The Freelance Studio Denver, Co.User Experience Agency We only care about you if it’s really about us October 28, 2014 by Drew McLellan 9 Comments Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 19 I Love MeWe recently bought an ad for a client and the ad rep suggested we make a big deal out of the fact that our client has been in business for 130 years. I politely told her that we definitely were not going to do that. Instead, we were going to talk about something their readers and our prospects might actually care about. My conversation with her is what prompted this blog post. We’ve all seen the ads or sales that are somehow tied to a businesses 25th anniversary or the “we’ve been in business for a century” sale announcements. The reality is – no one cares. While that may be a laudable accomplishment – to have hung in there that long, from your consumer’s point of view – it’s fluff or a gimmick (we’ve been around for 50 years so everything is 50% off!). Is a business going to offer me a better product after they’ve been around for 100 years? Was the stuff they sold in their ninety-fifth year just junk? Of course not. Is someone who just turned 60 a better advisor than when she was 59? Nope. You make that the focus of your ad or your sale when you don’t have anything better to say. And if you can’t come up with something more customer-centric than that to say – you’re lucky to still be in business. It’s actually a symptom of an age-old marketing problem. Businesses talk about themselves rather than talking about what the customer cares about. Here’s how to fix two of the most common “it’s all about me” types of marketing statements and make them customer centric and customer valued communications instead. #1 — We’re old and you should care All about us: We’re 100 years old. Come enjoy some birthday cake and celebrate with us as we cross the century mark. All about them: Over the many years we’ve been in business, we’ve learned that our customers value three things. They value incredible customer service (click here to speak live with one of our teammates), fair pricing (click here to read about our fair price every time program) and they want quality they can count on (watch a short video about our factory’s 100% right or 100% wrong policy). You’re saying the same thing – we’ve been in business long enough to be stable, to have earned our customer’s trust and no one has to worry about you being a fly by night operation. But when you push beyond focusing on yourself, you can outline exactly why your longevity is of value to the prospect that is considering doing business with you. #2 – The difference is our people (perhaps the most trite sentence uttered in marketing today) All about us: Our people really care. You’re not just a number to us. All about them: Hi Mr. McLellan – we see that you’re going to be staying at our hotel XYZ in Big City. We’re glad to have you staying with us and want to make sure we do everything in our power to make your stay an awesome one. As the manager of the hotel, I want you to have my direct line (123-456-7890) and email (manager@BigHotel.com) so you can get a hold of me if there’s anything you need. Don’t tell me that your people care. Show me. It sounds like hype when you brag about it. It feels remarkable when I experience it for myself. The truth is…most businesses say it but few actually deliver on it. Why not just shut up and show it? If you’re going to expend the effort to talk to your customers and prospects, stop talking about yourself and talk about what they care about — what’s in it for me. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Strategy Tagged With: marketing, messaging Building a website your users will love July 14, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 24 website your users will loveIt seems like a “duh,” doesn’t it? Of course you want to build a website your users will love. But remember, not that long ago, many businesses were wondering whether or not they even needed a website. It seemed so far-fetched that any of their customers would ever do anything but show up at their store or pick up the phone to place an order. How quickly times change. Now, a business isn’t considered legitimate until they have a web presence. No matter what it is you sell, odds are your prospects are going to visit your website to decide if you’re even in the running. I’m hard pressed to think of an industry or business category that doesn’t rely on their website as the main workhorse in their marketing arsenal. It used to be that you had an opportunity to make the sale when someone walked into your retail location, your salesperson called on the buyer or you answered your phone. But today, a good portion of the sales process has nothing to do with you actively engaging with the potential buyer. They’re doing a great deal of their due diligence tire kicking without you being in the room at all. It’s happening on your website, within social networks and with the help of a Google search. Which makes what you put out on the web absolutely vital to your business’ success. You must build a website your users will love. All of that being said – most websites stink. They’re badly designed, built for the business’ ego rather than the customer’s utility and they’re out of date. Why? I think most businesses think of their website like an ever expanding junk drawer. They just keep tossing more stuff in there and hope that when someone rummages through it – they can find what they need. If you’d like your website to be the effective workhorse you need it to be, consider these best practices: It should be an experience: Keep in mind that many people will decide whether or not to do business with you based on their web visit. So you want them to have a memorable and enjoyable experience. Get them interacting with you – give them a quiz, help them find answers to their specific questions or offer them something they might want to share with others. In addition: Let your company’s personality be a part of the site — both in design and voice Simple navigation matters – make it intuitive Remember eye flow – give them plenty