Posts Tagged ‘questions’

There’s a lot in this economy that prompts fear, inaction, stagnation, and a bunch of tire-kicking.  People are grappling with this fear at the same time they’re searching high and low for marketing tips that won’t further deplete the nonexistent contents of their wallets.

It’s time for today’s best free marketing tip:  ask questions, already!

Forgive me if this is a no duh, but I am always shocked at the number of times I ask clients or potential client when the last time they asked a new lead how they heard of them…and get a blank stare, complete with crickets.

Chirp…chirp…

Here are my five favorite questions to help you expand and grow your business:

• How did you hear about us? Simple to ask, this question can deliver HUGE marketing results.  If you suddenly find that 10 out of 20 potential leads have heard from you from a friend, it may be time to kick that person a referral bonus or develop an ongoing referral relationship.  If none of them came from the Web, maybe it’s time to retool that site or look into SEO.  With a bit of tracking and a ton of consistency, this question can be the #1 tool in your marketing arsenal.  See today’s SmartBlog on Social Media for more info on measuring your word of mouth.
• So…Do you want to buy? So many people make a great pitch…and never get around to actually asking for the sale.
• What do you need? This could seem like a no-brainer, but all too often I see companies that offer a product or service that nobody needs.  Let this question guide your marketing and you’ll be directed to results.
• How will I measure return on investment? This one can save you some major marketing moolah.  If you don’t know how you’ll measure the results, how will you know if your marketing dollars have been spent wisely?  If you don’t have tracking systems in place now, get them.  In this economy, you should know the direction of every marketing dollar you spend.
• How can I help? Have you ever had that friend who hijacks every conversation with their latest saga?  Don’t be that friend.  Make yourself helpful to others and you can’t help but increase the reputation and stature of your business. You might even make a few friends along the way.

Photo courtsey of Orin Optoglot.

Now that you know where you are, it’s time to move forward and actually use that data to analyze your brand.

Problem is, you can’t know where you’re going until you know what you want.

What do I want? is a huge question, but it’s one you’re going to have to answer in specific terms if you want a good picture of your brand’s strengths and weaknesses. Yes, it is time for The Question Game.

In playing the question game, think of your average four-year-old.  Why is the sky blue?  Why do ants march?  Why did you just tell me I have to go to bed?  Why why why?  This might seem uber-simple, but it’s actually a pretty effective way of mining down through your meta-desires to specific action items.

Be relentless and aggressive.  Here’s a sample of the process in action:

VOCO Creative:  What do you want?

Client:  I want to make more money in 2009.

VOCO:  How much more money?

Client:  Well, $25,000 would do me.

VOCO:  What’s the best way to get an extra $25k?

Client:  Get some new clients?

VOCO:  How many new clients?  What kinds of clients?  Etc., ad infinitum.

Once you’ve mined down to specifics — I need 30 new paying clients for my Brand Miracle Service — get even more specific.  Where are these clients?  What strategies do you need to use to reach them?  What resources have you already got?

Here’s where the real fun starts.  Once you know what you want and whether you have it or not, you can assess your brand’s ability to meet those needs and get you where you want to go.  If you’ve decided you need clients who are female and who love the mall, you can then decide whether you have the collateral you need, the Web presence you need, the contacts at the mall you need, the reputation you need.

For each area, assign yourself a percentage.  Pretend you’re a high school teacher grading yourself on preparedness to go after your goals.  If you want to reach out to the Mall Ladies but have no contacts and a crappy reputation, you might be at about a 20% — a failing grade.  If you have all of the resources but one, you might be at 90%.

Do this for each of your goals and you suddenly get a much more realistic picture of your brand’s health.  Are you constantly missing your Web-based goals or failing to increase traffic?  Problem area.  Are you rocking the printed collateral and sticking to your marketing plan?  Great news.

It can seem intimidating to assign numerical values to different facets of your brand identity, but guess what?  You can’t progress until you decide where you are today and what kind of equipment you have going forward.  If you fail to plan, your next year might feel a lot like going for a camping trip with a can of Pringles and a pair of hiking boots.  Will you have fun?  Maybe.  Will you succeed?  Probably not.

In our next edition, we’ll make some real-world decisions based on our brand assessment.  See you then!

Image courtesy of woodleywonderworks