Have You Made This Dumb Marketing Mistake?

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Jodi Kaplan

Image by Supermac1961 via Flickr

Long ago (OK, it wasn’t the first, or the last, time) I made a dumb marketing mistake. I was reminded of it recently, and thought I’d share.

I had just gotten promoted to a brand-new job (yay!). We were doing a direct marketing campaign for some training products (a video and training manual). I don’t remember how much it cost, but let’s call it $200. While we were putting the package together, my boss (also new), said, “Hey, we’ve also got a book (which cost $14) about that, let’s throw that in too.” So I did.

A casual suggestion leads to a big problem

At first, we thought we were doing well. The list was good and the copy was convincing. Our sales started streaming in. It should have been a great success. There was only one problem. And, it was a big one.

People went straight for the $14 book and virtually ignored the $200 training video. We sold plenty of books, but almost no videos. Oops.

Unfortunately, I had (in a way) done my job both too well and not well at all. I successfully sold the material, but didn’t do enough to differentiate the book from the video. Since they both seemed like equally good choices, people bought the book because it cost less.

If there’s a cheaper option, or too many options, it will confuse people, dilute the value of your higher-priced product, and reduce your earnings.

One thing at a time

Don’t try to sell several things at once. Ever watch an infomercial or direct TV ad (think sham-wow or slap-chopper), or even QVC? They sell one thing at a time. They give reasons to buy it. They tell you the price. And ask for the sale. They never try to sell the $10 sham-wow and the $15 chopper in the same ad.

One good thing though – at least I wasn’t trying to sell an Edsel.

Are You Making Bad Business Decisions Based on Assumptions?

Posted on November 17, 2010 by Jodi Kaplan

Image via Wikipedia

Are you making bad business decisions based on assumptions? Thinking you know the answer to a problem without verifying or checking your thinking?

I was a temp many years ago. This meant I went around to different offices and companies, mostly doing word processing, sometimes page layout, or even help desk (during the great DOS to Windows transition).

I had to be able to adjust to lots of different software, working conditions, and, of course, bosses. And do it quickly.

The document from hell

One day, I was called in to work on a big document which the agency described as “the document from hell.” It more than lived up to its name – many, many pages of information, set up in columns rather than a table – every time you added new data, the whole document had to be reformatted – by hand – a mess!).

Hard worker? Or slacker?

Anyway, at one point, my “boss du jour” saw me with a book. She came over, rather angry, and asked, “Are you finished with the document?” No, I said. “Then WHY are you READING?” I held up the book, which was called something like “WordPerfect Reference Guide,” and said, “It’s this, lots of characters, not much plot.” Then, not only appeased, but impressed, she asked if I would come back the next day. I declined.

The danger of assuming

The point of the story is that she saw a book, and decided that I was wasting her time and her money. The truth was, knowing the document was a nightmare, I had brought a reference book to help me work through it. I wasn’t a slacker, I was prepared. If you assume that everyone thinks what you think, or take action without investigating, your marketing is likely to fail.

Test your assumptions before you act

That’s why direct marketers test so much – to see if their assumptions are true. Does the blue call to action button work better? Or the orange one? Which offer gets more sales – the buy one and get one for half price offer, or the buy one, get one free?

Don’t assume. Test.

Friday Fun: Has This Ever Happened to You?

Posted on October 1, 2010 by Jodi Kaplan

What happens when a simple thing gets too much input from too many people…

Is Your Business Marketing Failing Like Blockbuster Video?

Posted on September 23, 2010 by Jodi Kaplan

Image via Wikipedia

Remember Blockbuster Video? They used to be the biggest name in video rentals. Now, they’re a symbol of business marketing mistakes and failures. Back then, when video was physical, instead of digital, the stores would be packed with people on a weekday night.

Blockbuster charged a lot, but the novelty and pleasure of being able to see movies whenever you wanted was initially irresistible to people who had grown up having to choose between going to a theatre, or waiting until (and if) the movie showed up on TV.

Well, they’ve just filed for bankruptcy protection. The store near me closed long ago. I’ve been happily using Netflix instead. So have a lot of other people.

Blockbuster’s big marketing mistake

Blockbuster started out well, but then tried to appeal to everyone, or maybe nobody. I’d go in for a movie and would see 20 copies of cartoons and Adam Sandler’s latest (now, it would probably be Twilight movies). Maybe a few classics. That was about it. Rotten selection, high fees, limited viewing time: it was hard, expensive, and unpleasant.

Blockbuster was hard, Netflix is easy

Netflix, on the other hand, is easy. They have a large selection, you can keep movies as long as you like, and now, even watch them over the Internet (instant gratification). Netflix works because they took a model that was broken (video rental) and made it sleek, easy, and rewarding.

Look at some of your own practices. Are you marketing to everyone or marketing to your tribe? Are you a eierlegendewollmilchsau?

Are you making it hard for your clients? Could be that you tend to use email when your clients prefer the phone. Or requiring too many steps to enter your blog contest? Or maybe your newsletter sign-up is confusing.

Go take a look. Let me know what you found.