of white space and eye rest Don’t talk about yourself: Talk about their world and how you can improve it. Everything should be presented from their perspective, not yours. You might need an outside perspective to help you identify what truly matters to your audience. In addition: Don’t over share – think hors’ oeuvres, not a six course meal Start at the 101 level — not every visitor will already be an expert Leave them wanting more so they call or send an email Keep the content fresh – stale content does not sell Cascade your content – start with a little and then let them choose to drill down for more if they want it Make it easy, no matter the device: Don’t assume everyone is using a 15-inch screen. Within the next couple years, the majority of web searches will be conducted on a mobile phone. Check your site on desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones because if there’s one thing your users will love is being able to access your content no matter where they are. In addition: Pay attention to page placement — your most important content should be above the fold Give them more than one way to navigate Use landing pages to help diverse audiences get where they want to go Don’t let a mediocre website discourage prospects from becoming customers before they even shake your hand. If you haven’t already done it — start tomorrow. Build a website your users will love and share and best of all — buy from. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Marketing, Web/Tech How to be a good agency client July 1, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 23 How to be a good agency clientI’ve been working in advertising agencies for almost 30 years now and I’ve had the incredible good fortune to work with some amazing clients over the years. Early in my career, before I had the deciding vote on who we’d serve, I also worked with some real jerks. For most of us in the marketing world, we serve clients (could be an internal department or external, paying clients) and in most cases, we are also someone else’s client (vendor, strategic partner, agency if you’re client side, etc.) as well. I thought I’d reflect on my life with clients (and being a client) …and share the best practices so we can all be a better client on the next go around. Have you ever wondered how to be a good agency client? Talk to us about budget: It’s ridiculous how some clients make their agency jump through hoops to guess at the budget. We can’t help you spend your money in the wisest, most effective way possible if we don’t know the boundaries. If you don’t trust us enough to tell us – fire us. Say thank you in your own way: One of my all-time favorite clients came over one Christmas week and serenaded us with one of her holiday favorites. What an incredible gift – to share something so personal with such affection and heart. I’ll never forget the experience. Invite us to the party: We can be so much more helpful if you bring us inside. Let us interact with your c-suite, sales team, and customer service reps and be a part of the very early strategy sessions. We bring a very unique and valuable perspective – we’re informed outsiders. We can see with more clarity and less bias but we also know enough to ask the hard but insightful questions. Trust us: Our job is to make you a rock star. To help you achieve and surpass your company’s goals. We’re on your side. In theory, you selected us to be your partner because you believe we’re good at our work. So trust us. Don’t let your personal bias or preferences lead you in the wrong direction – when we disagree with you, let us explain, from our experience and expertise, why we disagree and be mindful of your mindset. In the end, it’s your money and we’ll do as you ask, but don’t shortchange our desire to being your best ally. Pay your bills on time: On the other end of the money — pay your bills on time. Odds are we jumped through hoops to hit your deadlines, and now it’s your turn. Don’t put your agency in the position of being your bank. Remember, they’ve incurred costs on your behalf, so don’t hang them out to dry. Everyone hits a tough spot and when that happens, talk to us about it. But don’t leave us in the dark. Connect with us: We all want to work with people we like. Don’t hide your humanity. Show us your vacation pictures. Tell us your funny weekend story. Reminisce about the old job or the old boss. We don’t have to be best buddies (although it’s nice when that happens) but it’s human nature to work harder for someone you like. So let us get to know you on a personal level. Celebrate with us: Marketing is usually a a winding road of obstacles and last minute adjustments, done at breakneck speed and involves a bit of risk. When it all comes together, it’s magical. Take time to celebrate with the entire team. Give kudos to the people who often don’t get the lead the team or enjoy the glory. Rewarding everyone with a special dinner or even a bagel break will fire up the team for the next challenge. The lion’s share of agency owners and employees chose the profession because they love to use their creativity to help clients. Letting them know you appreciate their efforts and actually helping them help you means you both get more of what will make you happy and successful. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Agency Life, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Advertising Agency, clients, marketing firm, partner, working together Leave a Reply Marketing automation — evil or misunderstood? July 16, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment marketing automationWhen the subject of marketing automation comes up, many purists shake their head and talk about how robotic and impersonal it is. Well — if you do it badly, that’s very true. In that case — you really do make your potential customers feel like they’re just a number to you and that you treat everyone the same, with little regard to their specific needs. But when you build the system with your customer in mind — it can be a wonderful experience for them and for you. It all depends on if you build it once and put it on auto pilot or if you use it as a tool to serve up exactly what each visitor is looking for. Automation allows you to create a user experience that puts the user in the driver’s seat. They can access the exact information they want, when they want it — and how they want it. The key is to realize that different people are going to have different needs and you need to anticipate that as you build out the options. Even more important — once you start getting visitors, you need to learn from where they go and don’t want to go. It’s a given that every potential customer probably isn’t going to want exactly the same information. As you watch and learn — you can create new paths and test the results. At the end of the day, thanks to automation, you can create multiple paths, so each person can have a different experience, based on their own needs and interests. