Comments on: Connect The Dots In Your Marketing http://www.baileyworkplay.com/2005/07/connect-the-dots-in-your-marketing/ Rethinking Customer Experience & Marketing Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:56:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Kevin Holland http://www.baileyworkplay.com/2005/07/connect-the-dots-in-your-marketing/comment-page-1/#comment-146 Kevin Holland Sat, 16 Jul 2005 00:15:02 +0000 http://baileyworkplay.com/2005/07/14/connect-the-dots-in-your-marketing/#comment-146 Chris, You hit on something that's an age-old struggle for all of us. How many times have we sat in meetings wondering, "What do we really sell anyway?" We usually (me included) can respond to that question, when it's offered by someone else, with a litany of benefits but it's truly a scattershot approach -- you sort of hope that you happen to hit on somebody's hot button. What we "do" needs to be centered down into a specific message that solves a problem for the member -- is the problem, "I need to make more money?" "I need more time with my family?" "I need intelligence to get ahead of my competition (or move ahead in a professional career)?" "I need to know how to do this 'stuff'?" Whatever it is. (And sometimes you need to be able to learn how to solve problems that members didn't know they had.) Associations don't have a product, we have a market. That's kind of cool -- it can allow for great flexibility and creativity if you embrace it -- but it can also be problematic. Many associations wind up offering "benefits" that have nothing to do with each other besides the fact that they provide a service or good of value to different segments/individuals within a membership. I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing -- it just requires a lot of creativity on the part of staff to figure out how to structure marketing and retention. And it's definitely going to require much greater proficiency in technology. In the "good old days" you could afford (maybe) to depend on your market to "find" the things you offer that are of specific interest to an individual. These days, there are too many marketing messages in too many media -- we need to get really good at targeting our messages (and crafting them), really fast. Chris,

You hit on something that’s an age-old struggle for all of us. How many times have we sat in meetings wondering, “What do we really sell anyway?” We usually (me included) can respond to that question, when it’s offered by someone else, with a litany of benefits but it’s truly a scattershot approach — you sort of hope that you happen to hit on somebody’s hot button. What we “do” needs to be centered down into a specific message that solves a problem for the member — is the problem, “I need to make more money?” “I need more time with my family?” “I need intelligence to get ahead of my competition (or move ahead in a professional career)?” “I need to know how to do this ‘stuff’?” Whatever it is. (And sometimes you need to be able to learn how to solve problems that members didn’t know they had.)

Associations don’t have a product, we have a market. That’s kind of cool — it can allow for great flexibility and creativity if you embrace it — but it can also be problematic. Many associations wind up offering “benefits” that have nothing to do with each other besides the fact that they provide a service or good of value to different segments/individuals within a membership.

I’m not saying that’s necessarily a bad thing — it just requires a lot of creativity on the part of staff to figure out how to structure marketing and retention. And it’s definitely going to require much greater proficiency in technology. In the “good old days” you could afford (maybe) to depend on your market to “find” the things you offer that are of specific interest to an individual. These days, there are too many marketing messages in too many media — we need to get really good at targeting our messages (and crafting them), really fast.

]]> By: Wendy Maynard http://www.baileyworkplay.com/2005/07/connect-the-dots-in-your-marketing/comment-page-1/#comment-145 Wendy Maynard Thu, 14 Jul 2005 20:31:14 +0000 http://baileyworkplay.com/2005/07/14/connect-the-dots-in-your-marketing/#comment-145 Chris, Thank you for including this excerpt from my blog entry. I find it's a hard task for all of us to de-emphasize what our company does and what we know. It seems so relevant. And yet, it doesn't do anything to set our business apart. I have an earlier entry that I think compliments your post quite nicely: "What's the Difference Between Features and Benefits?" at http://wendy.kinesisinc.com/?p=23 Best, Wendy Maynard Chris,

Thank you for including this excerpt from my blog entry. I find it’s a hard task for all of us to de-emphasize what our company does and what we know. It seems so relevant. And yet, it doesn’t do anything to set our business apart.

I have an earlier entry that I think compliments your post quite nicely: “What’s the Difference Between Features and Benefits?” at http://wendy.kinesisinc.com/?p=23

Best, Wendy Maynard

]]>