Advertising Age just ran an article stating that 53% of marketers are preparing to cut back their advertising if they haven’t already begun to do so.

The survey, conducted by the Association of National Advertisers, polled 100 marketers across several industries. While some will surely wonder whether on hundred respondents is enough to make this statistically valid — evidence that this is true is all around us.

You see, every time the economy faces a downturn marketers get wary. They hold back. Waiting. Until the landscape settles.

There are couple of massive problems with this. Read the rest of this entry »

Duke University’s Libraries has been increasing its efforts of its digital collections.

One of my favorite collections is called Ad Access. Here they’ve catalogued over 7,000 US and Canadian advertisements from between 1911 - 1950.

Outdated, Old, And Not Applicable In Today’s Times

Human nature hasn’t changed in the last 100 years and it won’t change over the next 100. Sure, we’re seeing technological changes that allow us to communicate through different vehicles and ‘efficiency’ increasing tools that allow us to complete tasks faster. But the way we think, our impulses and emotional wiring that affects whether our attention is aroused and if we should take that next step and make a purchase haven’t changed one bit.

Ad*Access

There are some true gems in here folks. Enjoy.

And as always, to your success,
Michael Zipursky

On two occasions now, the president’s of two large companies have attacked me.

No silly, not by physical force. But they were genuinely concerned.

Turn on the TV, check the front few pages of any newspaper, listen to the radio and no doubt you’ll be bombarded with a chess match of mentally developed and not-so-understandably respected folks yelling at each other “recession-this” and “no-recession-that’”.

“A financial crisis here” says one lady, while the other ‘just-as-wise’ smiles her best smile, looks you in the eye and tells you “there is no financial crisis, this is a time of opportunity.” And just then, ten other well-greased analysts, and a couple of bow-tie clad economists declare there is no opportunity. Everyone must cust back and cushioned their rear-ends in preparation for the big loss.

What’s happening really isn’t anything new in my view. Sure, parts of this dramatic play “have never been seen before”. But the economy, since the beginning of time, as had its ups and downs, its sidesteps, trips, hops, jumps and falls…

Read the rest of this entry »

As part of my book release for Profitable Relations, I’ve put together a 5-day free email course that shares a success story each day.
There’s no cost to sign up, and it only takes 20 seconds.

If you’re interested in learning how other businesses have used straightforward marketing techniques to increase their customer loyalty, you’ll enjoy this course.

Go to the Profitable Relations E-Course page, scroll to the bottom and sign up.

Let me know what you think?

To your success,

Michael

Let’s pick up where we left off. In the last two weeks I talked about the process of getting attendees to visit your booth at the tradeshow. So now that they are there, what do you do?

Well, you don’t just say hello and show them your product. Of course, there is nothing wrong with showing your products to anyone that comes to your booth, but what you really should do is qualify each person.

You don’t want to spend 20 minutes showing someone your product only to find out they have no intention whatsoever of buying it or writing/talking about it (if they are press).

My suggestion here is for times when there are many people around your booth. If there is no rush, not many people around, sure - take your time and talk away…you never know who that person may tell…even if they don’t plan to buy, someone they know may.

But you need to have your priorities in place.

Back to qualifying attendees. You can do this by finding out, “which company are you with?”, “have you ever seen this kind of product”, “do you have experience with this product?” ….or simply ask if they are looking for the kind of solution your product provides.

This will give you a good indication if you’re talking with a potential “prime buyer.”

And then, if they are, you can make the move to get their contact information. Before we talk about that there is one extremely important topic we must cover….

…preparing for the dialog with potential buyers before you even arrive at the tradeshow.

It’s a mystery why most companies don’t do this (actually, not really, people are just lazy). Gather your team around a table and make a list of all the questions your potential buyers (those that would be most interested in your product…the ones you had in mind when you developed the product) could possibly ask you.

Things like the cost, the materials, how does this part function, can I use it with this other product, so on and so forth. This might take 30 or 40 mins to write down, but it will be time well spent. Then take another 20 mins or so to answer all of those questions. What you’re doing here is ensuring that all of your staff’s answers are aligned and that you’re prepared for any possible question that comes to you.

This is important because often times you’ll lose potential customers because you can’t justify for them why they should make this purchase or you don’t have the information they need to make up their mind that “this is the right choice.”

Again, it is time well spent.

You can also build in much of this information into your print materials that promote and support the advantages of what you are offering.

What  kind of print materials are most effective for trade show marketing? A 1-page, double-sided outline of your product with a few photos and list of what it can do…often times a comparison chart of other similar products in the industry works well too.

What should this not be? Forget the 10-page brochure. Leave that for when the potential client requests additional information. Most trade show attendees have their bags filled with papers and promotions…and they don’t appreciate receiving heavy packages. Fact is, they can (or should be able to) get all that information and more from your website.

So keep your materials short and sweet. The key to these materials, as always, is the copywriting. It should be laser targeted to you prime prospect and clearly tell them why they should care.

A headline, benefits, proof, testimonials and don’t forget to make them an offer….use a call to action that emotionally forces them to want to contact you again for a free report or demonstration.

In the hole please….
That’s where it can go. Many executives think it’s too cheesy…but it still works. To make collecting people’s information easier offer a draw for a prize -  you can even have them fill in a simple survey…and then you can sort through to find the real prospects later. Thing is, you give away an iPod or something that most people would like…but it also attracts attention to your booth and makes it easy for you to get the contact information of attendees.

I’m going to have to end here. Sorry folks, but stay tuned. Next week I’m going to cover the most neglected yet exponentially important final step of tradeshow marketing.

See you next Monday.

To your success,
Michael