So from both the standpoint of being a person who needs to market himself, as well as someone who is marketed to, where is that tipping point between being effective and keeping oneself “top of mind” and the urge to push the “do not call, write, email or even think of me again button”?
Case in point are the fine folks at Omaha Steaks. I buy them once in a while, when they are on super special and there’s somebody very particular I want to send a specific gift of meat to. Truthfully, since one often doesn’t know if someone is a vegan or dyed in the wool carnivore these days, nor whether spouse, child units, etc. may have meat issues, the gift of meat is one I would tend to tread lightly with anyway.
It would be great if the Omaha Steaks people sent me an email once every few months, perhaps a postcard or some other offer 3 or 4 times a year. That seems reasonable and would probably keep them somewhat in my thoughts and be a cost-effective way of keeping a customer, albeit not a huge consuming customer, making the occasional purchase.
This however is not the case. In the past 3 months, I have received over 20 items in my mail box, along with an average of 1.5 emails per day, which was topped off by a phone call to my cell phone the other day. I was actually able to take the call and quite curious to see who it was from, since I had apparently been called by that same number 5 times without being left a message.
But then again, maybe they need all this marketing, because when you come right down to it, they’re really asking you to buy 24 oz of frozen meat for what you could get fresh meat for at generally about the same price as their shipping alone.
Living in a large metropolitan area that is filled to the brim with quality purveyors of almost every type of product one might need or want, and being a bit of the amateur chef myself, it’s highly doubtful I would ever need to purchase Omaha’s highly overpriced, frozen meats over a fresh-cut of Neiman Ranch’s finest at 1/5th the price. And yes, I do understand that for a mere $6 extra per 4 oz steak, Omaha is wrapping a piece of bacon around it.
The interesting thing is that Omaha’s massive campaign to get me to buy more has backfired. I could have been content to be a once or twice a year consumer, becuase it”s kind of different and somewhat cool. But they got me to thinking. And I suspect I’m not the only one who feels this way.
And I’m sorry to be picking on Omaha Steaks, but I guess that’s what top-of-mind can do for you. Realistically, I could have picked any number of places from my local “designer perfume store” to the annoying “overseas musician”, who sends me form emails every two weeks telling me to hire him for all my game composing needs. I’ve actually sent him back several replies to take me off his list and that I don’t hire game music composers, but he persists.
For the average human being who may be interfacing with hundreds of businesses per year, the clutter and annoyance can be immense. In some cases, one can truly opt out; push a button and that’s it. In other cases, the opting out simply triggers new contacts to be made which may go under the heading of “We want you back”, “What do we have to do?” or “Please don’t go!!!”
And of course, in many cases we really don’t want to opt out completely, we just don’t want to be so heavily opted in.
Some of you may think I’m making a mountain out of a mole hill, but the facts are that there will be more “information” created in the year 2012 than in all recorded history up until this point.
In my next blog post, I would like to list some of your thoughts and opinions on this subject. I’ll also toss in a few of my experiences from both the good and the bad pile.
What is the right way to try to stay top of mind?
Do you believe that everyone should be a “brand”?
What works or doesn’t work for you in terms of marketing?
Have you dealt with your own marketing that was “less than effective”?
Anybody out there doing it right? Anybody doing it wrong?
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
We do live in the age of information overkill. It works like violence on TV: eventually we’ll get immune to it, or we get mad and start to emulate what we see on the screen.
An avalanche of marketing messages from the same source will turn people off, so it’s counterproductive as far as I’m concerned. Good branding and marketing is supposed to create positive associations. A bombardment of emails does exactly the opposite.
Mankind doesn’t need more info. It needs intelligent insight, understanding and wisdom.
Brands cannot be artificially created. A brand is a collection of the way many people perceive a certain product or service.
The best way to change that perception is by engaging in an open dialogue with customers (as opposed to the self-serving monologue many companies seem to prefer).
“Brains on Fire” is a company specializing in word-of-mouth marketing. They create self-sustaining movements around ideas, organizations and companies. They mobilize a fan base, and let them do the talking.
The idea behind it is that if you let your most enthusiastic customers spread the news, it is much more authentic, trustworthy and powerful than any advertising message you’ll ever create.
To me, that seems to be the future of marketing.
Paul,
Thank you for your very thoughful response. I find myself suffering from both wanting to turn off the “existential hum” and yet my need to apparently be part of it. I agree with the concept of word-of-mouth, although it too can be abused. Beyond that, some services, goods, brands, etc. tend to lend themselves better to promotion via word of mouth. In many cases, when something is niche, an individual may not even think about discussing it, not knowing the level of interest someone else may have.
Amen to that, brother Gilbert!
I don’t do marketing, not in the traditional sense.
