Where to Market or Brand Loyalty

Do you market like Coca-Cola or the Grateful Dead?

Coca-cola markets to Everyone. "Coca-Cola said it spent more than $2.9 billion on advertising in 2010," on total revenue in 2010 of $35B. (That's 8%)

In its heyday, the Grateful Dead didn't market at all! It was all word-of-mouth (WOMM). Whether you call them Evangelists or Raving Fans, your loyal customers are your best referral agents - and best marketers. (Your employees can be, too, if you encourage and incent them. Have you tried that yet?)

Referral Systems are the number 1 source of warm sales leads. (Tradeshow, event marketing and your website remain the top sources of sales leads, too.)

Do you have an ACTIVE Referral System? It won't work passively.

Do you attend local Chamber events? Do you put on seminars to educate the marketplace (and present the image as a leader)? Do you attend trade shows inside your vertical market?

Three of the top five online marketing tactics for B2B, according to this TJS article: website development, email marketing, and Social Media Marketing. You can view the slides (PDF) of the survey results here.

One stat I liked: "Most companies outsource to fulfill at least some of their marketing needs."

Most ISP's don't like to outsource. They tend to want to do-it-all-themselves. Outsource when you don't have the time or skills in-house. Don't look at the cost (unless you factor in your time saved), look at results.

Then there was this study done at RPI that says while Coke can market to everyone, Rock Stars are successful just marketing to fans. Why? Because it is cheaper. The message is easier to craft. They already know you and like you and give you $$.

"It’s about delighting the people that already love you."

One good examples would be Zappos. Their CEO, Tony Hsieh, wrote a whole book about it, Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose.

Another example is Grasshopper Group out of Boston that used to be GotVMail, a RingCentral competitor. Grasshopper has a team of 2 brand ambassadors that travel around to events where their target market is going to be. Speaking, sponsoring, networking, just meeting the crowd. Word spreads.

Another example is Canada's FreshBooks. They stalk their customers online and in-person. Dinners, flowers, notes. Spreading Delight.

All of this means that you could get serious about marketin,g but you would have to know your target audience and dive in. Want help? Give me a shout - or catch up with me on my tour of America.