Five Ways To Compete Smarter

Years ago, before Northwestern University seemed capable of recruiting a “real” college football team, the Wildcats’ fans would stand in frustration near the end of yet another blow-out loss and shout:

“Laugh now. Someday you’re
gonna work for us!”

The implication was obvious – they didn’t have much of a football team because they were actually students and smarter than the jocks. They would have the lower score after four quarters but they’d win in the game of life and careers. Being “Smarter” can still work to your advantage.

You can defeat the big guys by competing and marketing smarter. At the risk of sounding like a commercial for Johnson Direct, I’m going to show you how we employ the “smarts” to help folks just like you achieve unbelievable results while spending less.

1: We take fact-based research and combine it with our own proprietary approach, Direct Branding™, to achieve unparalleled market penetration and success. It takes a little longer to do the research, but pays big dividends in the long haul.

2: We then use the information gleaned from our research to examine a number of variables: who is your customer base made of, where do they come from, what are their business practices, what attributes make them distinctly yours, and why do they buy from you?

3: Next, we develop a sophisticated marketing schematic that allows mappings of a variety of business attributes that differentiate you from your competitors. We use a “test centric” approach, a process, that determines what works and what doesn’t, and which allows you to market smarter year after year. This allows us to determine which markets you should spend your money in … and just as importantly, which markets to avoid.

Consequently, you are able to compete very aggressively with larger companies that outspend you 10, 20, even 50 times or more by marketing to the areas where people are most likely to buy from you.

This approach has proven itself time and again to be very powerful. It’s a unique approach because it combines fact-based research and years of experience in achieving awesome success. It is so successful that we are now dealing with clients both nationally and internationally who might not have even considered us in the past. Why? Results. It really works!

4: This is very important! Don’t look at failure as a bad thing. It’s an opportunity to learn. Never be afraid of learning! As Albert Einstein said, “Anybody who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”

5: Remember, while this approach is greatly effective and certainly the hallmark of Johnson Direct, there are new ways being developed every day to compete smarter. Be open to them. Don’t be afraid to try something new.

Outsmarting the competition requires perseverance, courage, patience and wit. If you’re ready to face this battle, be prepared to sink more time, resources and intellectual blood, sweat and tears into a new, smarter and more competitive game plan.

Grant A. Johnson

Johnson Direct LLC

1-800-710-2750

Save The Date

On July 17th, 2008, I will be presenting a FREE webinar through the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) on the use/overuse of personalization in marketing today. Details can be found by clicking here. I hope you can find the time to join me.

Grant A. Johnson

Johnson Direct LLC

1-800-710-2750

Focus First On…?

Almost every day I’m asked what the most important part of measurable marketing is. When I answer, most people are surprised. Why? Because in their minds it has little to do with actual marketing. But they’re wrong.

So, what is the most important part of measurable marketing…OUTSTANDING client service. We live in a day and age where customers are amazed when we simply deliver what we promise them. People are used to being disappointed and expect mediocrity. “Grant, I wanted to call and thank you for all your team’s hard work. You met our timeline and budgets.” My response typically is a genuine thanks, followed by, “We were only doing our job and there is no need to thank us for meeting agreed upon expectations.”

So why am I penning about this today? Because gaining share of wallet (from your current clients), is more important than gaining market share (from strangers). Direct just featured research that 2008 budgets will focus 61% on prospecting and 39% on retention. Yes, prospecting is important, but not as important as keeping current clients happy.

Satisfied clients will spend more, refer more and help your business grow with less effort than lots of new clients. And, because of information overload, word-of-mouth is more important today then in years past.

Clients that are raving fans fight to keep your budgets and even get you more dollars. They refer you to others within their company and recommend you to your peers.

Pick ten clients and focus, I mean really focus on exceeding their expectations. Let me know what happens. I’m confident the test will prove worthwhile for you.

Grant A. Johnson

Johnson Direct LLC

1-800-710-2750

Google=Stupid?

Ever since I officially began my professional measurable marketing career back in 1988, one argument has persisted: long copy vs. short copy. “People will never read that. It’s too long. People are too busy to read all that” Clients almost always want to shorten the copy. Rarely, if ever, have I heard, “Can you make this longer?”

The best answer to the question on copy length came to me at a seminar I attended: “People don’t read long copy or short copy. They read what interests them.” That’s why relevancy is even more important today then it was in 1988. People have information overload and, because of Google, perhaps, people have shorter attention spans. That was the theory I came across at a recent Wall Street Journal Blog entitled: “Is Google making us stupid?”

Maybe 1 out of 100 tests I have conducted have proved that shorter copy wins, but as readers of this blog know, you should always test to lift results. The web has added a new dimension, as you can drive them to a site with shorter copy and have virtually no limits on copy length once they click your desired URL.

As for email, it seems to me that the long form email format does a better, more complete job of selling, yet clients still want copy short, especially because it’s email. And, as such, may be short changing their ROI.

I’d love to hear your results…

Grant A. Johnson

Johnson Direct LLC

1-800-710-2750