More of an organic marketing (sounds kinda like what Paul’s talking about…)
Wanna know more?
Come to my session at Voice 2012 entitled “You Can’t Get There From Here: Six Years On The Road Less Traveled”!
(seriously, it’s all in the wrist – pow!)
I angst about over-marketing all the time (and yes, I know ‘angst’ isn’t a verb, but it fits…) This propels me to UNDER-market, I’m sure, and to under-use social media. But better to have a client get a note from me and think, “oh, yeah — Kristin. We remember her. We liked her, didn’t we…?” than “Kristin AGAIN? What a pest!”
I have one example of a business doing it right, in my opinion. There’s a company that I have ordered a product from, and ordered it in bulk. I get an email about every three months, asking specifically if I need to reorder yet, and it prompts me to go look at my supply to see if I do. They also include other sales in the email, which I sometimes check out. If this company emailed more often, I’d get annoyed and probably unsubscribe, then probably forget where I ordered my bulk product to begin with when it came time to get more. If they emailed less frequently, I might run out beforehand and again, forget where I’d ordered. Three months between emails, in this instance, is perfect.
Bath and Body Works, on the other hand, emailed me every day. There was either a sale, or a sale starting tomorrow, or a sale ending tomorrow, or a three-day sale starting tomorrow… I don’t know how many weeks I deleted the emails without even opening them before I unsubscribed, but regardless, their clever marketing ploy failed on me.
Well Joe, you may be making the point here. If you were stumbling across this blog post and saw a response like yours, which doesn’t move the topic along, but is a thinly veiled advertisement for a v.o. convention, it might not register as a positive experience. Even affiliate marketers would leave a small tidbit, much the way CostCo gets you to purchase something via their numerous free tasting stations. Given you are one of the good guys, we’ll make an allowance this time.
Thanks Kristin. The problem with so much of communication these days is that it’s too easy. Push a button and out it goes. SO many marketers wind up with the “overmedicated” effect; you know, if two pills helps a little, then 6 pills would certainly help a lot. Sadly, the efforts many companies and individuals are taking are leading to rather undesired results. At least with brick and mortar, there’s somebody we can yell at and take our frustrations out upon, even if it’s not the “right person”. Perhaps companies would be wise to give their customers more control over what they receive from the company. In the world where the only choice is opt in or opt out, it should be clear to the company who is and isn’t opening their emails and why. If I’ve gone to the trouble of opting in, why give me so many reasons to want to opt out?
I feel the same way when I am bombarded/over-marketed to. Even if they do finally “get” me, I’m left with a “bad taste in my mouth”, like I’ve been coerced into participating (or buying something).
When I communicate with my business associates, what I try to do is make it a special hello, rather than a needy call to action. I keep in touch with my clients about 4 times/year – once per season – just to check in and let them know I’m alive and well (and working!) Maybe this is a little too hands off, but I’d rather be a pleasant surprise than an annoyance any day. I think in this “new age” the key to success is to keep communications personal, brief and from the heart – not trying to “sell” but rather attempting to genuinely “connect”.
Yeah, JS… I was being kind of tongue-in-cheek.
My methods for marketing are definitely non-traditional… more organic in nature.
Never was a fan of the more intrusive techniques.
As they say, the cream rises to the top.
(yes, I know the alternate saying
Joe,
I understood you were being tongue-in-cheek. But that’s becuase you and I in addition to having corresponded for a few years now over the internet, also know each other in person. Our communication has been such that I think we have a fairly good basis of an understanding of one another. Not nearly what it would be if we saw each other on a regular basis, etc., but still…
But one wonders how many people will read this blog post and/ or the comments. And with regards to the how many, “who”?
So, if you isolate your response, or even look at it within the context of the other responses, it’s pretty easy to misinterpret.
I can only imagine how many times my rather has probably been taken out of context, perhaps even offended others. My approach to social media and marketing in general is, and will continue to be, something I constantly am refining and second guessing. Although perhaps I should start using those emoticons when I can. They do seem to help a little.
Thanks for your response Rachel. I think the new paradigm might have marketers looking at the uniqueness of the “individual” as opposed to a broad strategy. Depending upon the size of your client base and their individual needs, perhaps 4 times a year works well for some and not others. Some may appreciate a contact monthly or perhaps every 2 months. There are ways of establishing marketing programs that can mine data and help determine best strategies. Nopt all clients want the same type of contact either; some may prefer an ocassional call, postcard, email or perhaps copntact via a LinkedIn or Facebook. Then again, if your clients are part of your Social Media communities you have a great means of keeping to-of-mind frequently.
I think that lacking integrated and far reaching strategies, quarterly contact can’t hurt, but it also seems that in your case and also that of Kristin, who commented earlier, there is some opportunity you may be losing out on.