In April of 2009, just 22% of Americans age 50 and over were using social networking tools such as Facebook. (Source: Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project) But by May of this year, 42% of Americans 50 and older were posting status updates or sending tweets. A near-majority — 47% — of people 50 to 64 are now using social networks.
More specifically, the Pew report found that 13% of Americans 65 and older now log in to a social network on a typical day, compared with 4% in 2009.
What does this translate to for marketers? An unprecedented opportunity to reach the 50+ target market in a captive location. While young adults are using the venue more intensely, the level of growth of adoption towards social media in the baby boomer plus age group is truly unparalleled.
While it is true this group still relies heavily on email for contacting family, friends and colleagues, social media is fast becoming part of their daily communication network- probably as a result of it's speed and convenience, not to mention its obviously widespread use.
There is no irony that Facebook was started as a way for college kids to network, but that it may end up being the venue that closes the gap between generations, as the dicey question of whether to "friend" Mom and Dad becomes an increasingly universal dilemma, even for middle-aged people. When you think of it, how many other places are there in the world - either on or offline- where kids, teens, mid-generation members, grandparents, neighbors, teachers, friends and colleagues can regularly intersect and communicate?
NOTE: Pew's findings come from a nationwide survey of 2,252 American adults who were interviewed on land phone lines and cellphones. The margin of error for the total sample is plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.
Target Marketing to the Max!
Did you know that you can take a map, draw a circle around an area you want to target and identify only those potential customers with criteria that match your target customer base?
Did you know that, you can then model the profile of that target customer base and recreate test marketing in communities in a larger "geo" circle around the area your business serves? In fact, you can actually profile a region to assess and evaluate a strategic growth plan into neighboring towns and counties.
Most businesses grow by default or competitive intuition. They either pick up a client in an extraneous or obscure location by referral or the internet or they pick an area where there is little or no competition and they build a customer base from scratch.
FGM has a client who has a service business serving a rather large 100 mile geocircle, inclusive of Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. They are experts at what they do and hired FGM to create a highly optimized and educational website to drive potential new customers to their website. The result? Their web leads multiplied exponentially, however, some of them are from halfway across the country. Disappointingly, they are unable to service a need that far out of their service area and to date find themselves apologizing to potential customers in other states. They are even trying to assess ways to stop these calls by limiting the web exposure and minimize the keywords that are reaching these potential markets. I say, WHOA! Use it to your advantage!
When you start evaluating how you want to grow your business consider arranging reciprocal arrangements with companies you trust who perform similar services in other areas of the country. Establish a reciprocal fee for finding and referring a customer (if they indeed win the business) and watch your profits grow without the overhead of time or labor. Additionally, if your website or referrals are bringing in an extraordinary amount of business from an area you once considered outside of your target area, start looking at potential buy-out opportunities in which you acquire a business with a strong local reputation and start funneling all the leads you are receiving towards it.
Growth opportunities are around every corner. It's the ones under the rocks that are often the most profitable though, and often they start with a sign from your target market when they call looking for you! As my grandmother would say, "keep your eyes peeled and your ears pricked" for potential,it's never silent.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
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Five Brain Facts To Keep In Mind When Creating Marketing Messages
On a very personal note, I have done a great deal of research on the brain as of late and I'm afraid that in some strange way, I relate everything I learn to marketing. Blame it on my brain!
Brain 101: Every human being has a right brain and a left brain.
This is probably something you already knew, having heard your spouse or your kids refer to your left brained obsession with the cost of leaving all the lights on in the house, or your right brained obsession with velvet pain-by-numbers artwork. To that point, each of those hemispheres perform different tasks, including how they relate to and perhaps remember or immediately forget marketing messages!
1. The right brain works in sensual imagery, not in words.
2. Right brain images are direct reflections of reality as gauged by the senses, not abstract symbols of reality, such as the words in this post
3. The right brain plays the lead role in determining the relevance of incoming information and messages
4. The right brain, which looks for patterns or relationships, forms more complete images than the left brain, which focuses more on the details
5. The right brain is inclusionary and detects relationships; the left brain is exclusionary and detects categories
What this all boils down to, is that while most businesses focus on features in their marketing, all customers focus on feelings. See the problem?
Assess your marketing message for what it says about the relationship with the potential customer. For example, does it reflect images of who they want to be rather than who they are, leaving them pining for your product or service? With all the strength of the right brain's job in processing outside messages (as above, and I suggest you read them over again), you definitely don't want to leave out its most intense desire to be connected emotionally in some way to your message. It's the way to becoming memorable, even viral.
