The Definition of Insanity
by Andrew Shedden
My favourite definition of insanity is repeatedly doing the same thing and expecting different results. I know it sounds crazy, because it is. I am consistently amazed to see this particular form of insanity applied to marketing. The simple fact is that if your marketing isn’t producing satisfactory results you need to do things differently, post haste.
If you take the time to look at every enterprise you’ll quickly see it basically can be broken down into a few discrete functions. Generally speaking, business operations can be broken down into marketing, operations, and administration. The nomenclature may vary by a certain degree, but for the most part your business operations will be similar.
While operations and administration obviously are key components in business ultimately all business functions (and you) are fed by marketing. Until you have generated a bona fide sales lead and converted this lead into a happy customer you might as well pack up your old kit bag, take back your hard-earned experience, and go work on the assembly line.
While most businesses can improve operational and administrative efficiency with relative ease it seems improving marketing effectiveness is a much more daunting task.
In my experience, the single biggest challenge in most companies is how to better their marketing effectiveness. I’d be willing to bet it’s the same in your business.
Ah, but what to do?
The solution to radically improving marketing efforts is to innovate, test, and refine every aspect of your marketing. Before you cast a cold eye on your marketing practices you need to know a couple of things.
Firstly, you must be mentally prepared to change the way things are being done in your business.
Secondly, don’t bother waiting for the great eureka moment to transform your marketing performance as successful marketing innovations often are the result of incremental change.
Incremental change means never having to say I'm broke
Small adjustments may be all that’s necessary to radically transform your marketing. In other instances you may need to perform radical surgery to allow your business to survive or thrive. In any case, it’s important to start with the incremental changes.
One of my favourite examples of incremental marketing change has been successfully used in the retail industry. This approach is easily transferable to your business. Rather than ask a prospect if you can help them, ask them if they have been in your store before. By asking the latter you will open the door to a meaningful conversation and close a much higher percentage of sales. Try this approach for one month and watch what happens to your sales.
In the business to business or direct marketing field its time to wake up and smell the coffee. If you aren’t satisfied with the return you’re getting casting a wider net by bumping up your print runs and mailing lists will hardly make things better for you.
Reexamine your list, creative concepts, and offer. Have every aspect of your direct marketing campaign shaped by your test market. Perhaps you should abandon certain aspects entirely. If you’re using direct mail consider switching to email. If you’re mailing huge quantities to large lists consider profiling your ideal customers and mailing and following up on 100 pieces at a time. Drop broadcast faxing, or adopt it. Figure out what really works and roll it out.
Compute the lifetime value of your customer and structure your offer accordingly. Relatively few businesses have the remotest idea of the lifetime value of a customer. Depending on the financial realities of your business, it may be worth your while to give your customer their first order.
Simply pick a subset of your prospect base, then innovate, test, refine, and try try again.
Embrace the persistence of change
Nothing can be sadder than seeing a company that refuses to recognize change in the marketplace. It’s like visiting the manufacturer of the world’s best buggy whip company in his derelict factory. There’s no doubt that the heart is there, but it seems to have become separated from the mind.
One obvious example of unwillingness to change is the travel industry. Their marketing efforts continue to offer all kinds of incentives and packages that continue to produce ever diminishing returns. In fact, many travel agency owners are seriously considering a change of career. This is an example of throwing the baby out with the bath water.
While there are economic and technological realities hurting the travel industry I don’t believe many travel companies have addressed the fundamental post World Trade Center reality. The fact is that many people are unwilling or unable to risk flying. This fear can be addressed by either incremental or radical means.
One incremental change could be to more effectively market travel by reassuring prospects about the relative safety of flying. Offering prospects a free report on airline safety could do this. Alternately, safety in air travel could become the focus of an advertising campaign. I have yet to see a single travel agency in my local market area doing this.
Perhaps more radical travel agency surgery is necessary. Agencies may need to totally change their focus to the domestic market. For example, they may need to put together packages that involve ground-based modes of transport such as trains and coaches. Rather than trying to convince prospects marketing activities may be better deployed convincing skittish travelers to vacation, explore, or do business in Canada.
Your business is like a living organism and will respond to external stimuli. If you aren’t deliriously happy with your marketing results then by all means change them. Look outside your industry to adapt other practices, test, refine, and retest. Make sure you are keeping scrupulously accurate records of all of your key metrics. Then innovate to beat the control. Do something, today.
