Reaching The Market Outside Your Home Town

Reaching The Market Outside Your Home Town

Garth Beyer

Marketing Outreach

This is a longer post than I usually write. You could easily skip it and respond to the notification awaiting you on your phone. Alas, I hope you find this as practical, if not more.

We’re All Marketers

I’ve never understood PR folk talking about “outreach” in their own community. To me, that’s inreach, as in, easily in reach; as in, if your business is remarkable enough, the success of it will have enough momentum to touch all those in reach. A great business has inreach built in. Steven P. Dennis calls the hometown diehard fans of a business the obsessive core. Marketers, therefore, are for reaching out beyond the core.

Business plan = inreach.

Marketing = outreach.

Clear? Now let’s tackle the outreach by going over a few tools every marketer needs to understand to reach the market outside their zone, their base, their marked territory.

Not Your Average Advertising

As complicated as Facebook advertising is to understand, it’s quite easy to use to target consumers outside common ground.

Say you’re marketing MobCraft Beer to a state other than Wisconsin where they are based and a current Wisconsin resident follows Mobcraft’s FB page. This follower also has a few out-of-state friends she regularly interacts with. Facebook’s advertising algorithm will pick them up and advertise directly, noting to them there Wisconsin resident friend has liked MobCraft Beer’s FB page and they should too.

All social network advertising, not just social media networks are taking into consideration the value of connections, of handshakes, of conversations over the value of eyeballs. You don’t want the mass, anyway. You want those who matter. Right? Advertising isn’t what it used to be. (That’s a good thing for us marketers.)

Working Email and Mailing Address Lists

There’s no reason not to be A/B testing.

A/B testing in its most simplified definition is trying two different things and seeing which works better. Does a zen-like website page get more click-throughs than a collage-designed page? Will a handwritten card with a great photo on the front work better than a brochure? Will emailing small-time bloggers be more effective than a press release to those in authority? It’s time to find out.

Test and measure, test and measure.

And remember: Don’t get on the scale unless you’re willing to change your diet and exercise routine and don’t change your diet and exercise routine unless you will regularly step on the scale. Test and measure.

Surfing the Internet

If I’m not doing some grunt work, I know I’m not doing the best marketing I can. No matter what client I’m working with, I search on multiple search engines to find forums, blogs, and other places where the tribes have gathered. (And, yes, I go into the depths of Google, far beyond the first, second and third pages of results.) The long tail matters. Every small tribe matters.

A smart place to start is Reddit. A fellow PR daily contributor, Mickie Kennedy wrote a short bit on how to use Reddit for PR.

Through surfing the Internet, you’ll realize very quickly (if you haven’t already) how critical being human is. Most online tribes are skeptical; they will downvote blatant advertising and seek clarification of credibility before they upvote, make a purchase or share what you offer.

You’ll also learn (if you haven’t already) those who are the most loyal to brands are the most likely to turn their shoulder to a brand if they feel the outreach is robotic, if they believe the email they received is the same email everyone else on the list received, if they think you’re just in it for the money or job security or because it’s what your boss told you to do.

Moreover, Outreach has Changed/Improved/Realligned

When I get a pitch that tells me I am part of a company’s ‘blogger outreach program,’ it feels condescending to me. My inclination is to get bristly with the person doing the pitching. Other social journalists feel the same way.” – Shel Israel

Now, I wouldn’t be the first to say you have permission to market to everyone, but why would you need 10,000 strangers when you can make 10 friends, 10 people who trust you, 10 acquaintances who respect you, 10 passionate folk who need you.

Permission is one thing, participation is another. Participation is what matters. Find the 10 avid bloggers who need your product or service and connect with them. Find 10 die-hard craft beer drinkers and get on a Google Hangout together. Successful outreach rarely comes from a single click of “send;” it comes from continuous care, effort, and conversation. There’s another obsessive core out there. Reach out to them.

Successful outreach has improved since the days of mass advertising. It’s not about eye balls anymore; it’s about eye contact.

Now is your chance to build your tribe, to establish connections that matter. As for my last PR/marketing tip: never refer to people you are reaching out to as your target market, as part of your outreach program, as part of your market. They are not a special case because they are outside your hometown, your normal campaign realm, your regular target market. They are all strangers at first, then friends, then customers, no matter what geographical market they are in.

 

Stay Positive & Only Reach Out If You Plan To Truly Lift Someone Up

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What’s A Successful Connection On Social Media

What’s A Successful Connection On Social Media

Garth Beyer

Helicopter Leaves Complaint

Does responding to complaints, peeves and criticism establish a successful connection? Does it build brand loyalty? Does it lead to a developed friendship. Does it equate to a sure future positive interaction?

A successful connection on social media is when someone shares their dreams, their stories, their hopes and memories and jokes with you. It’s when you can engage in conversation, knowing you’ll converse again in the future. It’s when you look forward to interacting again.

A business who only responds to complaints on social media isn’t building their brand, they’re just keeping it still, stagnant, stationary.

And you know what I say about standing still.

 

Stay Positive & Suggestion Time

If I tell you how much I hate having helicopter leaves stuck to my car? How can you turn that into a successful connection? Tweet at me @thegarthbox 

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Making Marketing Sense Of The Domino Effect

Making Marketing Sense Of The Domino Effect

Garth Beyer

Domino Effect

If you have three lines of dominoes and topple the first domino in each line, it doesn’t make sense to race toward the end of the lines and try to knock dominoes down along the way, right? They will be knocked down anyway.

