5 small tools that are promoted as “marketing tricks with astonishing results”

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– “There is something wrong with me”

– “What a rare statement, let’s talk about this”

– “I was in so many workshops and seminars, I know how to make marketing campaigns fast, easily and with low budget… but I presume that I am doing something wrong in the implementation…”

– “What do you think that is the problem?”

– “I don’t know… all these people say that they make it right… I am trying as well, but in my case the pieces of the puzzle are not matching. I am missing something probably…”

– “You are missing indeed, but not what you think. Give me an example, what exactly do you know and you cannot implement yourself?”

– “Ok… for instance… a trainer was telling us about Steve Jobs, his marketing was very simple and clear, the same was the design of his products… but I cannot do the same… I tried to… I don’t reach the same results, the same simplicity. The expert showed us so many things about Jobs…”

– “Do you want to know the truth? Or do you prefer a convenient reply?”

– “Shoot…”

– “First of all, this “expert” of yours is lucky that there is no police to arrest people for excessive stupidity. So he is safe and free to continue talking about things he does not know. Then, let’s talk about Steve Jobs. What did he do and it was simple?”

– “Let’s talk about iPhone, it is simple, with just one button…”

– “iPhone is based on: 1. The brand name of Apple, built through the decades and with billions of Euro invested in marketing, 2. The success of iPod, 3. The iStore, that provided Jobs the means so as to create and sell apps, 4. Extensive studies that lasted years, 5. Huge marketing campaign, 6. Funding in quantities that you cannot even dream, 7. Foxcon factories in China with costs below any imagination.

– “So, this is not so easy after all… he did not tell us all these…”

– “My friend, what is your relevance with Steve Jobs and his iPhone? Why don’t you return to your reality and create a marketing campaign based on YOUR needs?”

– “I did not think it like this… so there is some kind of a chain of my problems, my needs and my marketing campaign…”

– “Everything in life is a chain and everything you do in business is related to your OWN chain”

Yes, it is true: The simplicity introduced by Steve Jobs was revolutionary and needs to be observed and analyzed. But it was just a small part of a complicated business strategy, not the strategy itself.

5 + 1 small tools that are promoted as “marketing tricks with astonishing results”

In today’s world, all kinds of “lovely” people, irrelevant with real business, try to invent “easy ways to earn lots of money”. They keep on talking / lying about “the magic tool that resolves all problems”. In some cases this can really be the case, but for the “trainer” himself to become rich, not for you. In reality there is no way you can succeed without hard work.

Let us check together five interesting tools that are presented nowadays as “the easy way to lots of money”. If you sit down and think, you will realize that they could be good for some trainers to pitch their ideas and projects, but they are not necessarily proper for business owners, like you:

1. “Shoot a video!” / “Don’t lose your time writing, shoot a video instead!”

  • Yes, a video is something good
  • But let’s be serious. Please think a bit… how many videos do you watch daily? Watch = from the beginning to the end, with sound.
  • People watch videos without sound, while at work or watch part of videos or watch them to the end but remember nothing afterwards
  • Shooting a video is good, but it does not create any miracles
  • Nothing can compare to a text, where someone will read and understand your approach, then agree or disagree with you
  • Actually as most of people just post (amateur) videos, a well written text has much more value, even if it will be accessed by less people
  • PS.1. They may tell you that “video X became viral etc.”. So what? You need tangible solutions for your problems, not irrelevant comparisons of different situations.
  • PS.2. If you wish to communicate through video, you need a professional shooting and editing + graphics + someone able to perform on camera. If not, you may end up losing clients, not getting any.

2. “Make a webpage and a Facebook account / Send it to your friends to like and start posting / Buy “likes” on Facebook or “followers” on Twitter / Pay for google SEO!”

  • Yes, all these are important. But none of them resolves your problems by itself.
  • The CONTENT is your problem, not just the means
  • So if your content is not valuable for your clients, all the rest are just “attempts to attract the attention of the audience by showing how the paint dries on the wall” (fascinating to spend time watching, isn’t it?)
  • Yes, it is good that your friends will like your page. Have you asked them how many invitations do they receive daily?
  • It doesn’t hurt if you buy likes / followers. But people understand if your account is really what you say it is, they “smell” if the audience is real or not.
  • PS. Facebook makes money by asking you to pay so as for the people to see what you have posted. No payment = Your posts don’t appear on the wall of your friends.

3. “Prepare an offer, make sure the figure ends in “7”, send people to a landing page and start making money”

  • Usually this kind of offers tell you that something used to be charged for 1.000.000.000 Euro… “and only for today it costs 97. Grab that chance now!”
  • But no offer brings results without legitimization!
  • Think of 2 cars: A Mercedes worth 50.000 Euro will be offered to you with 29.997 Euro. You know Mercedes and you can evaluate the offer. Now you hear about “Great Wall” cars, the Chinese giant and assume that you can buy their SUV with 60% discount. If you don’t know the brand, the price reduction does not attract you
  • This strategy is good for trainers, not necessarily for you too, a business owner.
  • PS. If you thought that “if I am legitimized, I don’t need to tell my clients that I offer my products with 90% discount”, you are right. This is what the majority of your clients will also think.

4. “Write newsletters with long vertical texts and people will be convinced”

  • Maybe it is useful tool for a trainer to sell his workshop, but for sure it does not work for a normal business like yours.
  • (Even for trainers, this is used just so as to get you to their free event, where they will present to you their real offer. This long text rarely sells)
  • If this would be such a “super” strategy, you would have seen all the major online retailers using it (but they are not!)
  • PS. Not to mention that the chances for your clients to read a looooong email and then buy your products / services are rather weak

5. “Write articles and try to appear in media. It’s enough”

  • Yes, we agree that people need to see you in the media, so as to appreciate you, but it is definitely not enough!
  • The content is what counts, not just the appearance itself!
  • And don’t forget that it is not easy to catch people’s attention “just with an article or two”.
  • PS. Back in 2008, when I started writing the first Real Estate blog in Romania, we were few bloggers out there. Now there are thousands…

Good parts, not the car itself

All the above are not bad. They are useful and in some cases they can really surprise you with their efficiency. But they are just like the parts of a car, not the car itself.

“So what do you suggest for a company to do so as to create its own marketing strategy?”

If you wish to succeed in the Romanian market (because we are talking about Romania, or Southeastern Europe, not England or the US) and build your own Romanian dream, first of all you need to make sure that you know who you are and what you want. The rest… let’s reveal them next week!

What is your opinion?

 

On Monday, 02.11.2015: A clear, specific list of principles for a marketing campaign

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