people—several million more than the Boomer generation.
• Gen Y has the highest consumer confidence. Gen Y lost the most in the recent recession, with lower wages and the largest number of job losses. Despite the recession, Gen Y maintained spending habits rather than saving. This generation is likely to keep spending at the same rates in the years to come, regardless of the economy.
• The new mommy bloggers are from Gen Y. Every PR and interactive agency wants to reach those mommy bloggers. According to The Parents Network, 68 percent of all births are to Generation Y moms (not Generation X). This up and coming group of moms has been shaped by a different upbringing and different world events than the one before it, and companies should approach them differently.
• Gen Y sets the trends. Baby Boomers emulate their Gen Y children, creating a “trickle-up” effect. Also, Media Post reports “67 percent of Gen X women identified Gen Y [women] as trend leaders” (hat tip to Rebecca Thorman). Generation Y influences the likes and dislikes of not just each other, but older generations too.

As you can see, this generation breaks the mold we’ve become accustom to. Their sheer size and buying propensity should make you pause and ask, are they my target audience and am I marketing to them properly? Don’t lose focus though, if these twenty-somethings and younger aren’t your buying or influencing audience fight the temptation and stay focused on your true target audience.

However, if Gen Y is your target audience you may need to change your game plan as they prefer to be communicated to, much differently than previous generations. Here are a few ways to reach this Gen Y through the Internet:

1. Target the influencers. In digital, the most influential people are bloggers, and you can find all Gen Y bloggers on two networks: Brazen Careerist and 20Something Bloggers. Target specific groups by interest on each site, write a piece for the main newsletter, and start networking with over 10,000 Gen Y bloggers. Get this group excited about what you are doing, and they will tell their vast networks of friends online.
2. Infiltrate the inner circle. A small start-up called CaptainU targets high school athletes with their college recruiting software. The company spent a year trying to market their company on Facebook with no success. Then, they offered internships to a small group of high school students, who started sharing the company’s fan page updates with friends. The CaptainU Facebook fan page went from 100 fans to nearly 2,000 fans within a month, all because they found a way to infiltrate the inner circle of teens they were targeting.
3. Build a “street team”. Generation Y gets most of their information from trusted resources—their friends. Most companies are wary of letting non-employees represent them, but Generation Y is collaborative, technologically savvy, and well-networked. Gen Y wants to build a brand with you, so let them. Provide them with exclusive information, pictures, and video, give them sneak peeks at new products, and hook them up with goods they can talk about and share with their friends.
4. Support a cause Gen Y is known to be passionate about causes—world issues, politics, and the environment. According to Diversity Inc, Gen Y is “undeniably a big reason that America elected its first black president in U.S. history.” Companies like Tom’s Shoes are popular with Gen Y because they can easily give back as they consume.
5. Advertise on mobile. Gen Y never leaves home without their cell phones. According to Ad Age, “one-quarter of Facebook’s 400 million users access the site through mobile devices; this set is twice as active as non-mobile users.” As geo-gaming applications like Foursquare and Gowalla take off, expect to see more opportunities to advertise to Gen Y on the go.
6. Keep up with the trends. Because Gen Y relies so heavily on technology for communication, the tools and tactics are always changing. If there is one blog you read about youth marketing, make it YPulse. They cover marketing trends for tweens, teens, college students, and young professionals in the workplace.

So if Generation Y is your target audience, make sure your communication plan is appropriate – what worked before, may not work now!

Some data provide by Monica O’Brien.
Monica O’Brien is the director of digital at Fizz and author of Social Pollination: Escape the Hype of Social Media and Join the Companies Winning At It. You can read her blog, Social Pollination, and follow her on Twitter at @monicaobrien.

Does that seem right? Does that mean we should be a fourth of the way toward our yearly goals? Does that mean we should have a fourth of our new clients, a fourth of our revenue, and a fourth of our leads?

Well, if you are like us and asking yourself these questions (and quite possibly more), then here is some advice: if you are NOT on track, it’s NOT to late. Here is some practical thoughts that may help you make the turn.

Do what YOU do best

With that, I don’t mean your company, I mean YOU. Do what YOU do best. If you are like most business people I know, you are all trying to be everything to everyone and do everything yourself. But that is exactly how we get off course from our goals. Stop and assess what you should be doing for your company – quite possibly they are things only you can do for the company. Focus on those things and find others to do the rest.

