| Quick Tip Archive: Marketing |
Unifying our Extension image
Every Extension county office and campus unit contributed to the massive Annual Conference marketing materials display. The fifteen-panel display was a summary, a visualization of how the public sees Iowa State University Extension. This collection is a benchmark – from which we will move forward.
VP Jack Payne said during his capstone speech October 11 that while there have not been resources or processes statewide to create a consistent image – there will be. He promises an organizational marketing plan; a plan that will get priority attention. We must begin by aligning our goals.
He outlines how Extension is aligning goals with the University in the Extension Strategic plan, available at http://www.extension.iastate.edu/admin/strategic.htm.
Jack's plan is to add clarity, vision, and specific goals - along with marketing resources and processes - to our current marketing practices. By doing so, we have tremendous opportunity to help the public see us as a cohesive family; one that is helping them become their best. It will take all of us, working together. Very soon all our marketing materials will look as if they came from the same unified organization.
October 15, 2007
Anecdote power
Webster defines an anecdote as “a short, interesting or humorous account of a real or fictitious incident.” Anecdotes can be powerful tools for illustrating change, and for many, are more effective than facts or figures at conveying impact.
For our purposes, anecdotes are first person accounts that put a human face to Extension programs or services. They help complement and validate the numbers we often get caught up in, and can be convincing testimonials of how real people’s lives have been changed. They’re especially useful for programs such as youth, prevention and families, where outcomes are sometimes harder to measure in numeric terms.
If you want to personalize the impact you have made, share an anecdote. Chances are it will be remembered long after the numbers fade.
Customer contacts
How often is too often to contact clients and customers?
Actually, hardly anyone contacts customers too often. Most, in fact, don’t stay in touch enough from the standpoint of maximizing marketing benefits.
Repetitive contact helps assure that when a customer is ready to use a product or service you provide, you're the one who gets the business. You can keep in touch via direct mail, personal letter, telephone, media advertising, or, of course, face-to-face visits. The key is to always strive to educate and build credibility. If you sprinkle in some creativity and vary your message occasionally so that customers enjoy hearing from you, you have a great recipe for success.
The bottom line is “stay in sight, stay in mind.” Chances are you’ll also stay in business.
Source: The Marketing Minute, July, 2005
Green Coke® cans and purple arches?
Do you ever get the urge to tinker with Extension’s visual identity? Maybe you’d like to change the red bar to blue to match a colored font. Perhaps you’d like to make the wordmark a slightly different shape with that cool new tool in your desktop publishing program.
When you get that urge to innovate, pause and follow the advice of Drew McLellan, author of 99.3 Random Acts of Marketing. He suggests buying a can of Coke®, placing it on your desk and studying it for 30 seconds. Then close your eyes and picture the can in your mind. Now, wait a few seconds and try to visualize the same can again - only in green. Doesn’t work, does it?
Visual cues like color, typeface and even spacing are essential parts of brand awareness and recognition, says McLellan. Changing them, even a little, simply doesn’t work. If successful companies like McDonalds® and Coke® don’t mess with their brands, why should we?
Keep name tags in view
If you’re a regular customer at ‘Cheers’ or some similar hometown hangout, perhaps everybody knows your name. But in the modern business and professional world, you certainly shouldn’t count on it – even in small town rural Iowa.
Nametags are a must for the well-dressed, successful Extension staff person anytime he or she is on the job out of the office. Some staff members have taken to wearing their tags permanently on the flashy, attractive lanyards offered through Extension Distribution Center. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that - it’s a great way to market the Extension “look.” But, keep in mind that if you frequently wear a shirt or jacket over your outfit, the tag may sometimes be hidden, or inadvertently turned so the name doesn’t show.
The point is, whether you wear your nametag on a lanyard or not, be sure it’s secure and plainly visible without searching. In the real world of marketing, there’s nothing worse than being anonymous.
Make a plan (to get more bang for your marketing bucks)
There’s an old adage that says, “People don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan.”
