Big Brand Ideas 4 Small Business
Why aren’t People Coming Through the Door?
Aug 22nd
The company that I work for, A New Dawn Media & Marketing signed a child care center on as a client about 2 months ago. Great, right? Definitely. There’s only one minor problem, their marketing budget is very small. So I’ve been helping them with re-branding, strategic planning, and low cost to no- cost promotional efforts.
We’ve been working the promotional efforts for about 3 weeks. They had a small street team going door to door, sent out about 100 targeted direct mail pieces, sent out the first in an email marketing campaign, participated in a community event for local businesses, and managed to get mentioned on one of the local major radio stations. The yield from all of this effort…7 inquiries and about 5 new customers.
At this point you’re probably wondering, how much was spent and why are the results so meager? So far they’ve spent approximately $500 in expendable marketing materials & street team labor. However, those five new customers are worth about $30,000 combined for the year! (Yes, I realize that we’re talking about babies and that they’re ultimate goal is to provide superior care and optimal preschool training. And they do that or A New Dawn wouldn’t have taken them on as a client) The center is a business, and is in the business of making money, while providing a superior service.
So, a lot of hard work yielded 5 customers. This is what you should take away from this case study.
1. Keep in mind who your customer is and how much of an investment they will have to make for your service or product. It’s much easier to get a customer to buy a burrito than to have them sign a contract for child care at more than $400/month. When devising promotional plans, face to face meetings are more effective for high-ticket items/services.
2. I will keep repeating this until my fingers fall off. CONSISTENCY. This child care center realizes that these promotional efforts will have to go on 12 months out of the year. Remember, most likely the majority of your customers live or work within a 2-4 mile radius. At any given time 20% of your neighborhood is turning over. You want to make sure that every new resident knows about your services/products and that the old residents don’t forget about you.
3. Measure and adjust. Keep track of how much you’re spending in money AND time. If your efforts are not paying off adjust the method or the message. The child care center will continue to send out street teams for now. Mainly because they still have 100′s of door hangers ordered last year some time. And secondly, because one new customer from these efforts easily pays for about 4 weeks of street teams after only one month. However, now that we have a new website and the re-branding in place, we will start visiting the large corporations surrounding the center and other organizations that would have people in need of their services.
Stay tuned for Part II; I will share the results of the next phase of our marketing plan.
Signs that You’re Off Brand
Aug 8th
Before you can figure out if you’re off-br
and; we need to make sure that you know what branding is. Often times in our efforts to put forth a “good image” we put time and resources into making sure that all of our print materials look good or that our website and business cards look good…and that’s great. It’s very easy to know whether menus, mailers, e-newsletters, etc are not reflecting your brand but is that all there is to it?
No! Branding is much more than a logo or tag line. Branding is a promise to the consumer of a certain experience. The symbol/logo, print materials, etc simply remind the patron of that experience; which hopefully is a good one. What does your brand represent? Excellence should not be one of the adjectives; excellence is always expected. Apple enthusiasts, for instance, expect innovation and ease of use…and of course excellence. 24-hour Fitness customers expect convenience, the most popular exercise machines and plenty of them, clean locker rooms, and of course…excellence.
Whether we’re talking about a tangible item – an Apple product or a service or 24-hour Fitness; there is an experience that comes from using the product or service. So the brand includes all of the feelings that are conjured when thinking about the product or service. “But everyone’s feelings are different”, you say. Correct, but the feelings are still derived from the one set of attributes…innovation, ease of use, etc – in the case of Apple.
With this new understanding of what branding truly is – the signs for being off-brand should be obvious.
1. Customer complaints
Customers complain because they have certain expectations based upon prior experience (interface with your brand) or universal expectations…e.g. hot food is served hot and cold food is served cold.
2. Lack of repeat business
At any given time I have had at least three to six Apple products in use from laptops to iPods. The Apple brand goes beyond innovation and ease of use for me. It means dependability, fun, cool, cutting edge, and great customer service! Apple was the introduction to computer for my toddler son, the way we made music, the thing that made daily exercise bearable, the computer that never got a virus. They have yet to disappoint me on any of these attributes. As long as Apple continues to live up to the Apple promise, I will be a devout Apple patron.
3. Downturn in sales
Duh, right? Yes the economy, however – let’s not blame everything on the economy. Usually the first two signs were evident and this is the final warning. Depending on the type of business you have; you might have gotten the hint long before this. For instance if most of your business comes from a 2-4 mile radius – the first two signs will be much more evident. If you have a bigger pool to pull from than you might not realize that customers aren’t coming back and the complaints won’t necessarily spread as quickly. (the internet is changing this dynamic exponentially as I write)
4. Anything else that indicates you’re not doing your job!
Everything that you do and everything you decide not to do affects the brand and creates the brand. How often you receive shipments, how often you take inventory, to how you greet guests or how many newsletters you send out – EVERYTHING affects the brand. So make wise choices with the understanding of what you have promised and what is expected.
3 Ways to Drive Lunch Traffic
Jul 30th
Drive Lunchtime Traffic
Forgive me for repeating myself; but in speaking with clients and potential clients I understand that most people’s idea of marketing is simply promotions. I want to get you out of the frame of mind that thinks advertise, advertise, advertise. Instead think – what does my customer need and how can I most effectively meet that need. Now let’s apply that to lunch time traffic.
The first question to ask is what type of people can come to my restaurant during lunch time. If you are in an area with a lot of office buildings, it’s a no-brainer. If you are in an area that is primarily residential, then drawing a lunchtime crowd becomes a little more difficult.
The second question – what does my customer need to accommodate their lunchtime schedule and desires? For the business crowd they need quick service, and they don’t want to pay dinner prices for lunch. For a residential crowd you will probably get 2 major groups; seniors and retirees and stay-at-home parents. Two very different groups with different needs and desires.