The scary part is that much of it happens in the first-impressions stage of introduction of the message. Based on the demographic of your market, a first impression can either kill the chance you will ever get a customer or win you a lifer! Find the right brain message in your marketing and write your ticket to success.
Brain 101: Every human being has a right brain and a left brain.
This is probably something you already knew, having heard your spouse or your kids refer to your left brained obsession with the cost of leaving all the lights on in the house, or your right brained obsession with velvet pain-by-numbers artwork. To that point, each of those hemispheres perform different tasks, including how they relate to and perhaps remember or immediately forget marketing messages!
1. The right brain works in sensual imagery, not in words.
2. Right brain images are direct reflections of reality as gauged by the senses, not abstract symbols of reality, such as the words in this post
3. The right brain plays the lead role in determining the relevance of incoming information and messages
4. The right brain, which looks for patterns or relationships, forms more complete images than the left brain, which focuses more on the details
5. The right brain is inclusionary and detects relationships; the left brain is exclusionary and detects categories
What this all boils down to, is that while most businesses focus on features in their marketing, all customers focus on feelings. See the problem?
Assess your marketing message for what it says about the relationship with the potential customer. For example, does it reflect images of who they want to be rather than who they are, leaving them pining for your product or service? With all the strength of the right brain's job in processing outside messages (as above, and I suggest you read them over again), you definitely don't want to leave out its most intense desire to be connected emotionally in some way to your message. It's the way to becoming memorable, even viral.
The scary part is that much of it happens in the first-impressions stage of introduction of the message. Based on the demographic of your market, a first impression can either kill the chance you will ever get a customer or win you a lifer! Find the right brain message in your marketing and write your ticket to success.
Five Nuts to Watch in 2010
You may think I'm nuts for this post, and I am. I am really excited about it! I am excited because I think it strongly demonstrates how important associations are in the advocacy campaigns for their members. Over the years I have had the opportunity to be a member of some benign and some really valuable and strong organizations.
Advocating for the rights and interests of its constituency should be an association's top mission, but often, sadly the top spot often falls to other more self serving purposes for existence. I love this piece because it clearly illustrates how a smart group with strong research was able to lobby for national credibility and awareness without having to spend millions of dollars on another "milk mustache" campaign.
Nuts of all types have had their ups and downs as far as the American diet is concerned. They lost ground in low-fat diets of the past millennium, their carbohydrates were scorned by the Atkins diet and nuts were further scarred by the Peanut Corp. of America salmonella contamination early this year.
But they keep bouncing back. Why? Because nuts are excellent sources of protein, minerals, monounsaturated fats and other nutrients, and they’re good for the heart. And consumers increasingly are getting those messages.
Nuts in 2003 received the FDA’s first qualified health claim for a food: “Scientific evidence suggests but does not prove that eating 1.5 ounces per day of most nuts, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease.” The FDA announcement was in response to a petition from the International Tree Nut Council’s (INC) Nutrition Research & Education Foundation.
“More than 30 studies have shown that including nuts in the diet can reduce the risk of heart disease regardless of the individual nut studied,” said Guy Johnson, at the time nutrition consultant to INC and author of the INC health claim petition. In addition to being good sources of unsaturated fats, which have been shown to lower blood cholesterol levels, most nuts contain a variety of other potential cardio-protective components such as vitamin E, selenium, magnesium, copper, potassium, betasitosterol and omega-3 fatty acids.
Five healthy nuts to watch (and include in your formulations) in the new year:
•Almonds: Just a quarter cup of almonds contains nearly 25 percent of the recommended daily value of magnesium, plus significant amounts of potassium, manganese, copper, the antioxidants vitamin E and selenium, and calcium. In fact, a quarter cup of almonds has almost as much calcium as a quarter cup of milk. They also make for a healthy colon. A study found that animals (which were exposed to a colon-cancer-causing agent) given whole almonds had fewer signs of colon cancer than animals given almond oil or no almonds. Researchers suspect the benefit may be due to almonds’ high fiber content. And because 70 percent of the fat they contain is the healthy monounsaturated variety, they are believed to believed to lower cholesterol.
•Walnuts: Full of healthy omega-3 fatty acids, which have been found to protect the heart, walnuts may promote better cognitive function and provide anti-inflammatory benefits for asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, eczema and psoriasis. And their antioxidant compound ellagic acid is known to fight cancer and support the immune system.