That homespun wisdom could apply to Extension staff as they make decisions about how they will spend scarce marketing dollars. Few county Extension districts in Iowa have a written plan in place to guide their marketing efforts. Many who do have no research that might help them identify strengths and weaknesses, or appropriate marketing goals and tactics.
Which brings to mind another proverb, “It’s tough to know when you’ve arrived if you don’t know where you’re going.”
Whether you’re interested in passing a referendum, expanding Extension’s market share, or merely maintaining a viable local presence five to ten years down the road, a little research and reflection now can help assure that you arrive on time and within budget at your desired destination. Talk to your area External Relations specialist about putting together a written marketing plan. And while you’re at it, find out how a Pirro or a County Marketing Survey could help deliver a lot more bang for your marketing bucks.
Negative word of mouth: A killer lurking
One obvious key to success for all entrepreneurs – Extension included – is happy customers. For that to happen, clients must believe they are getting their money’s worth on a consistent basis. Dissatisfied customers tend to grumble, and other potential customers tend to listen to their negative word of mouth.
64 per cent – more than half – of all shoppers will never shop again at a store after hearing of a friend's negative experience there. That's the key finding of a Customer Dissatisfaction Survey from the Verde Group, Consumer Contact, and the Baker Retailing Initiative at Wharton School of Business. "If businesses want to stop the bleeding from negative word of mouth," says Wharton's Dr. Stephen Hoch, "It's clear they need to invest in ensuring that each customer experience is first rate."
Other key findings:
- 31% of all customers who have had a bad experience will tell at least one other person.
- On average, customers will tell four other people about their negative experience.
- As negative experiences are retold, they are often embellished and can become up to five times more damaging than the original story.
…Just a few more reasons why it’s so important to deliver more, not less, than advertised—and avoid the negative word of mouth.
For more information: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2006/10/c0764.html
Research matters in marketing, too
Each year corporate America spends more than $275 billion trying to convince consumers to buy products and services. Companies make this sort of investment because marketing motivates people to act. While Extension can’t match that type of spending, we can learn from business how to get the most from our marketing dollars. Companies such as Proctor and Gamble and General Electric know exactly who they will target with their marketing efforts and they have a plan in mind on how to reach those audiences. Plus, they won’t make a move without first conducting research to back it up. Neither should we! Marketing research tools exist within Extension, even for those on a shoestring budget. Ask your area External Relations Specialist today where to begin with a county marketing survey and a long range county marketing plan.
Source: Cause Communications, Communications Toolkit, 2005
Shoestring marketing (10 Cadillac ideas on a Scrooge budget)
1. Make a plan. Outline your goals, budget constraints, strategy, timelines, and a process for evaluation.
2. Know your market. Save time and money by finding out what marketing tools will work best for you. Results come from promoting the right product in the right place at the right price. Do your research and target your efforts.
3. Create brand awareness. In all situations, identify yourself with ISU Extension. Surveys show that even satisfied customers often don’t know Extension was involved. Use the marketing tools Extension has available and leave no doubt as to “who’s your daddy?”
4. Be consistent. Project Extension’s image on everything—news releases, brochures, fliers, advertising, bookmarks, web sites, podiums, fenceposts, meeting room walls!
5. Use cross marketing: When people ask for something, show them everything!
6. Communicate creatively. Example: One innovative CEED uses the “Breakfast, Basketball and Bible” concept to reach kids. Translation: Feed’em, have a little fun, deliver your message!
7. Talk is cheap. Viral marketing is a term used to describe cyber word of mouth. Whether you use the Internet or good old-fashioned telephone calls, ask others to help you spread your message. Never overlook people power!
8. Two heads (or several heads) are better than one. Establish partnerships for delivering and marketing your services. Money-management: talk to your local banker. A 4-H horse program: ask the local saddle shop for help. Gardening: is there a greenhouse in the neighborhood?
9. Order more, pay less. Want pencils, Extension napkins, Cups with the ISU wordmark? On an area-wide basis, find out what’s needed and do a group order. Larger quantities usually provide a price break.
