A cliché in marketing is that you should under-promise and over-deliver. Well, that doesn’t work anymore. Nowadays, with competition so steep between online and offline businesses, you need to over-promise and then over-deliver.
Over-promising doesn’t mean to promise something you have no way to deliver. Instead, make a claim that sounds outrageous that you can deliver on. You have the capabilities to do this, your marketing materials just haven’t been written in the right way.
So many companies don’t take advantage of over-promising that you don’t need to make an absolutely outrageous claim to stand out from the crowd. You just need something that no one else has offered. Here are some examples that will inspire you:
• American Girl over-promises by offering girls dolls that will fascinate them…and then they over-deliver by giving each doll a mesmerizing biography that enthralls girls.
• Google over-promises by saying they can crawl the Web for any subject you could ever want to research…and then over-delivers with an average search time of 0.2 seconds.
Here are some tips for creating your own over-promise:
1. What’s your product’s most important quality? What makes your product unique? What’s the one word customers think or feel when they hear your company’s name or see your logo? For instance, Volvo is associated with safety. Lexus equals luxury.
2. Ask customers why they choose you over your competitors. Also ask them why they buy your product. Between those two answers you’ll find a signal of what your over-promise should be.
3. Ask non-customers why they don’t choose you over your competitors. Also ask why they buy your competitor’s product. This will tell you what misconceptions people have about your product, or where you can improve.
4. What emotions do customers feel when they use your products? Why do people buy Coach products or drive Lexus cars? It’s because of the feeling they get from owning and using those products. This answer along with the answers to your other questions can help you zero in on what you should over-promise on.
Next, you should brainstorm how you can over-promise something that your competitors can’t. Once you have a few ideas, try to narrow down which one idea is plausible. Which one can you actually do?
Companies that over-promise and over-deliver focus on three things:
The product: the product reliably does what it over-promises. The design is right and good.
The system: Your product’s system is everything it takes to acquire, finance, assemble, use and fix your product. The greatest product on Earth isn’t worth a lick if it isn’t easily to acquire.
The customer service: Your customer service staff must understand their role in the over-delivery. You need to explain how they dress, what they say and how they act.
Once you have your over-promise ready to go, include this promise on all of your marketing materials, from catalogs to billboards to your Web site.
By using cause marketing – connecting your brand to a charity or nonprofit group – you can create a positive brand image and increase sales while giving back to your community. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.
Cause marketing is about 25 years old. American Express first invented the idea in 1983. For a limited amount of time (several months), whenever a cardholder made a purchase, Amex donated a penny to a fund to restore the Statue of Liberty. As a result, Amex raised a few million dollars to help restore the Lady, plus garnered consumer goodwill, positive media coverage and increased sales.
Cause marketing has boomed ever since and continues to rise. According to a study by IEG, Inc., over $1.1 billion was spent on cause marketing in 2005, and almost $1.4 billion was spent in 2006. Here are some do’s and don’ts in how to run a cause marketing campaign:
Do choose a cause that fits your business. Your goal should be to support your brand with a nonprofit group that falls in line with your business values and practices. If your product doesn’t fit well with the nonprofit’s goals and/or activities, the fit won’t be right and consumers won’t feel good about buying your product. If you’re a mortgage company that is known in the community for foreclosures, then partnering with Habitat for Humanity will have people scratching their heads. Evaluate what you sell and get to know the target market you’re trying to reach and what’s important to them. Align yourself with what your target market values, like homelessness or another cause.
Don’t fake your concern. If you don’t really care about a cause or issue, don’t fake it – people will be able to see right through you. Plus, you won’t be as committed if you don’t really care about the cause. If you have a genuine passion for the cause, you’ll be more likely to stay involved with the nonprofit and help in any way you can. Your passion will show through to your marketing efforts.
Don’t skimp on your own marketing needs for the cause. Remember that you are still running a business and this is still a marketing campaign. The nonprofit is still an organization that you’re helping out, and the situation is a 2-way street. Make sure to get down in writing how many times your logo and company name will be seen in the nonprofit’s marketing and vice versa; what kind of info will be on each Web site to support the other; and what kind of articles will be written and where they will be placed. Cause marketing is still a somewhat formal marketing campaign – don’t get too lax just because the nonprofit may not have the same resources you do.
Do measure the campaign’s effectiveness. You don’t need to record everything down to the last penny, but you need to measure results so you know if this is a worthwhile campaign. Request a report from the nonprofit, and offer your own report about sales and marketing efforts. You may even want to assign an employee whose responsibility is to contact the nonprofit group on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.
Don’t rely on cause marketing as your sole marketing campaign. You should still be doing other types of marketing independent of the nonprofit. You may want to use cause marketing as a big part of your marketing campaign, but don’t rely on it as your sole marketing strategy. Some people simply don’t care about certain charities, so be sure you touch those people with your other marketing techniques. Don’t try to meld your identity with the nonprofit with business card printing that features both organizations’ logos. That’s a waste of money.
