Marketing

The Who And How Many

The Who And How Many

Garth Beyer

Audience Marketing Target

1,000 people may walk into your store today, may pick up your book, may scroll through your Tumblr. Do they all matter? Was your marketing strategy to reach the mass, to get eyeballs?

Who you’re already reaching and in what ways you’re moving them is necessary to know when evaluating your target market and marketing method for business success.

I can’t stand looking at my page view count on GarthBox for one big reason. How many doesn’t matter nearly as much as who does. The person who comments on a post or shares it on their FB to start a discussion is worth more than any number of eyeballs to me.

If given the choice to have 200,000 followers or 2,000, I’ll choose the latter because the 2,000 – I’m sure – are remarkable, personal, and are more “friends” than “strangers.”  Whereas, the 200,000 followers would feel disconnected. I would struggle to connect with them all.

Marketing is about finding the people who want to listen, who want to interact, and ignoring the mass who may read, but inevitably keep scrolling past your tweet.

When action, response, engagement matters, the who stands out.

 

Stay Positive & You Might Have Traffic, But Is Anyone Parking?

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Movement Tells A Story

Garth Beyer

Story Ladder

What you’re passionate about doesn’t necessarily come easy. No matter if you’re doing what you love or not, you’re still climbing a ladder, trying to reach the top, trying to make progress.

Creating art is a method of taking on problems from an outer level with complete focus and forming them into an almost subconscious solution process that allows you to then focus on the next problem. Each step of the ladder presents a new problem to solve. At face value, it’s not enjoyable, not fun, but what sets an artist apart from others who climb is that they find a way to love the process, to enjoy the struggle.

We build value in ourselves when we climb the ladder, when we accomplish goals, when we are moving. When we stop moving up the ladder to say “look at me now,” we tell the wrong story. Humans are inclined to see narratives where there are none because it can afford meaning to our lives, Cody Delistraty at The Atlantic writes. Storytelling when standing still is an oxymoron. It doesn’t resonate well, it doesn’t inspire, it doesn’t tell the message you really want to be telling.

People view you differently when seeing where you’re at now, compared to where you’re going. Sure, saying where you’ve been and what you’ve accomplished and how you got to where you’re at now can be remarkable, but only if people know there is more to come from you; that where you decided to stop and shout down is not the highest you will climb.

Movement tells a story, and people die standing still.

If tasks start seeming easy, if you tackle all your problems subconsciously, if there’s no longer need to focus, no struggle with a problem, it means you’ve stopped climbing, that you’re standing still.

 

Stay Positive & Is That Really The Story You Want To Tell?

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When Offering Something Difficult To Acquire Elsewhere

When Offering Something Difficult To Acquire Elsewhere

Garth Beyer

Unique Business

If you’re just starting your business and selling something that’s difficult to acquire elsewhere, you’re appealing to a certain type of person.

Bill Gates won’t be interested. Nor will the farmer who has used the same mixer for his feed for years. I doubt the company that has a daily “business” meeting will want to invest either. They may discuss it at a meeting, but it’ll just be a way to spend time avoiding their real work, sadly.

Being remarkable comes with its setbacks. Those who are detail-intensive might not buy into what you offer. Nor will those who spend their time trying to avoid failure. They’re too busy planning, too busy avoiding doing what they’re not used to doing.

However, Robert Herjavec might be interested in what you have to offer. That avid blogger who is scanning for something new to write about, she’ll try what you provide. Other innovators definitely will give you a shot. After all, they often see people like you as an opportunity to learn from.

You want the type of person who scans Pinterest for a recipe to try that day, not later. You want the lady at the dinner table who, when she doesn’t know what animal’s poop is used to make coffee, googles it right away. (This actually happened to me the other night.)

To be clear, you’re not marketing to the impulse buyer who grabs the reindeer antlers at the checkout line. You want the person who cares, who notices trends, who will try what you have to offer because it’s difficult to acquire elsewhere.

I write all of this so you can answer the following question honestly.

Are you marketing to the right person?