10. Be cyber-savvy. Over 70 percent of Iowa households are now “wired” to the Internet. Figures for “influencers” are even higher. Consider a regular e-newsletter to key supporters focusing on what’s familiar and what’s valued in your community. Use it to guide people to your Extension web site.
The ten commandments of relationship marketing
Relationship marketing is moving to the forefront as we strive to be a more engaged institution. It’s all about developing the resources and support for a personal and professional safety net. Susan RoAne in “Savvy Networking” says we must connect with people, be considerate of our contacts, and communicate both in word and deed. She offers these ten commandments as a guide:
- Thou shalt be honorable and noble – treat people with respect, courtesy, dignity and truth.
- Thou shalt follow up, and follow through. Do that which thou sayest thou wilt do…and report back in a timely manner.
- Thou shalt pay attention to others – by listening with ears, eyes, head, and heart.
- Thou shalt nurture thy network. Touch base with calls, cards, clippings, and faxes—even when thou needest nothing in return.
- Thou shalt treat people as people – not as contacts for thine own professional development.
- Thou shalt “good-mouth” people. Lavish praise freely, and pass it on!
- Thou shalt acknowledge all sustenance with thy pen and tablet. Thank those who have gifted thee with ideas, time, support, leads, laughter, and love.
- Thou shalt perform good deeds. Ye shall reciprocate those deeds done on thy behalf.
- Thou shalt teach these commandments diligently – to staff, students, colleagues, cronies, and children …by thy example!
- Thou shalt have fun and be of much good humor.
Whether our networks are long-established or just getting started, these rules will serve us well.
Too busy right now to worry about marketing? Wrong!
Heading into a busy season? Most of us are. In fact, you may be so busy right now you just don't have time to think about marketing. Wrong!
The best time to reach out to new and repeat customers is always now, and the best time to aggressively promote Extension’s connection to Iowa State University is always today. Why? Because effective marketing never begins or ends. It simply becomes a routine part of everything we do – to the point, in fact, that it is done instinctively without our conscious thought.
So, here are three small, simple steps toward better organizational marketing that everyone can begin today:
- Answer your phone correctly. Say, “Iowa State University Extension, (_____) County, this is (your name).”
- State your office name correctly, in person, in print, or on the air: “Iowa State University Extension, (_____) County…”
- Always spell out or say Iowa State University in full the first time you use it – ISU could stand for any number of other businesses or institutions (including colleges from Idaho to Indiana).
Now then, that’s a nice start…and it didn’t put a huge dent in your busy schedule either, did it?
Turning success to IMPACT!
One of the most important things we can do during tough budgetary times is to make sure supporters, collaborators, policy makers and opinion leaders know about our good works. We must communicate the best examples of how ISU Extension has improved quality of life in Iowa and made our state a better place to live.
A good place to start is to stop viewing those pesky success stories as just another item on your “to-do” list, and start thinking of ways to get the most from them! Talk with office co-workers to identify your best local successes. Then ask yourselves who would care. As you write these stories, include details that show real impact in the form of behavioral change. Include pictures, client testimonials, and other hard evidence to verify your claims. Keep them short (175 words or less), give them a polished look on red bar paper, and distribute to targeted individuals who are likely to be interested. For more effect, deliver them in person, or send with a personal note attached.
If you need help, contact your area external relations specialist.
Branding - what's luck got to do with it?
In his book, The Luck Factor, author Dr. Richard Wiseman shares something shrewd marketers already know: the more someone hears about you or your company, the more supportive they become. Wiseman details a study where people were shown a number of meaningless squiggles and asked which they liked best. Respondents preferred the squiggles they'd seen before, without consciously realizing they'd already seen them or knowing the factors affecting their choice.
"This familiarity effect is not limited to squiggles. Without realizing it, we all prefer things we’ve seen before," Wiseman explains. "It’s part of the theory behind branding, and explains why companies are willing to spend millions of dollars on advertising to keep their products in the public eye."
In Extension we don't have a fortune to spend on marketing, but we can still use the principle. Ten exposures to ISU Extension’s name and offerings will have greater impact than one. Never spend your whole marketing budget on a single effort.