The current business model being 'sold' (usually by the so-called social media experts) seems to be the following three-line mantra:
1) Create the offering, ideally claiming to be some kind of expert
2) Do the marketing stuff for a bit including the compulsory something on a Blog, Twitter, FaceBook or LinkedIn or ideally all four. Ideally, give something away for free; a squeeze page might be of use. Maybe use google ads...
3) Wait to be found.
- you are targeting the right people
- your message is on form
- there is a community waiting for you
- you can find the community
- you are able to engage their attention
- you don't come across as just more shouting/interruption marketing
- they are listening today
- they have the need today
- your offer is presented correctly
- there is a need for your product/service
Actually now I think about it, I am not convinced that line two of the mantra,"Do the marketing stuff...", can be quite so formulaic as is claimed.
And now I think about it properly, the same can be said for line one, "Create the offering".
Might as well just wait to be found...
44 comments:
Too many people spend too much time waiting. Waiting for the customers t come to them. They need to go out and get them.
Jim
I think it works but only if part of your business is "Waiting to be found". Our UK business (electronic test equipment) involves lots of phone calls and visits to get customers in the "traditional" way. We then optimise our products for UK customers.
Over 50% of the business is non UK customers who find us on the internet. The difference in this approach is that the offering and marketing is optimised based on real feedback
Waiting is never a good strategy, the competition isn't waiting.
Engage, not with a squeeze page - terrible word in its own, squeeze, so customer unfriendly - but by giving advice, help, a guiding hand where ever "you find" a question online/off line that relates to what you have to offer.
Spend your time answering questions, not by waiting to be asked by your presumed target group.
Karin H (Keep It Simple Sweetheart, specially in business)
Robert has a point. We do all that we can think of or afford to do and yet we still expect a bigger or better result. So either we wait or try something different. Something you feel like you can't win.
Pierre
Will stop waiting now. Saw you, Doug Richard etc in Cannes and now will take the action required. Enough is enough. No more excuses.
Realised that you can "thrash around for so long" (your words)and now is the time to move on.
JH
It is typical of most professionals (lawyers etc) to wait to be found. How naive.
JJ
I am afraid that this is altogether a little too familiar. Close to the bone. Doesn't make one feel dreadfully comfortable whne you realise that this is what you are doing yourself
I was at the 'truck' event this afternoon and I think that you made your position pretty clear about the 'waiting' syndrome. Valid point but most lose the plot at this stage and don't actually know what to do next. And that, I guess, is the conundrum or Catch-22.
Jamie
This isi s a problem especially for professional service firms (accountants etc)
Steve
Marketing is clearly a black art. Everyone wants more or rather better customers but no-one really knows if they are doing the very best things to get them.
All you can do is try, test, measure.
If only marketing was a s simple as they claim.
Guy
It is a bit like the thing about "there's one thing worse than being talked about and that's not being talked about."
The fact is that you must be doing something wrong if you are attracting no attention.
Can't believe the time people waste on preparing and planning when the only thing that matters is obviously the doing bit. What is it that people don't understand about the need to take action and do what needs to be done? That does not include standing around and waiting!
Nails and heads spring to mind. Being clear about the difference between activity and business. Delivering, doing, shipping, sending: call it what you will. And doing something worthy of other people's attention.
'Waiting to be found'is a subject that needs to be discussed. Breaking the many myths about marketing that many business owners have is critical for business advisers and marketing consultants, in particular (a) expecting business to come to them - manufacturers and accountants seem good examples that spring to mind, or (b) they have sufficient business already.
Many small business owners are guilty either of possessing the (above) mindset or ACTING AS IF they were of the above mindset, which is worse.
New media offer new possibilities but it is not yet able to replace the fundamentals of marketing. So not twitter, facebook, digg etc, nor even lunch, dinner and golf, but targeting, segmentation and positioning (Drucker).
Since RC is an avid hater of jargon, and I've just committed a heinous crime for using them, how better would he put it?
RE jargon
I am happy with your references to Targetting, Segmentation and Positioning.... I am a great fan of Drucker. A man whoi talked sense.
RC
I have met a lot of "creationists" recently. It makes me quite angry....
As a "product" it is easy to understand, simple to do and makes you feel better. (Placebo?)
If you are a creationist you can sell it to yourself and others with passion. It may also work if their assumptions are all correct.
Am I jealous of their approach?
If you were at Hyde Park Corner on your soap box you would get more followers using slight of hand or pretty pictures.
"waiting to be found" can be useful. We are in a situation where our product is being found by too many every week , this means they have to wait in a queue to get what they want. The whole marketing thing of going out to get customers can backfire terribly especially for small companies as a flood of potential customers that you have little hope of serving is even worse than not having enough.. measure your market before telling the world what you do! :)
"waiting to be found" can be useful. We are in a situation where our product is being found by too many every week , this means they have to wait in a queue to get what they want. The whole marketing thing of going out to get customers can backfire terribly especially for small companies as a flood of potential customers that you have little hope of serving is even worse than not having enough.. measure your market before telling the world what you do! :)
'Waiting to be found'is a subject that needs to be discussed. Breaking the many myths about marketing that many business owners have is critical for business advisers and marketing consultants, in particular (a) expecting business to come to them - manufacturers and accountants seem good examples that spring to mind, or (b) they have sufficient business already.
Many small business owners are guilty either of possessing the (above) mindset or ACTING AS IF they were of the above mindset, which is worse.