Don’t get too carried away and just use cause marketing as one strategy in your marketing arsenal. 
Filed under: Printing Help | Tags: advertising, brochure printing, design, marketing
There are far too many small businesses that do not take the time to develop a marketing plan. In fact, most small business owners only bother with marketing plans when they are required by the bank in order to secure financing.
However, it is a good idea for anybody in business – no matter how big the company is – to develop a strong marketing plan. Here are five reasons why this can benefit you.
Focus on the Big Picture
Running a business every day can make it very difficult for you to look at the big picture. The more you get into the daily grind, the less you are able to step back and remember where you are trying to take your business. Having a marketing plan – especially if you develop one right from the beginning – will help you to keep your eyes on the overall plan.
Good to Have it on Paper
Business experts will tell you that you should always have your intentions written down, rather than keeping them in your head. Not only does this keep you from forgetting your plan, but it also can serve as a good motivational tool for you when you hit a rough stretch. Remembering what you are trying to do can help you keep your focus.
Having Instructions to Follow
Many products that you buy from the store come with instructions on how to put them together. Think of your marketing plan as your instruction booklet. It will tell you how to advertise your company. Every time you make up business cards, look to your marketing plan to tell you what information to put on them. Whenever you design a brochure printing project, look to your marketing plan to help you determine what techniques to use to make the brochures effective.
A Plan is Necessary
Many people like to think that marketing plans are useless because it is impossible to predict the future. If you don’t know how things are going to progress, why have a plan? Well, that is poisonous thinking for any business. You absolutely must have a plan. A bad plan, in fact, is better than no plan. Without some kind of plan, especially one on paper will often lead you to wander aimlessly through the business world. If you have a plan, on the other hand, you will usually stay close to the beaten path. And if your plan proves to be misguided, you can always change it later.
A Team Builder
Finally, having a written marketing plan can often help your team to work together more effectively. When your employees have something to look to for guidance, it helps them stay on course and gives them something to rally around.
Filed under: Printing Help | Tags: catalog printing, commercial printer, company
I just don’t see enough companies that seem to care very much about their catalogs. This is, they seem to think, just another form of marketing and therefore will be given only as much attention as it needs to be given.
Catalog printing has the potential to be a very effective style of marketing if you understand the major differences it has with other kinds of advertising.
Unlike any other form of marketing a catalog holds a person’s attention for a lot longer, and therefore has the ability to invoke a much stronger message. The placement of your products along with the style of font you use and the layouts of each page are just a few of the things you can take complete control of.
Ok, take the example of The White Album by the Beatles. This album was considered such a masterpiece for reasons other than just the songs being sung on it, but for the placement of the songs themselves as well. Time was taken to make sure that there was an artistic element to what songs appeared in what order, such as the chaotic Revolution 9 being followed by the soothing Goodnight.
Now, I’m not saying you should make your catalog printing paramount to The White Album, but that doesn’t mean you can’t consider elements of it that you might not normally focus on.
Too often a company seems to care about nothing more than packing those catalogs with products. Artistic expression in the layout and order of products isn’t anything to consider, but this is the very thing that can help sell to people.
When they open your catalog make sure they’re entering a separate world just as they would when opening a novel. Quality printing can lead to a quality experience that they’ll be glad to delve back into.
The presentation can be just as important as the product being sold. This is especially true if what you’re selling isn’t a matter of need. I’ve picked up all sorts of catalogs filled with cool, if unnecessary products. I’m not buying anything from them because I need to but because I want to, and companies need to give people a reason to want to.
A good catalog printing service should know all of the tricks of the trade, even those not typically used. Take pride in the work you have to do and try to make something people can immerse themselves in. Consider what products will go best with each other and what products will benefit by being at the beginning of the catalog as opposed to the end.
Even the smallest things can start to have a big impact even if people aren’t fully aware of it at the time. Those unique placements might affect people more than even they’ll be aware of.
If you put in some real effort, it will be noticed, and the benefits will be felt.
“Hello,
I received my brochures yesterday and just wanted to let you know I’m thrilled with the final product. This is the third job you’ve done for us, and every one has been printed with the highest quality. I’ve used other online printers where the final colors didn’t look as expected or the fold was off (even with using their supplied templates!). Every time I’ve gotten a job back from you, it’s looked exactly as it was supposed to. Thank you. It’s so nice to have found a reasonably priced printer that produces a consistently high-quality product and one that has outstanding customer service and technical support as well. We’ll definitely be sending more work your way.
Sincerely,
Terri Porter
Managing Director
Big Sky Repertory Theatre”