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Recently, the folks at Marketo asked me to comment on the question “can big data lead to big love?” Check out the article and my comments. If you’re using marketing automation to make it easy for you and only you, then it probably isn’t going to work so well. But if you use it as a tool to serve your customers better — it can indeed lead to big love. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Your best customers are pure gold July 19, 2014 by Drew McLellan 1 Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 28 best customersYou’ve heard it before — the top 20% of your customers, your very best customers, account for 80% of your profitability and referrals. We intellectually know that and yet our behavior sure doesn’t show it. We spend all kinds of dollars, time, energy and worry chasing after new customers and after someone starts to buy, the typical business sort of forgets all about them. Much like people’s dating patterns — there’s a lot of wooing that goes on before the wedding but after the “I do’s” get said, the florist goes broke. Our poor best customers get the same treatment from us and that needs to stop. We need to shift a portion of our marketing focus away from prospects and invest even more in our best customers — the ones who have already proven that they’ll sing our praises, buy more and more and bring their friends along for the ride. Fortunately, my friend Stan Phelps has written a book to help us all do just that. This book, What’s Your Golden Goldfish, is the third book in a trilogy of marketing books that are all built around over 2,200 crowdsourced examples of real life marketing smarts. This particular book shares over 100 examples of what leading brands like Starbucks, Doubletree, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Virgin Atlantic are doing differently to cater to their best customers and earn even more of their business and loyalty. The book showcases nine different ways to let your best customers (and employees) know how much you value them. By doing those little extras, you will make your company even stronger. You will differentiate yourself even more from your competitors, you’ll keep both your best customers and employees longer so they contribute to your success and with every little extra, you will create more word of mouth buzz. The entire series of books is all built around the idea of lagniappe which is a creole word for “a little something extra.” In this edition — Stan helps his readers explore how organizations large and small can do a little something extra for their most loyal customers and employees. You’ll love the storytelling but make sure you have a pen and paper handy because this book is going to spark so many ideas that you’ll never remember them all. And as you implement them — your best customers will reward you with even more buzz, money and referrals. Sounds like it is going to work out well for everyone, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in Stan’s entire series, here’s how you can get them from Amazon. If your an Amazon Unlimited customer, you can read the electronic version for free. If you want the paperbacks, click on the links below: Third book — What’s Your Golden Goldfish: The Vital Few Second book — What’s your Green Goldfish: 15 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement and Reinforce Culture First book — What’s your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth Note: If you click on one of the Amazon links, I get a few cents. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Books, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Best Customers, Golden Goldfish, Goldfish series, referrals, Stan Phelps, Word of mouth The Freelance Studio Denver, Co.User Experience Agency We only care about you if it’s really about us October 28, 2014 by Drew McLellan 9 Comments Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 19 I Love MeWe recently bought an ad for a client and the ad rep suggested we make a big deal out of the fact that our client has been in business for 130 years. I politely told her that we definitely were not going to do that. Instead, we were going to talk about something their readers and our prospects might actually care about. My conversation with her is what prompted this blog post. We’ve all seen the ads or sales that are somehow tied to a businesses 25th anniversary or the “we’ve been in business for a century” sale announcements. The reality is – no one cares. While that may be a laudable accomplishment – to have hung in there that long, from your consumer’s point of view – it’s fluff or a gimmick (we’ve been around for 50 years so everything is 50% off!). Is a business going to offer me a better product after they’ve been around for 100 years? Was the stuff they sold in their ninety-fifth year just junk? Of course not. Is someone who just turned 60 a better advisor than when she was 59? Nope. You make that the focus of your ad or your sale when you don’t have anything better to say. And if you can’t come up with something more customer-centric than that to say – you’re lucky to still be in business. It’s actually a symptom of an age-old marketing problem. Businesses talk about themselves rather than talking about