Oh wait, that reminds me about my next point….

Find other resources / partners to help take the load off you

Can’t afford it? I know, we say that here all the time as well. But the fact of the matter is you CAN’T afford not to. If your business model is truly as strong as you believe it is, then you have to let go of some of the things that are holding you back from reaching your goals. You have to let others do the things they can do to help your company succeed and allow you to focus on the things only you can.

Now this doesn’t necessarily mean hiring. It could mean outsourcing some work to a virtual employee or company (I know a good one when it comes to marketing), or it may mean partnering with some companies to trade services or resources. Be creative and make every dollar you spend count toward reaching your goal.

Break the goals up in manageable pieces

We see many companies only make yearly goals and the numbers they stare at each day are so large they become paralyzed. Break them up. What do you want to accomplish by this time next quarter – or maybe next time this month? Keep your eye focused on a goal that is reachable (with a stretch) within a shorter period of time.

I hope these thoughts help trigger your mind to think of other things you need to consider as well. If you have other ideas to share, add them to the post by using the comment box below.

If you are struggling with your goals, your message, or your plan. Give us a call and let’s see what we can do to help you now.

And although our monthly email newsletter is titled “Hat Trick” it is more of a play on the hockey phrase as it relates to our name than it is a “tip of the hat” to the game. To be perfectly honest, that is probably all I know about the game – except for one other thing.

The great Wayne Gretzky once said something that has become one of my favorite quotes. He said, “Don’t skate to where the puck is…skate to where the puck will be.”

I love that quote because it says so much in so little. It speaks to me personally in how I try to live my life, but also how I hope we continue to run our business. It puts a focus where it should be. It is the definition of wisdom exemplified: knowing the outcome before it will happen.

So how can we get into this mindset with our business? How can we continue to operate as we need to today, but watch and know where our “puck” will be in the future? Well, would you believe our marketing efforts can help? Here are some thoughts on how.

Plan your marketing for where you want to go, not for where you are today.

It’s hard, I know, when you are muddling in the day-to-day issues of a business to stop and plan, but that is exactly what makes the difference between a long-term, successful business and one that’s short-lived. Market to the type of client you think will help your business long-term. You can certainly “sell” to those you do business with now (and do whatever a client may ask of you), but marketing is a proactive effort – so spend your effort (and your money) on where you see your business going, not on where it is today.

Budget for where you want to go, not for where you are today.

Now this one is easier said than done, but if you have planned correctly as we stated above, then you should have the confidence to spend the money you need to to move the ball forward. I don’t mean spending large sums of money as if you are where you expect to be 10 years from now, but spend to get yourself further down the path. Times are tough, I know first hand, but now is when you can “out-skate” your competition if you know (and are confident) which direction to go.

Speak to where you want to go, not to where you are today.

In your language (both written and verbal) speak like you want your business to be – not necessarily like it is today. Start setting the groundwork now. You will find that people will instinctively pick up on what you are say about yourself – and sharing the message of where you are going will allow those around you to help get you there faster.

Much like hockey, being good at business is about thinking two steps ahead and being at the right place at the right time. Allow your marketing efforts to help you get there. And much like hockey, everyone needs a coach (even the great Wayne Gretzky), so if we can help you in any way – just give us a ring.

Often times we take our existing relationships for granted and as a result we unintentionally neglect them – clients and/or influencers. Many of you have probably experienced this issue in some form as it commonly happens to marketing and sales people. I guess it’s because we are always asked to “get more”. Get more traffic, get more leads, get more conversions, get more sales….get more! And if we are honest with ourselves, we’re all motivated by the chase of the new. This issue can probably be chalked up to “the pursuit of something new” syndrome (yes, I just made that up but I stake claim to it – please send all royalty payments in cash).

The irony is that many times, “the pursuit of something new” actually prevents us from getting more business, and takes longer or costs us significantly more to do so. Identifying those you suspect would be good customers, targeting prospective customers and building a relationship with a new customer is many times a long and expensive journey. On average, the cost of acquiring new customers can cost 5x more than retaining current customers.