#1 If you have not already done so, create a lunch menu, with smaller portions and smaller prices. If your restaurant is quick service this might not be necessary. For casual dining, make sure that you guarantee customers will be served in a certain amount of time. No more than 20 minutes. You might have to designate certain meals for the guaranteed service time.
#2 If your restaurant is part residential or mostly residential, it is essential that you create a kids menu with kids activities. McDonalds has set the standard and restaurants are now expected to have something for kids. Contact an agency that specializes in family marketing, or contact A New Dawn Media & Marketing; get started on creating product for kids. If you’re creative you can get branded kids activity pieces for as little as $0.30/each. Even a single restaurant can have branded kids activity pieces.
Drive lunchtime traffic
#3 This is something that you should be doing continuously, at least 2 times per week. Take samples, menus and occasionally discount cards, to the businesses within a 2 mile radius of your restaurant. Emphasize that you now guarantee service within a certain amount of time. If you can handle delivery, offer it. If you’re in a residential or part residential area; a lot of your dinner customers will be from the neighborhood. Give each your new lunch menu with their check. Hire your kids or nieces and nephews to put door hangers and/or menus on residents doors. Remember, at any given moment there is a 20% turnover in your neighborhood. So door hanging should happen on a regular basis.
These are the basics; for more creative ideas see prior posts, including Partnerships that Pull People into your Restaurant. Remember make sure you know who your lunchtime crowd is. Assess their needs: quick service, lower prices, activities for the kids. Promote your lunchtime menu – get out there and meet your customers. Take samples and menus. Offer incentives once in awhile and most of all: BE CONSISTENT.
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Partnerships that Pull People into your Restaurant
Jul 28th
I’ve heard some say that you shouldn’t create campaigns to drive people into your restaurant during off-peak hours/days. The reasoning being that if people wanted to visit your restaurant during those times they would do so. I disagree. While I believe in incentivizing your guests to visit more often during the times when they prefer to; it is also wise to offer different incentives to generate traffic during slow periods.
In this economy all small business owners are looking for inexpensive ways to generate more business. Partnering with other non-competing entrepreneurs can be a winning solution. Be creative, be relevant, and always be aware of what your guests would be interested in.
During the Toyota recall debacle I read on Restaurant Marketing Blog, an idea from Joel that I believe is worth repeating. He suggested partnering with the local Toyota dealership and offer your Toyota-owning guests a Q&A session and perhaps a discount on maintenance, etc. You could call it Dinner with the Dealers. This is a creative idea that was also relevant.
Along the same lines you could partner with some local trusted mortgage brokers and offer a seminar to your guests about refinancing and the new incentives regarding upside down mortgages. Have the speakers arrive about 30 minutes after your start time so that all of your guests have their meals on the table by the time the speaker begins.
In the fall or winter offer brides to be a luncheon with wedding experts. Invite florists, pastry chefs, bridal store owners, 
seamstresses and wedding planners. Give all of them about 10 minutes in front of the ladies during lunch and hold a Q&A session over coffee.
If your restaurant is located in a suburban area with a high concentration of stay at home moms, consider offering a late lunch for moms with toddlers. Invite clowns, face painters, etc., to entertain the tikes while the moms can have some down time and adult conversation. Each mom gets a gift packet with discount cards for all of the entertainers.
If your restaurant has a room used for private parties that is an ideal location for your event. Otherwise cordon off a section of your restaurant for the event. Put a sign on your easel so that other guests can be aware of what they’re missing and/or ask about the next event. Giving your guests compelling reasons to visit your restaurant during off hours is good business and the events themselves could drive trial. If you create a monthly “Dinner with the Experts” event; your guests might start considering your restaurant as an option during those off hours.
Have you created some interesting partnerships that drove traffic? Why don’t you share them in the comments section.
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Are you making this basic marketing mistake?
Jul 10th
Last week I sat down with one of my non-profit clients to go over the marketing proposal for the launch of one of their major annual programs. Let me preface this story by saying that most of my clients still believe that marketing is simply advertising and promoting; and that is a big part of what I do. However, the other components of marketing are assessing a need and finding a way to
meet that need in a way that your customers will value.
As I was going over all of the pieces to the marketing plan, my client had a thousand excuses and/or reasons about why the changes I was suggesting were not necessary. I suggested that he target 18-30 year-old’s with certain relevant components of his program. He insisted that they didn’t want to cater to any specific demographic…(huh?!?). I asked if he wanted 18-30 year-old’s to participate in the program – he said, “yes”. I pointed out that in past years less than 2% of program participants were in that age group and that overwhelmingly most of his participants were between the ages 45-60. So, although he said he didn’t want to cater to a specific age group, he has indeed done just that. His customers have spoken.
Mistake #1 – Is your idea of who your company/organization is in line with who your patrons say you are? If there is not alignment you have a problem. You can change patron perception, however it will take time.
He then informed that even if we did target 18-30 year-old’s that would not guarantee that they would participate. He was convinced that 18-30 year-old’s needed to proactively seek out the help that they needed and that he shouldn’t have to do anything special to entice them to do what, in his mind, they should want to do anyway. WOW. What do you say to that?
“Once upon a time there were 3 major American automobile makers, Ford, Chrysler, and GM. They made cars that people wanted and life was good. As time went on they started making cars that they wanted to make and insisted that customers should adjust their tastes to what the 3 were making. Unfortunately customers did not adjust their tastes and instead started buying European and Japanese cars. Today 2 of those 3 have filed for bankruptcy. The moral of the story?”
Mistake #2 – You are in business to serve your customer. Adjust your business, hours, services, products, promotions, and operations to meet their needs; NOT the other way around!