The cheapo marketer will see those dominoes down the line as a safe target audience and will race to tip a domino further down the line instead of searching for a different line of dominoes. Why?

In the way things trend from friend to friend, it makes sense to go down the line and say “hey, all your friends are doing it! Why not be one of the first too?” Targeting these folk makes the marketer look like what she’s doing is successful. Profits are up, subscriptions are up, sure. But as said, they would have gone up without the effort.

Marketing sense is when you know a business is remarkable enough to have a domino effect. In these cases, the marketer needs to do the difficult task of finding new domino lines instead of targeting one’s already scheduled to tip.

Careful who you trust. All marketers are liars, right?

 

Stay Positive & Know When Your Story Is Remarkable Enough To Market Itself

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20 Places Where You Can Start Your Project

Garth Beyer

1) Where you are now

2) Where you are now

3) Where you are now

4) Where you are now

5) Where you are now

6) Where you are now

7) Where you are now

8) Where you are now

9) Where you are now

10) Where you are now

11) Where you are now

12) Where you are now

13) Where you are now

14) Where you are now

15) Where you are now

16) Where you are now

17) Where you are now

18) Where you are now

19) Where you are now

20) Where you are now.

 

 

Don’t just say you want to do something.

 

Stay Positive & Do It

I Fought The Law And The Law Won

I Fought The Law And The Law Won

Garth Beyer

The law always wins, but that doesn’t mean you have to lose when it does. I’m using “law” in a very, very broad way. Synonymous with system, business, campaign, art, etc,.

Concrete Wall

I ran a program that didn’t allow any exceptions to a deadline. It was law!

Illiteracy, family death, wrong mailing address, whatever the reason, it would never lead to an exception in the deadline. During the program’s conception, the strict deadline seemed like a good idea; it put the pressure on those applying and made them aware there would be no exceptions. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop them from calling with their sob stories asking for exceptions.

I’ve learned pretty quickly if you’re going to push something out before it’s near perfect, be sure to allow for changes, for flexibility, for exceptions. Write in the law that you have the power to change the law. No fine print. No contact forms or application sheets. There are always exceptions. Always. You don’t have to define them ahead of time, but you need to be prepared for them when they arrive. And they will arrive.

Sadly I wasn’t there when the program’s statute was being written. I had no say, no power to change it, to suggest a clause that would allow exceptions. It was too late. This was troublesome for me because I’m a person who would rather find a way to say yes than to say no, regardless if it’s an extremely rare case or a simple courteous plea for an exception.

I once read about a CEO who gives each of his customer service employees $900 a month to spend on making things right with customers. If people expect you to make things right, then you have to tap the unexpected by making them more than right. The expected and unexpected is what divides a one-time-purchase and a loyal customer.

The program was doomed from the start and has since been sunset, discontinued. Had there been provisions for flexibility in the statute, authority to make exceptions with those running the program, and a budget to make things more than right, the program could have grown into something remarkable, instead it’s over, done, kaput.

Never ship a concrete block, concrete business, concrete program unless you can chisel away when someone pleads for a round block, an exception, a refund.

Better yet, why not ship concrete mix instead?

 

Stay Positive & Versatility And Malleability Is Essential For Business Longevity

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Captioned Image

Captioned Image

Garth Beyer

Rainway

This is me 60 years from now. Still not using an umbrella, enjoying the rain, relishing the moment. Even now, on the signs of rain ensuing, I don’t rush for cover, search for a newspaper to place over my head or “stay inside because it’s raining.” I’m not looking down delusionally lost. In fact, I’m purposefully lost; lost in the moment, lost in the rain, content with life. If this picture were a motion one, a moment from now you would see a smile cover my face from thinking how I was the only one really enjoying the rain. I’d get an extra hop in my step. However, my smile would turn into a frown as I looked to my right. I would think to myself if I asked this lady if she loved rain, she would say yes. I would think, if she loved rain, then why are you using an umbrella? To me, it doesn’t just rain water, it rains content, peacefulness, understanding. I’ve often thought about how the clouds wait until they are filled with enough water before they release. The clouds, the earth, the atmosphere aren’t rushing to make it rain. However, we, as people, don’t have the same patience. If we’re going to put effort into anything, we want instant results and give up what we’re doing if we don’t see them. We go for the short-term small investment tiny reward rather than the long-term big investment large reward. If rain was money, wouldn’t you want the saying when it rains, it pours to be true?

 

Stay Positive & Leave The Umbrella At  Home

What You Measure

What You Measure

Garth Beyer

Measurable

Eyes, money, subscriptions, they only matter when you act on the results of them. The number of clicks, views, RTs don’t matter unless you can develop a progressive strategy from the results. As Seth Godin notes, if you’re not prepared to change your diet or your workouts, don’t get on the scale.

The challenge of any PR analyst isn’t just to measure the measurable and adjust accordingly, but to find a way to measure the unmeasurable. How can you measure the trust you’ve accumulated with viewers? How can you measure the conversation you have on Twitter beyond impressions? How can you measure the brand impact, word of mouth, and references?

If you don’t get on the scale, how will you know how to change your diet or your workouts?

More importantly, if you don’t measure your habits, your body composition, your support system, how will you know how to change your lifestyle?

 

Stay Positive & Measure The Not-So-Unmeasurable

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