Have you taken the path of your customer?

One of my steps in working with a client is that I like to put together their Marketing calendar to understand what they have on the table, events, conferences, advertisement, flyers, etc. They usually have some type of marketing in place, and we are looking at improving the system not dismantling it. After the marketing calendar has been constructed, I start moving, sometimes  just the post-it-notes from a chronological order to a marketing flow stream based on the customers' viewpoint.  We could even call it an assessment, but in initially I am just on a fact finding mission, in Lean terms = Current State Map. The next step in the process is diagramming this current state map and in Duct Tape Marketing terms, their Marketing Hourglass.

However, this week the procedure took a strange turn. I completed the process but I happen to know one of the client’s customer very well. So, after constructing this hour glass with the new client, I was able to sit down with his customer and my friend and map the process from the customers' point of view. Voice of Customer seems to an over-used word in our Industry but this was one of my best experiences. We actually pulled the clients file from the customers file cabinet, reviewed the folders on his computer including e-mails and bookmarks. I then laid out all the marketing material that had accumulated, highlighted and even taking note of the bent corners in the catalog. This was all followed by an interview.

Of course, my sample size of 1 is not a good indicator. The key to this process was the awaking to the client and myself on what the customer valued and what his procedure was in making the decision. His process was simply different. We talk about going to Gemba and walking the walk from the customers' point of view, but do you? How much non-effective marketing could you save by doing this? How much effecting marketing could you implement?
 

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Technorati Tags: Duct Tape Marketing,Marketing Calendar,Marketing Hourglass,Value stream Mapping

Need an internet presence, but don’t have the time

First let's answer the question: What do you have to do?

Get Found Online: To run a successful online business, people need to be able to find your website. You must improve your visibility.
Improve Your Traffic: You must use customized SEO and Social Media tasks that help you boost the number of visitors to your site.
Make More Money: Improving traffic, rankings and brand visibility will generate more sales from your website.

I found a nifty tool that I have been using the past month called Lotus Jump. When I first started using it, I thought it was really nothing more than a spreadsheet telling me to do the things I do to get my website found. However, after using it for a month, I found that it put me places that I have not been before. It did give me additional insight into place that I should be and links that I should be creating. All I have to do is allocate 30 minutes of my time or someone else time that can post content to create a web presence. It is simply not enough to have a website anymore you need a web presence. Read this case study about a simple Flower shop or watch a demo!

This fits into a very nice into a Standard Work Practice for developing an Online Presence. Or, it can be used as a brick in the foundation of Lean Marketing House.

Technorati Tags: SEO,Social-Media,Web-Traffic,Internet-Marketing

The Ultimate Marketing System – The Forgotten Pillar

Readers of my blog have read my explanations of the Lean Marketing House and how your Marketing Channels determines your number of pillars and the size of each. You can suffice with just one pillar if it is big enough and strong enough to hold up the roof but the other day I realized that I had forgotten to describe what I will now call the Forgotten Pillar. Continuous Learning in the Lean Marketing House means theUltimate Marketing System. This is a term coined by Duct Tape Marketing and actually includes their workbook and CD's explaining their system. Most marketing plans and systems fail if adequate training is not provided.

Lean Six Sigma Practitioners always realize that the training is what makes the processes work. Without, old habits stay the same and new habits are never developed. Nor are these new habits expanded to the greatest extent. It happens in marketing too. Marketing that works today is all about authenticity, customer touch points and the connection of those touch points. You have to be everywhere, but you also have to be you. Perfect marketing is less important because people really are seeking you. Even from an organization viewpoint, they are expecting a human and personal experience.

How do you go about creating this new wave of marketing in your organization? My advice is that you have to create a continuous learning cycle within your company. This is best done by starting out with a learning system, a structured program and a Marketing coach. This is self-serving to say the least, but it is what I truly believe.

I use the Duct Tape Marketing System as the learning system and the structured program to get someone started. I am not going to go through the entire program, you can do that here, but it will set you on the road to success and provide a foundation for you to build from. Without going through these necessary steps, you will never fully defined your marketing needs and just continue to respond to the marketing idea of the week. I cannot tell you how many phone calls I get weekly a call from an Ad Rep telling me about the next greatest deal. Please take note: It's not about the money, it's about the target!

Now, the coach is pretty important. I am not going to talk about that even Tiger Woods has a coach, you to keep you on track, hold you accountable and all that garbage. I am going to discuss about someone that has been there done that in the real world. I am also going to mention another cliché: Talk the talk and walk the walk. I can only talk for myself, but I will put myself up against any other coach in the sense that I walk my system. I believe in the Duct Tape Marketing philosophies. I practice them. If you think that is not true, just look at my Tag cloud on the left. Look at my Alexa score, Hubspot rating and Twitter feeds. They are better than the vast majority of corporations and certainly better than 99.5% of other coaches and consultants. Why is that? I simply follow the practices that John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing has taught me. Have I added a few tricks of my own? Certainly - Authenticity, Personalization, Differentiation and building your Core Message is what I have learned in my Continuous Learning cycle. What can you gain from that expereince? You will simply short-circuit your learning curve by having a coach on board!

Technorati Tags: Duct-Tape-Marketing,Lean,Lean-Marketing-House,Six-Sigma

Do you have Continuous Learning going on in your Marketing?