New media offer new possibilities but it is not yet able to replace the fundamentals of marketing. So not twitter, facebook, digg etc, nor even lunch, dinner and golf, but targeting, segmentation and positioning (Drucker).
Since RC is an avid hater of jargon, and I've just committed a heinous crime for using them, how better would he put it?
Nails and heads spring to mind. Being clear about the difference between activity and business. Delivering, doing, shipping, sending: call it what you will. And doing something worthy of other people's attention.
I was at the 'truck' event this afternoon and I think that you made your position pretty clear about the 'waiting' syndrome. Valid point but most lose the plot at this stage and don't actually know what to do next. And that, I guess, is the conundrum or Catch-22.
Jamie
Too many people spend too much time waiting. Waiting for the customers t come to them. They need to go out and get them.
Jim
Thanks Bill, Roger et al.
Interesting comments.
Robert
I do enjoy Robert's comments and agree with nearly everything that he says.
As an acknomledged dinosaur I am left cold by twittering and social media approaches generally. However carry on twittering and waiting, it leaves the hunters more space to get out there and find some lonely soul who is waiting for a human being to sell him something!
Nice spin on the age old process of grow or die. I like your approach. As a small two year old company I totally agree that if we had waited for clients to come to us we would have died.
We all know that you can charge people more who come to you...they have a need and have already set aside some money. The trick is putting yourself in danger of being found, whilst still looking like you are not trying !
I think the problem with the approach outlined is that it assumes people might be interested in what you do and 99% of the time they are not. Everybody is interested in themselves and it is essential to talk in terms of other people's interests in order to get their attention. The mantra has to be get them talking and only then might somebody ask and what do you do? Very similar to physical networking events. My recommendation is - be a facilitator of conversations and good results will follow.
Nice one Robert. What ever happened to good old fashioned sales - where people went and sold their products / services to others that may have wanted them?
Is it no long cost effective, or has it just fallen out of fashion?
Hmmm... The cynicism is not about Social Media. I'll tweet and post happily. The problem I have is the line being pushed that says "do all this social media stuff and you'll get all the business you want".
Problem is that tweeting and posting can be distracting for time strapped people trying to run a small business. And if they are cost-justifying their foray into Twitter as business development, they are neglecting other areas that really will develop their business. Like picking up the phone and talking to some prospects!!
It's a lot more comfortable sending a couple of tweets rather than making a couple of cold calls - but I would suggest less profitable for your business.
Interesting blog Robert. As some respondents allude to, marketing is not just about putting out messages, it is also about managing the sales pipeline. If those messages are not pulling people in because you're not being found, then action needs to be taken to obtain cutomers. A direct approach is often best because, a) you can be sure that people will have heard of you by the time you have spoken with them and b) no matter how many people 'find' you, they may not yet have identified a need for your services and therefore will not get in touch. The problem is that there are too many people relying on social media to do their selling for them. It's not really easy to understand prospects and pitch the benefits in 140 characters!
SP, Cheers - I like the use of the word 'rely'.
I am not sure if we used to rely on other things. My point is that we often confuse activity with doing business. How does all this activity help us to grow our businesses? If we don't know then why are we doing it?
RC
I like the promise you make at the start of your seminars 'not to use marketing jargon'...
just...down to earth practical advice and 'know how' to take businesses to the next level...
sacking your customers makes people sit up...
then you hit them with "sack Flossy"
Regrettable, but often true.
Unfortunately this still leaves the business owner who is often 80% of the problem (procrastination, poor personal performance, poor decision-making, poor delegation, poor coaching and mentoring skills). I know because I used to be one (that possessed all these offending attributes and "old habits die hard"). These days I am at least trying to be one of the new breed.
Five Signs You Need a Marketing Makeover - Susan Gunelius - http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/219407
Waiting to be found, as I understand it from your article, Robert, is about putting oneself in a needy, dependent position. It is unlikely to work. But equally unattractive, and equally unlikely to work in the long run, is the thrusting, demanding attitude that many people have when "selling", This is controlling and independent.
I suggest an interdependent approach is what is needed. This will be, by definition, attractive. People will come to you (in that sense you're found), but it is all about our attitude, our approach; our expectations and demands. (Selling is a demand that the other buys.)
Sounds good Jeremy, how would you do this?
Beautifully made point
*What Do #Marketers Do And Should They Be Doing It? * http://bit.ly/dWW3Wk
Interesting post Robert. All too often "gurus" are claiming that by Social Media alone you can obtain all your business. For some that is true but not the majority. It can only be a part of your marketing mix for most businesses.
Many people spend time on twitter and Facebook that would be more profitably employed emailing customers and potential customers.
As you will see from this well researched article, Social Media Marketing is dead: http://www.digitaltonto.com/2011/who-killed-social-media-markeing/ so you don't need to do it now. You can go back to emailing and calling prospects :)
Some great points in this blog and well worth a detailed read.
Interesting article, and controversial as always. I guess this is why there are marketing experts out there - finding the right one is the difficult bit!
I think that the trick is finding the one that works for you.
RC
Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But not knowing which to do is the worse kind of suffering. ~ Paulo Coelho
Tim Ferriss On Facebook, Twitter And Building A Huge Web Brand
http://blogs.forbes.com/stevenbertoni/2011/04/14/tim-ferriss-on-facebook-twitter-and-building-a-huge-web-brand/
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