what the customer cares about. Here’s how to fix two of the most common “it’s all about me” types of marketing statements and make them customer centric and customer valued communications instead. #1 — We’re old and you should care All about us: We’re 100 years old. Come enjoy some birthday cake and celebrate with us as we cross the century mark. All about them: Over the many years we’ve been in business, we’ve learned that our customers value three things. They value incredible customer service (click here to speak live with one of our teammates), fair pricing (click here to read about our fair price every time program) and they want quality they can count on (watch a short video about our factory’s 100% right or 100% wrong policy). You’re saying the same thing – we’ve been in business long enough to be stable, to have earned our customer’s trust and no one has to worry about you being a fly by night operation. But when you push beyond focusing on yourself, you can outline exactly why your longevity is of value to the prospect that is considering doing business with you. #2 – The difference is our people (perhaps the most trite sentence uttered in marketing today) All about us: Our people really care. You’re not just a number to us. All about them: Hi Mr. McLellan – we see that you’re going to be staying at our hotel XYZ in Big City. We’re glad to have you staying with us and want to make sure we do everything in our power to make your stay an awesome one. As the manager of the hotel, I want you to have my direct line (123-456-7890) and email (manager@BigHotel.com) so you can get a hold of me if there’s anything you need. Don’t tell me that your people care. Show me. It sounds like hype when you brag about it. It feels remarkable when I experience it for myself. The truth is…most businesses say it but few actually deliver on it. Why not just shut up and show it? If you’re going to expend the effort to talk to your customers and prospects, stop talking about yourself and talk about what they care about — what’s in it for me. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Strategy Tagged With: marketing, messaging Building a website your users will love July 14, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 24 website your users will loveIt seems like a “duh,” doesn’t it? Of course you want to build a website your users will love. But remember, not that long ago, many businesses were wondering whether or not they even needed a website. It seemed so far-fetched that any of their customers would ever do anything but show up at their store or pick up the phone to place an order. How quickly times change. Now, a business isn’t considered legitimate until they have a web presence. No matter what it is you sell, odds are your prospects are going to visit your website to decide if you’re even in the running. I’m hard pressed to think of an industry or business category that doesn’t rely on their website as the main workhorse in their marketing arsenal. It used to be that you had an opportunity to make the sale when someone walked into your retail location, your salesperson called on the buyer or you answered your phone. But today, a good portion of the sales process has nothing to do with you actively engaging with the potential buyer. They’re doing a great deal of their due diligence tire kicking without you being in the room at all. It’s happening on your website, within social networks and with the help of a Google search. Which makes what you put out on the web absolutely vital to your business’ success. You must build a website your users will love. All of that being said – most websites stink. They’re badly designed, built for the business’ ego rather than the customer’s utility and they’re out of date. Why? I think most businesses think of their website like an ever expanding junk drawer. They just keep tossing more stuff in there and hope that when someone rummages through it – they can find what they need. If you’d like your website to be the effective workhorse you need it to be, consider these best practices: It should be an experience: Keep in mind that many people will decide whether or not to do business with you based on their web visit. So you want them to have a memorable and enjoyable experience. Get them interacting with you – give them a quiz, help them find answers to their specific questions or offer them something they might want to share with others. In addition: Let your company’s personality be a part of the site — both in design and voice Simple navigation matters – make it intuitive Remember eye flow – give them plenty of white space and eye rest Don’t talk about yourself: Talk about their world and how you can improve it. Everything should be presented from their perspective, not yours. You might need an outside perspective to help you identify what truly matters to your audience. In addition: Don’t over share – think hors’ oeuvres, not a six course meal Start at the 101 level — not every visitor will already be an expert Leave them wanting more so they call or send an email Keep the content fresh – stale content does not sell Cascade your content – start with a little and then let them choose to drill down for more if they want it Make it easy, no matter the device: Don’t assume everyone is using a 15-inch screen. Within the next couple years, the majority of web searches will be conducted on a mobile phone. Check your site on desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones because if there’s one thing your users will love is being able to access your content no matter where they are. In addition: Pay attention to page placement — your most important content should be above the fold Give them more than one way to navigate Use landing pages to help diverse audiences get where they want to go Don’t let a mediocre website discourage prospects from becoming customers before they even shake your hand. If you haven’t already done it — start tomorrow. Build a website your users will love and share and best of all — buy from. