DIY Marketing

Hello, and welcome to the tenth day of the Entrepreneurs
30-day Do-it-Yourself Marketing e-Course!

*** We’re a day late on this one. We had a technical snafu yesterday,
so you’ll be receiving this email in the AM and Day 11 this afternoon.
Sorry for the mix up! ***

Oh, and if you just signed up, you can see the course info we’ve
already covered right here:

http://www.diymarketingmonth.com/e-course-email-recap/

==================================================================
“Mindless habitual behavior is the enemy of innovation.”
– Rosabeth Moss Kanter
==================================================================

In their book “Meaningful Marketing”, Doug Hall and Jeffrey Stamp
lay out the differences between what they call ‘meaningful marketing’
and mindless marketing.

Meaningful marketing is a data-driven, analytical and methodical
approach to getting the most from your marketing efforts while
minimizing cost, effort and waste and maximizing sales, efficiency
and long-term repeatable effectiveness.

Mindless marketing is that which causes you drop your prices at
the whim of your customer, spend countless and unaccounted for
dollars on promotions while hoping that customers respond differently
to the same tired, repetitious messaging schme.

__________________________________________________________________

**** How do determine if you’re doing “Meaningful Marketing”. ****

> Your marketing is actually useful in helping your customers
make the best decision for their particular set of needs

> Your marketing materials are 100% honest with no puffery

> Your marketing is transparent and authentic and speaks with
earned authority

> Your marketing has FOCUS (target markets, message, what you sell and
what you DON’t SELL)

> All marketing is focused on customer acquisition and business growth
(retention is a great goal too, but I simply call that ‘re-acquisition’)

> Your marketing actually seeks to engage in a dialogue with customers
rather than just ‘talk at them’ (think: blogging)

> Your marketing seeks to fill a valid and well defined need rather
than simply persuade a gullible customer into a one-time purchase

__________________________________________________________________

**** Watch out for these signs of “Mindless Marketing”. ****

> You use sales & marketing gimmicks or tricks to capture interest

> You don’t rely on the actual merits of your product/service to
sell themselves and stand on their own

> Your marketing is faddish or trendy and not part of an overall
strategic plan

> You have succumed to ‘bright shiny object syndrome’ and are using
the latest social media vehicles or other marketing tools without
an understanding of how/why/what to expect them to do for you

> Your marketing is focused on the transaction and not the
relationship

__________________________________________________________________

Alright, I think that you get the point here about what’s meaningful
and what’s mindless. Let’s move on to the required actions for
the day.

***** ACTION SUMMARY *****

1. Review the marketing material that you’ve used for the past year.
Based on the ‘meaningful vs. mindless’ criteria outlined above, how
much of what you’ve done is meaningful and how much is mindless? Stop
doing the mindless.

2. Craft a quick plan to replace one ‘mindless’ activity or brochure
or event with something that’s more ‘meaningful’, based on your new
marketing standards.

*** BONUS *** Look at your competitors’ marketing materials. How do
they stand up to the ‘meaningful vs. mindless’ test? What could
you do better?

***** RESOURCES *****

>> “Meaningful Marketing” by Doug Hall and Jeffrey Stamp

Well, that’s all for now. Be on the lookout for next lesson
tomorrow!

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

If you would like to learn more about MarketingSavant’s marketing
strategy, thought leadership or social media services, where you
work directly with me to build your business through strategic
marketing, go to:

http://www.marketingsavant.com/diymarketing

I’ve created a special set of offerings just for DIY Marketing
e-course members.

And, as always… think big and market well!

Yours truly,

Dana VanDen Heuvel

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

MarketingSavant(TM)
Leading Through Thought
Social Media // Thought Leadership Marketing
www.marketingsavant.com
dana@marketingsavant.com
Twitter: danavan
888-989-7771
—
Sign up for the MarketingSavant Newsletter
http://www.marketingsavant.com/newsletter
—
Book Dana to Speak at Your Event
http://www.marketingsavant.com/speaking
—