WHY THINGS GO WRONG REDUX
And What To Do About It
Conventional wisdom is the curse of marketing. Things we think we know, but don’t really. Things we learned from other sources, such as academia, but have never really done ourselves. Advice that’s more superficial or mythical than accurate and useful.
The result is that when you follow the recipe, the cake doesn’t rise. To continue the litany of why things go wrong, let’s look again at some of the standard tools of marketing that should work, but too often don’t.
Newsletters
Newsletters are an effective marketing device because when they’re well done, they can accomplish a great deal. They can…
· Target a specific and defined audience.
· Inform both clients and prospects.
· Demonstrate your knowledge, concern and interest in the reader’s industry and company.
· Enhance both name recognition and reputation.
· Generate inquiries regarding specific subjects covered in the newsletter.
· Establish your franchise in a particular industry, or with a specific expertise.
Why, then, do they often not work? Why do they so often go directly into the waste basket?
Usually, for these reasons…
· The concept is wrong. You’re trying to tell the wrong things to the wrong audience. Or you don’t understand that people get a lot of newsletters and junk mail, and nobody is waiting with bated breath for your newsletter. If your concept and content aren’t designed to make a difference, or to be practically informative, don’t bother.
· The content is based on what you want to tell because it’s what you want to offer, and not on what the readers need to know.
· Although you know it as a marketing tool, the readers don’t care about your marketing. If they don’t see it as uniquely informative, they won’t read it. If you can’t supply meaningful content, don’t waste your time and money.
· Your mailing list is crucial. The value of direct mail of any kind, including newsletters, is the ability to get directly to the individual target you want to reach. If your mailing list can’t do that without a lot of waste, you’re wasting your time and money.
· The design is dull and uninviting, or so dedicated to win the designer kudos that nobody takes the content seriously. In newsletters, design should support content, not the other way around. The designer should work for the editor, not the other way around.
· The design should be consistent, both from issue to issue, and with other newsletters you publish. If your newsletter is useful, you want it to be quickly recognizable in a mail bag full of competitive newsletters. Design a simple but attractive format that identifies your firm, and all the newsletters from your firm.
· The design should be a standard format that allows your own staff to be able to enter copy for each issue, without making each issue a major project. With today’s computer programs, you should be able to do this in-house, after a designer has developed a template.
· The frequency should be set based upon content and availability of staff to write the content. If there isn’t that much to write about that’s timely and valuable, don’t make the newsletter a monthly. But whatever schedule you set, stick to it. Keep the schedule on target.
· While you need not write all of your newsletter, buy a service that supplies content to supplement what you do write. But not a newsletter service that supplies a generic newsletter. They’re usually too general, and contain information that everybody has read in The Wall Street Journal or Business Week. Not particularly valuable for you or your clientele. Keep it your newsletter, not that of an outside supplier.
· Give one person editorial responsibility, and spread the content around. Use by-lines, because that’s how you demonstrate your expertise, and give a sense of originality and dedication to your firm.
· Use feedback devices. Not simply asking people if they like your letter, but specific questions that give readers the opportunity to help choose the content they can find most useful. Keep surveys short and simple, and no more than once or twice a year.
Ultimately, you have to realize that you’re competing for attention against every other piece of mail, every other publication, every other newsletter that your target gets. There are a lot of publications out there, and you’ve got to be equal to – or better than – all of them. Not as difficult as it seems, if you plan carefully and run your newsletter thoughtfully. After all, you have the expertise. Business journalists simply know about the expertise.
Recruiting Advertising
It would seem that recruiting would be easier in today’s economy, but as you‘re undoubtedly discovering, it just isn’t the case. If you are a major international law or accounting firm, recruiting is relatively easy. But if you’re not, you face a vast array of problems. You may be competing against larger firms. You may be in a small town that nobody ambitious wants to work or live in, or a town with expensive housing. You may find yourself in an area with a large number of competing firms. And recruiting, remember, is a competitive business.
All of these factors explain why an ad that simply reads, “We are seeking an associate with labor relations experience” just won’t work. And it certainly won’t get you the candidate who’s a potential star.
Recruiting advertising is like any other, in that telling people what you want won’t work. Telling people what they want, and how you’re going to give them what they want, works. Some ideas that have succeeded mightily…
· Sell the environment. Some headlines that worked…
o We Cherish Excellence. You bring the excellence, we supply the opportunity.
o We Cherish Professionalism. You get the opportunity to do your best work here.
o For lateral hires, an ad that really pulled said, “If you’ve been practicing your kind of accounting but haven’t enjoyed it, bring your skills here. We’ll supply the pleasure of good accounting practice.”
· Don’t be dull. “Wanted – an accountant with 3 years experience” is for recruiting labor, not professionals. A tremendously successful recruiting ad said, “Imagine. Professionally.”
· Be different. Be imaginative. Otherwise, you’ll lose good candidates to a firm that’s different and imaginative.
· Be a firm that good people want to work for. For example, don’t advertise that you’re an up-to-date firm but don’t have a web site. How up-to-date is that? Make sure that you are up-to-date – technically and professionally.
· Use your web site as a major recruiting tool. Today’s young accounting and law students go right to the site before they’ll talk to you. If they don’t like what they see, you won’t get the candidate. Your site should reflect your firm as exciting and professional, one that anybody would want to work for. It should show the environment as appealing – the kind of place that any ambitious professional – new or experienced – would enjoy working in.
· Understand the competitive nature of recruiting. Know precisely what you’re looking for. Know exactly what you have to offer. Have a system for greeting and interviewing applicants. And most important, as with any advertising, don’t offer what you can’t deliver. If you find that you don’t like the way your firm is perceived, don’t think you can change that perception by manipulating symbols. You can’t. To change the way you’re perceived, change what you are.
In the next few weeks, more about why things don’t work in marketing, and what to do about it.