•Cashews: Not just bar or party food, cashews are gaining formulation respect because they are lower in fat than most nuts, and 65 percent of this fat is unsaturated fatty acids. Of this, 90 percent is oleic acid, the heart-healthy fat found in olive oil. They’re also good sources of copper, magnesium, zinc, iron and biotin.
•Pecans: Another nut with significant proof that it lowers cholesterol. Clinical research studies evaluating the impact of pecans on serum cholesterol have found pecans can significantly help lower blood cholesterol when consumed as part of a heart-healthy diet, according to the National Pecan Shellers Assn. They also an excellent source of 19 vitamins and minerals including vitamins E and A, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, copper, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, several B vitamins and zinc.
•Macadamia Nuts: While having some of the highest levels of calories (200 per serving) and total fat (22g), they’re also the highest in monounsaturated fat. Macadamias are high in protein, fiber, potassium and magnesium. And since most come from Hawaii, they have cachet.Source: The Next Wave: Wellness Food Trends for 2010
Advocating for the rights and interests of its constituency should be an association's top mission, but often, sadly the top spot often falls to other more self serving purposes for existence. I love this piece because it clearly illustrates how a smart group with strong research was able to lobby for national credibility and awareness without having to spend millions of dollars on another "milk mustache" campaign.
Nuts of all types have had their ups and downs as far as the American diet is concerned. They lost ground in low-fat diets of the past millennium, their carbohydrates were scorned by the Atkins diet and nuts were further scarred by the Peanut Corp. of America salmonella contamination early this year.
But they keep bouncing back. Why? Because nuts are excellent sources of protein, minerals, monounsaturated fats and other nutrients, and they’re good for the heart. And consumers increasingly are getting those messages.
Nuts in 2003 received the FDA’s first qualified health claim for a food: “Scientific evidence suggests but does not prove that eating 1.5 ounces per day of most nuts, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease.” The FDA announcement was in response to a petition from the International Tree Nut Council’s (INC) Nutrition Research & Education Foundation.
“More than 30 studies have shown that including nuts in the diet can reduce the risk of heart disease regardless of the individual nut studied,” said Guy Johnson, at the time nutrition consultant to INC and author of the INC health claim petition. In addition to being good sources of unsaturated fats, which have been shown to lower blood cholesterol levels, most nuts contain a variety of other potential cardio-protective components such as vitamin E, selenium, magnesium, copper, potassium, betasitosterol and omega-3 fatty acids.
Five healthy nuts to watch (and include in your formulations) in the new year:
•Almonds: Just a quarter cup of almonds contains nearly 25 percent of the recommended daily value of magnesium, plus significant amounts of potassium, manganese, copper, the antioxidants vitamin E and selenium, and calcium. In fact, a quarter cup of almonds has almost as much calcium as a quarter cup of milk. They also make for a healthy colon. A study found that animals (which were exposed to a colon-cancer-causing agent) given whole almonds had fewer signs of colon cancer than animals given almond oil or no almonds. Researchers suspect the benefit may be due to almonds’ high fiber content. And because 70 percent of the fat they contain is the healthy monounsaturated variety, they are believed to believed to lower cholesterol.
•Walnuts: Full of healthy omega-3 fatty acids, which have been found to protect the heart, walnuts may promote better cognitive function and provide anti-inflammatory benefits for asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, eczema and psoriasis. And their antioxidant compound ellagic acid is known to fight cancer and support the immune system.
•Cashews: Not just bar or party food, cashews are gaining formulation respect because they are lower in fat than most nuts, and 65 percent of this fat is unsaturated fatty acids. Of this, 90 percent is oleic acid, the heart-healthy fat found in olive oil. They’re also good sources of copper, magnesium, zinc, iron and biotin.
•Pecans: Another nut with significant proof that it lowers cholesterol. Clinical research studies evaluating the impact of pecans on serum cholesterol have found pecans can significantly help lower blood cholesterol when consumed as part of a heart-healthy diet, according to the National Pecan Shellers Assn. They also an excellent source of 19 vitamins and minerals including vitamins E and A, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, copper, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, several B vitamins and zinc.