Don’t get me wrong, your sales efforts need to be balanced based on your situation – and for many that is a balance between reoccurring sales, add-on sales and new sales. However, if you only have a dollar to spend on marketing – that dollar is best spent on communicating to your existing clients. Here are a few tips on marketing to existing customers to drive sales:

1. Stay in touch
We prefer email marketing or personalized notes. Keep in touch periodically and especially on special occasions (birthdays, anniversaries, promotions, etc).

2. Show your appreciation
Demonstrate your appreciation for their relationship by sending things like a gift certificate to their favorite coffee shop or restaurant.

3. Make connections
Make a referral and send your clients business whenever possible. Connecting clients with other business that may be a referral sources is often appreciated.

4. Spend time with them
While this may be more of a sales tactic, it doesn’t have to be a sales pitch. Make sure you spend time with you clients periodically – and don’t “sell” them unless they express interest. Think relationship building, not sales.

5. Manage your reputation
Good customer service keeps customers coming back but an unhappy customer can be costly. Make sure you listening for frustrations when you do interact with customers, but also listen on social media tools. Frustrated customers will share their frustration on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIN, SmallerIndiana and the like. By monitoring these tools you can response quickly an put out any fires. This is called reputation monitoring & management – if you are not doing this, contact Three Hats right away as it could be a costly mistake!

6. Share good news
When there is good news about your business or your clients business and industry, send them a quick note referencing the article.

7. Ask for feedback
Ask your customers how you are doing and if there are ways you can improve your service. This can be an informal call/email or a more formal survey.

Should I be using these tools to market my business?

We suggest the answer to this frequently asked question be a resounding, definite, straightforward, MAYBE!

Let me explain. First let’s start off with explaining that Facebook and Twitter are “social media tools”. Social media appears to be an ambiguous term and there are many different definitions floating around. Our interpretation of social media is web-based technologies used to stimulate social interaction and communication. At the end of the day, Facebook and Twitter are simply “communication tools”, and there are dozens of other “tools” just like them under the social media umbrella.

Now, back to the question at hand: Should I be using these tools to market my business? To answer this question, we refer to our three principles of marketing.

1. How are you different and why would someone what to buy from you?
2. Who is your target audience (in most cases, your buying audience)?
3. How does your target audience prefer to be communicated to?

Answering these three questions is the first step to every marketing initiative, and evaluating an investment into Facebook and Twitter is no different. It is easy to succumb to the peer pressure of Brian Williams and jump right into using Facebook and Twitter, but we are here to tell you….MAYBE!

The marketing principal of “How are You Different” is vitally important, but for this article, we are going to focus more on the “Target Audience” and “Communication Preference” principles.

The biggest attractions to these communication tools seems to be:

1. Everyone else claims they’re doing it, and
2. It’s free…we’ll, kinda

There are a tremendous amount of people, possibly even your target audience, using Facebook and Twitter but you must determine if they are the “right people”. So, you must ask yourself, “Is your target audience on Facebook and/or Twitter?” Both of these tools are Internet based, which means we have a tremendous amount of data to help us answer these questions. Spend some time defining your target audience, and performing research to determine if they are in fact using these either or both of these tools.

This is where the free part comes into question. The tools are free, but there is time required to determine if they are appropriate communication tactics for your business and what your plan is for reaching your target audience. Furthermore, there is time associated with setting up these tools, and actively using them to communicate and participate in conversations with your target audience.

That’s right, having conversations! An important aspect to both Facebook and Twitter is interaction. These are not your traditional one-way broadcast tools like TV or Radio. Those that are your Friends/Fans on Facebook and Followers on Twitter expect to have a virtual conversation with you. If you approach these relationships by just broadcasting information and not interacting, you’ll soon find that no-one is listening!

There is time associated with defining and building the measurement system to evaluate the effectiveness of your social media marketing plan and if you are receiving an appropriate return on investment. There may not be a cost to purchase these tools, but they certainly require planning and strategy along with time to use them properly – and time is money!

So MAYBE! Make sure you address the three principles of marketing and if you conclude that social media marketing is right for your business, spend the time to plan your work and work your plan.
If you are not already, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Correct or not, it has presented an anology that has been used in business over the years and I would like to make the point we see many businesses doing this with their marketing as well.

