What Works in Marketing?

March 9, 2010 By 12 Comments

Everyone wants to know: Is there a secret marketing formula? Where is the location of the money tree? Is there a holy ‘get rich’ marketing grail or silver bullet solution?

I wish there was.

But, the reality is that there is no silver bullet solution. And, your existing bullets are turning to rubber as we speak.

E-mail campaigns have an ‘open rate’ of less than 20%. Staggering. Only a small fraction of the people who you send email to (even from a permission-based list) even bother to open your message. The click through rates are even more depressing: 1-4%.

Typical webpages are never viewed more than a handful of times, by a handful of people. Most sites see 20% of their content get 80% of the traffic, often leaving hundreds of pages untouched and unread (despite the fact that you spent all of that precious time creating those pages).

Each new piece of content added to the web decreases everyone else’s (including radio, television, magazines and newspapers)  odds of being noticed. Attention is a finite resource and our ability to capture it is fading fast.

So if our tactics aren’t working anymore, what can we do? (Please leave your comments below)

Filed Under: Marketing Strategy
  • donschindler

    Michael, it has everything to do with helping and not being marketers as we were defined in the past. Be there when people need you.

  • michaelklein

    Don, I'm not sure I quite get the meaning of your statement. Can you elaborate a bit?

  • heavywinter

    1. Broaden your role/expand your purview- it's not about pumping out a continuous stream of marketing collateral anymore (whether print or pixel based).

    2. Be curious and learn- design/marketing has gained ground in the corporate world, but it hasn't always gained respect. Marcom people have an incentive to learn business and apply it to the everyday. In the end, it's less about inching click through rates upward and more about moving the business forward. Easier said than done, of course, but the ability to see the forest instead of the trees goes a long way.

    3. Experiment- try something new, follow your instincts, fly under the radar and see what sticks

  • michaelklein

    Thanks for the comment! I agree, it certainly isn't about pumping out a continuous stream of marketing.

    I love experimenting, but with so many tools becoming available I wonder who sustainable as a strategy?

  • donschindler

    What I mean by helping is to recognize when a client or customer has a need (via search or social media search) and being there to provide the answers. The lines have blurred between marketing, operations, customer service. Every person in the company can have an impact and it's (I feel) the marketer's job to teach everyone that they can interact with customers and here's some best practices to do it. They can all blog, they can all have social media, they can all answer the phone – and then understand how to help the customer.

  • michaelklein

    I agree the lines have blurred between marketing, operations and customer service. I like your approach. Thanks Don.

  • jadegulash

    The tactics that aren't working anymore are the ones that are focused on “being everything to everybody”. Focused, personalized strategies are the ones that are going to cut through the clutter, as we move forward in a world where clutter surrounds us every minute of every day. Define your target market (no, not “my product is for everybody!” – really define it), and focus your efforts on that market only. You just can't be everything to everybody. And if you try, you'll be nothing to nobody.

  • michaelklein

    Thanks Jade. Do you have any examples of personalized strategies that have been scaled?

    I sometimes wonder if personalized gets ignored even faster…

  • jadegulash

    I guess it depends on how you actualize the personalization.
    If I get an e-mail that has my name in the Subject line, my 'spam radar' starts to hum. That kind of personalization – might work, might not.
    But TRUE targeting – Anthropologie had a great campaign where they sent personalized birthday cards to their online subscribers with a really good discount offer. It wasn't a mass mailing, and it wasn't some crappy 10% off deal. It was meant to truly thank those people who were loyal Anthropologie fans. And their response rate showed it.
    I read about an e-mail marketing case where the Subject line included the receiver's hometown: i.e, “New widgets available in Saskatoon”. Response rate on that was great as well. But definitely more work than a generic mass mailing.
    I could spam all of my Twitter followers with direct messages about my organization. OR, I could pick a few followers that I think would be very interested, and send them real, personalized, genuine messages to build a relationship with them and let them know about my organization. I'll reach more people with the first strategy, but the quality of my responses will be greater with the second.

  • michaelklein

    TRUE targeting…that sounds like a great title for a book!

    I 100% agree…personal connection and membership are where I believe marketing is further headed.

  • http://www.harleyrivet.com/ Harley

    Interesting topic, Mike. A lot of good comments and perspectives. I concur with many of the thoughts expressed here – Being a help resource where/when needed, adding value, experimenting, being targeted, and offering a genuine personal approach.

    I think other important factors are being remarkable and focusing on great design (product, experience, workflow, culture, etc). To be specific, I believe it is more of a risk to play things safe. It's important to try stand out whether it's being edgy or exceeding expectations. As far as design goes, I think Apple has proven that great design and user experience garners a premium and gets attention. It's easier said than done, but a better designed experience or product that focuses on key features/benefits for their target audience will have the best chance at cutting through the clutter. The last decade was about innovation, this decade will be about design.

  • michaelklein

    'The last decade was about innovation, this decade will be about design.' – I love that quote. I totally agree design is so important.

    Thanks for summarizing everyone's comments…I could see these points being a great blog post.