•Macadamia Nuts: While having some of the highest levels of calories (200 per serving) and total fat (22g), they’re also the highest in monounsaturated fat. Macadamias are high in protein, fiber, potassium and magnesium. And since most come from Hawaii, they have cachet.Source: The Next Wave: Wellness Food Trends for 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
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Freakin' Genius Marketing Speaks to the North American Meat Processors Association
March 20th, while many of you were still nicely tucked in your beds, I was en route to give a General Session presentation to an estimated 200 attendees at the North American Meat Processors Conference at The Drake in Chicago.While NAMP had originally engaged me to give a general presentation on Marketing in Mean Times (a presentation I have given to a number of Associations previously) I found that while doing my research to customize the presentation,their needs were much more far reaching and
indeed quite specific to one topic many industries face. So, I put my nose to the grindstone and researched and wrote a presentation about Breaking out of the Commodity Box from a strategic perspective.The presentation was an overwhelming success and just under 50% of the audience also attended our (with the help of Peter Lineal, FGM Partner) afternoon workshop, where specific tactical insights were bantered about for about an hour in a more informal setting.
NAMP is a fantastic association and supports its dedicated member base with strong strategic programs and right-on-point tactical efforts to grow their constituent's business. I am honored to have been a guest speaker at their conference and am even more excited to have been able to provide insightful information on establishing unique selling propositions in an industry known historically to be hinged on price, price and price.
I am thrilled to welcome several new clients to the list of fine businesses we at Freakin' Genius Marketing work with as a result of our presentation at this conference!
Is your Direct Mail Being Read?
55% open something from a brand or company that they know
51% open it if it's personally addressed to them
50% open it if it's a product or service they already have interest in
39% open it if they can see it contains a free sample or a voucher
27% open it if it's a local business or event
21% open it because it's competition
15% open it if it's fun and interesting packaging
10% open it if it looks funny or silly
6% open it if they like the design or find the envelope attractive
3% open it if they like the color
12% open it for a variety of miscellaneous reasons
Source: CCB for MAP 2008- Research
The best question to ask yourself is, have you tried testing different direct mail strategies and tactics in search of the greatest percentage of opens and responses? If not, you are wasting a lot of money on direct mail that is not working for you. ROI, it's the name of the game!
51% open it if it's personally addressed to them
50% open it if it's a product or service they already have interest in
39% open it if they can see it contains a free sample or a voucher
27% open it if it's a local business or event
21% open it because it's competition
15% open it if it's fun and interesting packaging
10% open it if it looks funny or silly
6% open it if they like the design or find the envelope attractive
3% open it if they like the color
12% open it for a variety of miscellaneous reasons
Source: CCB for MAP 2008- Research
The best question to ask yourself is, have you tried testing different direct mail strategies and tactics in search of the greatest percentage of opens and responses? If not, you are wasting a lot of money on direct mail that is not working for you. ROI, it's the name of the game!
An example of Why Facebook is good for Business!
Word of Mouth on Steroids
An excerpt from my Facebook Friends (3/9/10)
Sherrie: (Status Post) Cheers to NBK bakery team - birthday cake was a huge hit!
14 hours ago · Comment ·LikeUnlike
Juan likes this.
Lynn: What is NBK? I need a cake for Sally's birthday - would love to try someplace new...
5 hours ago
Sherrie: Hey Lynn, NBK is Whole Foods Market, Northbrook. They made me a cake that was super reasonable and had the guests (big & small) raving! I got Chocolate with chocolate buttercream, iced with ganache on top (smooth dark coating over cake). They drew the cutest football, soccer ball, basketball & base ball on it! It rocked.
2 hours ago
Lynn: Ummm, I'll just say YUM!
17 minutes ago
Write a comment...
So whaddya think? You think that anyone who reads this description will think of NBK Whole Foods for their next cake? I do! And that, my friends, is how social media works to grow your business beyond your wildest dreams!
It's not a Monologue! It's a DIALOGUE! Get in on the conversation!
An excerpt from my Facebook Friends (3/9/10)
Sherrie: (Status Post) Cheers to NBK bakery team - birthday cake was a huge hit!
14 hours ago · Comment ·LikeUnlike
Juan likes this.
Lynn: What is NBK? I need a cake for Sally's birthday - would love to try someplace new...
5 hours ago
Sherrie: Hey Lynn, NBK is Whole Foods Market, Northbrook. They made me a cake that was super reasonable and had the guests (big & small) raving! I got Chocolate with chocolate buttercream, iced with ganache on top (smooth dark coating over cake). They drew the cutest football, soccer ball, basketball & base ball on it! It rocked.
2 hours ago
Lynn: Ummm, I'll just say YUM!
17 minutes ago
Write a comment...
So whaddya think? You think that anyone who reads this description will think of NBK Whole Foods for their next cake? I do! And that, my friends, is how social media works to grow your business beyond your wildest dreams!
It's not a Monologue! It's a DIALOGUE! Get in on the conversation!
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