Steve Yastrow

The Rule of The Few and The Many

Close your eyes for a minute and think of a few companies you really like doing business with. (You can open them now) Now, try to remember the interactions that influenced your opinions of those companies.

How many were interactions that were created “en masse” for you and other customers, such as ads, web home pages, fine print, FAQ’s, direct mail pieces, etc.?

How many were one-on-one interactions, such as personal advice from a salesperson, a customer service rep fixing a problem for you, a maintenance person trouble-shooting an issue for you, etc.?

Here is the simple truth: Marketing becomes less effective the more people it tries to reach at one time.

No doubt, it’s impossible to talk to customers one at a time, all of the time. It’s even hard to talk to them in small groups all of the time. Hey, even this blog is a form of mass communication. There are times when it is necessary, and even smart, to talk to customers as a group.

But it is also important to recognize that you are always making a compromise as you talk to many customers at one time. The natural tendency in marketing is to gang up communications and reach more customers, concurrently. Don’t look at this tendency as a convenience that makes the marketing job easier. Look at it as a compromise, even if it is a necessary compromise, that limits your ability to communicate.

Remember The Rule of the Few and the Many. It’s a simple rule: When possible, few is always better than many.

Tweet This

Posted in Brute Force Branding, Marketing | No Comments »

Stop targeting your customers

“We’re attacking the target market with a rifle shot approach.”

“We’re in a fierce battle with the competition to capture market share.”

“We’ve scheduled a volley of advertising for the fall.”

I’ve actually heard people say these things. What is this, marketing, or West Point?

Why are we targeting customers? Are we trying to shoot them?

I’ll bet many of these companies claim to have a focus on “relationship marketing.” (Which usually means their IT department manages CRM software and they use it to “target” offers to certain customers)

These are marketing words I avoid:

“target”
“chase”
“go after”
“attack”
“penetrate”
“exploit”
“saturate”
“capture”
“break through”
“seduce”
“Them”

These are marketing words I love:

“engage”
“collaborate”
“dialogue”
“listen”
“respond”
“dance”
“encounter”
“involve”
“We”

Throwing information at customers is a very ineffective method of communication. If I want to persuade you of something, would I have much luck if I tried to “capture” you or “target” you?

Relationships require dialogue. Monologue can cripple relationships in their tracks.

Marketing is not hypnosis. Is it not something you do to your customers. It is something you do with them.

Tweet This

Posted in Marketing | 15 Comments »

I call them “customers”

Seth Godin and Daniel Pink are two of the most important business writers today … so it is with humility that I disagree with them. Seth wrote a blog post this week titled “Citizens,” in which he asked the question, “What do you call the people that marketers interact with? The ones who aren’t customers yet…” The answer, which Seth said came out of a conversation Dan Pink, is “citizens.”

I call them customers.

My definition of a customer is this: Anyone whose actions affect your results.

I have found this definition to be very useful, because it helps you realize that the job of sales and marketing is not to write brochures, or do ads, or make sales pitches. Sales and marketing, simply, are about encouraging people to do things that positively affect your results.

And, this definition helps you recognize that many of the people, or organizations, who affect your results don’t pay you money. Your vendors affect your results. The media may affect your results. For some of you, the government affects your results. And, people who are “prospective customers” are actually customers, since their actions can affect your results. Why not employ a good marketing approach when trying to motivate these people, even though they are not paying customers?

Relationships with customers start before they are paying customers. And, marketing doesn’t stop after a someone becomes a paying customer. (I’ll admit, I was surprised that Seth, our uber-guru of marketing, started the post by asking, “What do we call the people that marketers interact with? Those who aren’t customers yet …” He, of all people, recognizes that marketing isn’t only focused creating new, paying customers. Just look at his concepts of Permission Marketing, Idea Viruses, Meatball Sundaes, etc. He always writes about marketing as something much more than lead generation.) The actual point at which someone becomes a paying customer is just a transition point. Yes, it is an important transition point, but it is not a discontinuity in the relationship. We don’t need to start relating to this person in a whole new way; in fact, in many cases it will seem disingenuous if we do.

I certainly agree with the post’s admonition against thinking of future paying customers as part of a “target market.” (See page 79 in We, “Marketing words that I avoid”)

But, I am committed to thinking of anyone who affects my results as a customer, even if they are not yet paying me … or will never pay me. That way, I will interact with them as a customer, and I will have a better chance of encouraging them to act in ways that drive my business results.

Tweet This

Posted in Marketing, We relationships | 7 Comments »