Marketing – Page 11

The Boston Tea Party And The Power Of Marketing

Most of us know
the Boston Tea Party
was a protest against
England’s taxes on tea
in the (now) USA.

What I didn’t know
until recently
was
it was a protest
against England
LOWERING the tea taxes.

That brought the price
of legal tea
closer to the price
of smuggled tea
and
the wealthy tea smugglers
(like John Hancock
and Samuel Adams)
didn’t like that.

So they staged
a protest,
marketed it
as being an act
of freedom and liberty.

And it was extremely successful,
so successful
that hundreds of years later,
we STILL believe the marketing.

When someone tells you
marketing doesn’t work,
ask them
if the Boston Tea Party
was a protest
against
increased
or
decreased taxes.

Marketing works.

Still Not The Time For Door-To-Door

This weekend,
dozens of charities, businesses,
politicians, church folks
knocked on my door.

During a f*ckin’ pandemic.

When more people
than ever
are dying from COVID.
When more people
than ever
are infected with COVID.

If you infect people,
you likely won’t ‘sell’
to that person.
(The possible exception
is the church folks.)

If you kill people,
you DEFINITELY won’t be ‘selling’
to that person.

Leave marketing material
(with lots of images
and a phone number/website)
in mailboxes.
Call prospects.

It is not yet time
to return to
door-to-door
face-to-face
in-people’s-f*ckin’-homes
-the-one-place-they-should-be-safe
marketing.

Make It Safe

The easiest way
to make a book sale
is to reassure readers
it is like a book
they’ve already read
and loved.

Readers want a ‘safe’ read,
a story they can be assured
will turn out
well for them.

Romance Novel Writers
(small business owners)
use tropes and comparisons
to reassure readers
their book is the same
in many ways.

THEN
they might also mention
the ways their book
is special.

As Seth Godin
shares

“The reason we haven’t taken
systemic action
is that it’s scary,
not because
it isn’t novel enough.

If you want more people
to take more action,
make it safe,
don’t make it interesting.”

If you want to appeal
to a lot of prospects,
ensure your product/service
seems safe
in your marketing material.

Make Halloween Special

Halloween arrives
in a couple weeks.

I’m giving away
extra candy
and putting up
extra decorations
this year.

The kiddies are facing
multiple pandemics.
They will have to deal
with increasingly violent
climate disasters.

The world is a darker place
right now.

I can’t significantly
change all of that.

But I CAN make
this Halloween a bit more special
for them.
I CAN ensure ensure their bags
are full of candy
and they have more of
an experience
when they arrive at my door.

If your customers celebrate
Halloween,
consider making it
a bit more magical for them.

Put out a pumpkin.
Fill a bowl at reception
with candy.
Add some stickers
in that mass mailing.

Help to
make this Halloween
special.

A Mask-Wearing Day

Many stores have slower days
in the week.
Businesses will often have
‘Senior Days’ or ‘Kids Days’
during those times
to appeal to
a specific target market.

Considered hosting
a ‘Mask-Wearing Day.’
Everyone,
staff and patrons,
have to be wearing masks.

This allows the
immune-compromised
(which now includes
anyone who had COVID)
and the careful
a safe place to shop.

And it will differentiate
your business.

If you don’t want to host this
for an entire day,
consider reducing it
to a couple of hours.

People WILL notice.
It is an easy
and considerate way
to differentiate your business.

Did They Ask A Question?

I make soup stock
using bones
and I shared that fact
on social media.

A new-to-me follower replied,
stating she never found
that kind of soup stock
flavorful.

I began to reply,
planning to give her
my tips on
how I increased the flavor
but then I realized…

She didn’t ask
for that information.

I might have continued replying
if I was intent on selling her
a soup stock recipe
or something similar
but I had no pay off
for possibly irritating her.

So I saved myself some time
and her some possible aggravation
and I didn’t answer
the question
she didn’t ask.

Not everyone with a problem
wants a solution
to that problem.

Choose your discussions
wisely.

A Promotion’s Job

I participated
recently
in an awesome
newsletter building promotion.

The organizer was asked
how many books
the participants
would likely sell
due to the promotion.

He answered
that his job
isn’t to sell our books.

His job is to ensure
the right readers
join our newsletters.

Then it is our job
as writers
to sell our books
to those right readers.

Promotions don’t often
bring sales.
Promotions usually
bring prospects to us.
Then WE make the sale.

Ensure you’ve planned
for the necessary next steps
AFTER
the promotion.

Do It For The Children

In the Before Times,
before the pandemic,
charities and other entities
would plead to adults
to do (X) “for the children”,
leave a better world for them,
make their lives better.

This, they believed,
was a valid marketing angle.

People care about kids,
right?

Wrong.

The pandemic showed us
this display of caring
was complete bullsh*t.
The average person won’t wear
a piece of cloth across their face
to keep their own kids alive.
They certainly don’t give a sh*t
about kids halfway around the world
or
what type of planet
their kids will inherit.

People give to charity
or buy from certain entities
to make THEMSELVES feel better.
It isn’t about the kids.
It is about them.

The ‘do it for the kids’ angle
isn’t enough.
There has to be something
in it
for the adult.

Make Every Post Count

Some writers and I
have an upspoken agreement.
I share one of their social media posts
a day
and
they share one of mine.

I share posts
I think
will help the writer friend
sell books.

Some of my writer friends
…well…
they seem to share
random posts.

If there is ONE post
I would prefer
they NOT share,
that’s usually the one
they’ll share.

So I try to make
every post count.
Every post
should represent me,
should represent my brand.
They should be posts
I’m proud
people will read
and share.

Make every social media post
count.

Label It As Extreme

I label my Romance Novels
(products)
as Adult.
I tell readers
the stories
have a lot of
sex and violence
and cussing in them.

They aren’t all extreme
but by labeling them
that way,
I don’t have to worry
about offending readers
(customers)
AND
I get the marketing benefit
of appealing to
the (many) readers
who gravitate toward
the extremes.

There aren’t many stories
in that part of the market.

There are a LOT of stories
sitting in the middle.
They are a little bit sexy
or a little bit dark
or have a couple of cuss words.

Don’t be afraid
of labelling your products/services
as extreme.
There’s a market for extreme
and it usually isn’t crowded.