Here is a common conversation we have with business owners.

3hats: “So tell us what marketing activities you have done in the last 6 months.”
owner: “Well I had an ad in the local coupon pack.”
3hats: “Did it work for you? What was your goal for doing it?”
owner: “I don’t know….”
3hats: “What was your reason for doing it?”
owner: “I don’t know… I guess because my competitor did it.”

Often times business owners take actions with their marketing efforts solely based upon the actions of their competitors. Why is that wrong? Well, even though you are competitors and may offer customers similar products or services, there are many more things different between your businesses. Potentially your budget, your ideal customer, your geographic target area, your capacity, your services, your profit margin on certain products or services, your business model, your business goals, your vision, etc.

Instead, we advise companies to stick to the following for their marketing activities:

Follow your goals

Understand what you are trying to accomplish with your business (as well as your marketing) and stick to it! Set goals for yourself and determine the best ways to accomplish them in the most cost effective way. Know what your competitors are doing, but try not to let that influence the decisions you are making for your business – because as we pointed out above, you may not understand why they are making those decisions and as a result, may not be the right ones for you.

Follow your audience

Make sure you know where your ideal client is looking for the type of products and services you offer, and how they like to be communicated to – then go it ‘em. Be creative in how you reach out to them. Understand under what circumstance do they have a pain you can fix with your product or service and reach them then.

Follow your plan

Almost weekly businesses are presented with new marketing opportunities and new ways to spend their money. Develop a plan and weigh each marketing tactic against that plan. Is this the best way to spend these dollars? Do I know what I can expect as a result of spending this money? Does what I expect align with my business goals?

A little bit of thought and a little bit of discipline with your marketing can go a long way to help you reach your business goals. If you would like to discuss marketing planning or evaluate some of your marketing tactics further, please give us a call.

Marketing budgets have certainly been reduce compared to years past, but there are three other points have stuck out the most for me.

• Reduction of marketing staff
• Decrease in advertisement in traditional media
• Continued decline of newspapers

One way we serve our clients at Three Hats Marketing is by operating as their Outsourced Marketing Director / Department. We are seeing more and more companies cutting their in-house Marketing Departments and turning to outsourcing as cost-cutting tactic. While outsourcing the marketing director position or event the entire marketing department responsibilities has been around for a while, we are seeing businesses explore this route more seriously as budgets continue to contract.

In preparing the 2009 marketing plans for our clients, we were surprised by how many clients proactively approached us about reducing advertising in traditional media. The effectiveness and ROI of these tactics have always been ambiguous and difficult to measure but in general clients always “felt” it was just something they had to do. The ever-changing tides of our economy is forcing marketers and business executives to be more aggressive with measuring the effectiveness of every dollar.

It seems that every week I read or hear of another newspaper cutting staff or even closing their doors. This is occurring at a much more rapid rate that I expected. With the amount of digital media outlets, Smart Phones, Twitter, Blogs, etc, information is being digested differently than it had been even 3 years ago.

Geoff has other sound predictions and background information. Below are Geoff’s marketing predictions and the full post can be found here Seven Predictions for 2009 and we highly encourage you to read it.

Let me know your marketing and advertising predictions for 2009 and if you’ve noticed any surprising trends.

1. No doubt about it, marketers will be cutting back on advertising spending this year.

2. Among traditional media, newspapers, radio and magazines will see the worst declines.

3. Advertisers’ pull-back in overall marketing spending, coupled with a serious re-examination of traditional media, will set in motion a series of permanent changes that will affect how media is planned and measured, as well as the media mix itself.

4. Throughout all this economic shrinkage, the Internet will continue to grow, though at a far more constrained pace. eMarketer projects online ad spending will rise 8.9% in 2009, after an already ratcheted-down rate of 11.3% in 2008.

5. Despite the general consensus that online will ride out the storm, expect to see a growing contingent of bearish forecasters disparaging its prospects. Ironically, many of these doom-mongers will hail from the Internet space.

6. Growth in online display advertising will languish—but only in terms of absolute-dollar spending, and the effects will be temporary.

7. E-commerce, already hammered in 2008, will see growth slip even further, from 7.2% in 2008 to a measly 4.1% in 2009.