Posts tagged recession marketing


Are you using your buffalo?

Nov 6th

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When the Native Americans killed a buffalo, they didn’t waste anything. Every part was used to provide food, clothing, shelter, tools and weapons.
Are you using every part of YOUR buffalo — your marketing assets — to help you promote your business and acquire new customers?  In the social media era, this is an essential strategy.  Here are some examples and ideas:

Inventory — A customer in France made coated metal plates and, for quality control purposes, had to keep a large volume on hand in a warehouse. This tied up valuable working capital. We had the idea to use this as a rapid-turnaround stockpile. They could sell and ship material out of the warehouse for customer emergencies as a premium service — at a premium price!

People — A local company said they needed my help because “everyone was just sitting around” with their business levels so low. I saw this as under-utilized human capital. How could they put these people to use to connect to customers and discover un-met or under-served needs?  Turn EVERYONE into a sales person?  Study the competition?

Information — A client had developed a weekly email update to keep their salespeople on top of changing market conditions. A survey indicated their customers were hungry for the same type of information. Their email was turned into a premium information service to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. They leveraged information they already HAD to create a siginificant new customer benefit.

Services — I recently taught a class on recession marketing. The class content is now an asset, part of my “buffalo.” I turned some of the ideas into articles for my website and now, my blog. I promoted this content through online forums and social media. One article had more than 500 downloads in two days. These new contacts were added to my mailing list for further follow-up. The session was videotaped and edited into short topics for my website and YouTube.

How are you using the whole buffalo in your business?

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Where’s your truckstop?

Oct 30th

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This begins a new series of five articles on getting more from your existing marketing program for little or no money.
My hometown of Knoxville seems to be the epicenter of the U.S. Interstate highway system and, most logically, mega-truckstops have sprung up at the intersection of major routes. These truckstops offer ACRES of every possible good, service and convenience for the trucker: clothes, food, showers, truck accessories, parts, repairs — anything you can imagine.
I’ve fantasized that being a marketing manager for a product aimed at truck drivers must be the greatest job in the world. Think about it — all you have to do is get your product on the store shelf and hundreds, maybe thousands, of customers drive to see you every day! Wow. What could be easier than that?
Marketing your business might not be THAT simple, but there is a lesson here. Where’s YOUR truckstop? Where do YOUR customers congregate?
If you can answer that question, it might lead to important insights that can make your marketing initiatives more effective, focused and inexpensive.
Where do your typical customers gather to get their news and information? Entertainment? Recreation?
Where do they shop, dine, exercise, worship?
What Internet sites would they most likely visit? What magazines do they read?
Are there businesses similar to yours where your customers buy goods and services?  Could those “truckstops” also offer YOUR products and services in a partnership?
There are several relatively inexpensive ways to conduct this simple research and it might lead to ways to create competitive advantage through your targeted marketing efforts.
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Free video on Recession Marketing Essentials!

Jun 11th

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Recently I taught a class on Recession Marketing for area business leaders. I think you’ll find this 10-minute video entertaining and useful as it explores the three marketing strategies you MUST employ during the recession. Just click on the image above … and let me know what you think!

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Is this any way to sell a mansion?

Jun 10th

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One of the unfortunate side-effects of the recession is that yard sign-style advertisements are popping up like mushrooms after a rain. For $4.95 a sign, people are trying to out-shout the other guy by placing more signs in more places, resulting in a terrible community eyesore.

Amid the signs for house painters, tree trimmers and other day laborers I noticed the most ridiculous use of these signs — Jefferson Park, a waterfront development that is so upscale it recently hosted 5,000 visitors to a charity tour of homes. There are signs pointing the way to Jefferson Park on every street corner within a five mile radius of the development. I wondered, if I followed them, would it actually lead me there? I wound around town like a mouse in a maze and yes, I found it.

I spoke to the real estate representative for the community and asked her if the yard signs actually worked. “Well, they’re part of a larger branding program,” she said. “I don’t think it will sell a house, but when they see our ads in the newspaper and television and then see these signs, it helps their remembrance.”

In my humble estimation, this advertising technique demeans the brand and only creates visual pollution. Let’s find the lesson in this. Remember — everything you do and say communicates about your brand. What does this say about the Jefferson Park developers? These signs communicate: “I’m low-class and desperate.”

Is that a place YOU want to live?
Visit Schaefer Marketing Solutions at www.businessesGROW.com
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