 

Stay Positive & A Special Business Markets Special People

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Effective Strategy Questions

Effective Strategy Questions

Garth Beyer

Communication Strategy

1) What’s the ultimate objective? Can you cut it down to 3-5 words?

2) Who is it you want to communicate with?

3) What do you want them to do? What action should they take after hearing from you?

4) What’s in it for them? Is there a reward to taking that action?

5) This will help you decide the best time to send an email. When is the best time to send your message? And where? Perhaps it’s not email.

6) What is the best tone for this message? Does it align with your voice on other platforms?

7) What’s the central idea? What’s your one word? What’s the point?

 

Stay Positive & Is This Strategy The Best Strategy?

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Does Word Of Mouth Come Natural?

Does Word Of Mouth Come Natural?

Garth Beyer

Word of mouth marketing

No. Never.

For some brands and businesses, word of mouth seems to come natural. I encourage you to think about it next time you hear someone talk bout a brand or business or when you yourself talk about one. (If needed, which I doubt it will be needed, ask why the person brought up the brand or business.)

Always (always!) the brand or business is talked about on purpose. They’ve made themselves remarkable enough to be talked about. They’ve done something different from their competitors so you can tell your friends about it. They’ve designed their site, their shipping method, their product or service in such a way that it’s easy to talk about on Twitter and share their reactions and reviews on Facebook or Amazon.

Word of mouth marketing may seem to simply come natural, that the brand or businesses never considered it to begin with. Some may have come by it accidentally, but as soon as they’ve noticed it, they’ve leveraged it. And why not? Word of mouth is the best marketing there is.

You are building your brand or business with it in mind, right?

 

Stay Positive & People Don’t Whisper To Each Other Anymore, They Shout

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Marketing!

Marketing!

Garth Beyer

Everything Is Marketing

I’m known as the marketer in my office. Most conversations I overhear I end up shouting “marketing” when I hear of something someone did on purpose, but my coworkers didn’t realize it.

During some cubical conversations, my coworkers will ask if something is marketing or not. I rarely look over from my standup desk to respond, I just shout “everything is marketing.”

It is.

Each interaction you have whether it’s with an ad, with a client or with your coworkers, you’re marketing.

It doesn’t matter if you’re thanking your boss for bringing donuts, on the phone providing customer service or out mowing your lawn. You’re marketing.

What you’re marketing is yourself and if people who see your marketing know you well enough, by extension you’re marketing your lifestyle, your job, your personality, your story, your brand.

Everything is marketing these days. It doesn’t matter if someone is watching or not.

Nor should it.

 

Stay Positive & It’s Bittersweet, But It Can Work To Your Advantage If You Want It To

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The Best Way To Grow Your Business Locally

The Best Way To Grow Your Business Locally

Garth Beyer

Brooklyn Brewery President

Being president of anything means being the best marketer of the organization or business.

I’m learning from the beer brewing industry that when it’s difficult to expand large geographical areas because of competition, success all comes down to marketing local.

The best way to do that as President?

Be personal. Talk to everyone. Always be available. Be human. And, most importantly, you have to be outrageously passionate. No exaggeration here. If anything, I’m under-exaggerating how much it takes, how connected you need to be, how much time and care you need to give the community.

PR agencies aren’t vital for local growth. You don’t need to hire marketers on your team if you don’t want. You’re far better off taking the role as marketer yourself. The best businesses (breweries especially!) have the best Presidents and the best Presidents are often the best marketers.

This all seems obvious, sure. But look at your schedule, analyze what you do each minute of your day. Are you behind the scenes? Are you in an office? Or are you out greeting people, asking where they’re from, connecting with them, sharing your knowledge of what you know about the history of your business product or service with people face-to-face?

It’s one thing to have a business logo on your shirt. It’s another to put a face to the logo and by extension, the business. Customers need to know the face of the business or organization for them to connect on a personal, committal level.

As President and the best marketer, that’s your job.

 

Stay Positive & Being The Best Locally Often Attracts National Attention

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