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Marketing, Web/Tech How to be a good agency client July 1, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 23 How to be a good agency clientI’ve been working in advertising agencies for almost 30 years now and I’ve had the incredible good fortune to work with some amazing clients over the years. Early in my career, before I had the deciding vote on who we’d serve, I also worked with some real jerks. For most of us in the marketing world, we serve clients (could be an internal department or external, paying clients) and in most cases, we are also someone else’s client (vendor, strategic partner, agency if you’re client side, etc.) as well. I thought I’d reflect on my life with clients (and being a client) …and share the best practices so we can all be a better client on the next go around. Have you ever wondered how to be a good agency client? Talk to us about budget: It’s ridiculous how some clients make their agency jump through hoops to guess at the budget. We can’t help you spend your money in the wisest, most effective way possible if we don’t know the boundaries. If you don’t trust us enough to tell us – fire us. Say thank you in your own way: One of my all-time favorite clients came over one Christmas week and serenaded us with one of her holiday favorites. What an incredible gift – to share something so personal with such affection and heart. I’ll never forget the experience. Invite us to the party: We can be so much more helpful if you bring us inside. Let us interact with your c-suite, sales team, and customer service reps and be a part of the very early strategy sessions. We bring a very unique and valuable perspective – we’re informed outsiders. We can see with more clarity and less bias but we also know enough to ask the hard but insightful questions. Trust us: Our job is to make you a rock star. To help you achieve and surpass your company’s goals. We’re on your side. In theory, you selected us to be your partner because you believe we’re good at our work. So trust us. Don’t let your personal bias or preferences lead you in the wrong direction – when we disagree with you, let us explain, from our experience and expertise, why we disagree and be mindful of your mindset. In the end, it’s your money and we’ll do as you ask, but don’t shortchange our desire to being your best ally. Pay your bills on time: On the other end of the money — pay your bills on time. Odds are we jumped through hoops to hit your deadlines, and now it’s your turn. Don’t put your agency in the position of being your bank. Remember, they’ve incurred costs on your behalf, so don’t hang them out to dry. Everyone hits a tough spot and when that happens, talk to us about it. But don’t leave us in the dark. Connect with us: We all want to work with people we like. Don’t hide your humanity. Show us your vacation pictures. Tell us your funny weekend story. Reminisce about the old job or the old boss. We don’t have to be best buddies (although it’s nice when that happens) but it’s human nature to work harder for someone you like. So let us get to know you on a personal level. Celebrate with us: Marketing is usually a a winding road of obstacles and last minute adjustments, done at breakneck speed and involves a bit of risk. When it all comes together, it’s magical. Take time to celebrate with the entire team. Give kudos to the people who often don’t get the lead the team or enjoy the glory. Rewarding everyone with a special dinner or even a bagel break will fire up the team for the next challenge. The lion’s share of agency owners and employees chose the profession because they love to use their creativity to help clients. Letting them know you appreciate their efforts and actually helping them help you means you both get more of what will make you happy and successful. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Agency Life, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Advertising Agency, clients, marketing firm, partner, working together Leave a Reply Marketing automation — evil or misunderstood? July 16, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment marketing automationWhen the subject of marketing automation comes up, many purists shake their head and talk about how robotic and impersonal it is. Well — if you do it badly, that’s very true. In that case — you really do make your potential customers feel like they’re just a number to you and that you treat everyone the same, with little regard to their specific needs. But when you build the system with your customer in mind — it can be a wonderful experience for them and for you. It all depends on if you build it once and put it on auto pilot or if you use it as a tool to serve up exactly what each visitor is looking for. Automation allows you to create a user experience that puts the user in the driver’s seat. They can access the exact information they want, when they want it — and how they want it. The key is to realize that different people are going to have different needs and you need to anticipate that as you build out the options. Even more important — once you start getting visitors, you need to learn from where they go and don’t want to go. It’s a given that every potential customer probably isn’t going to want exactly the same information. As you watch and learn — you can create new paths and test the results. At the end of the day, thanks to automation, you can create multiple paths, so each person can have a different experience, based on their own needs and interests. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Recently, the folks at Marketo asked me to comment on the question “can big data lead to big love?” Check out the article and my comments. If you’re using marketing automation to make it easy for you and only you, then it probably isn’t going to work so well. But if you use it as a tool to serve your customers better — it can indeed lead to big love. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Your best customers are pure gold July 19, 2014 by Drew McLellan 1 Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 28 best customersYou’ve heard it before — the top 20% of your customers, your very best customers, account for 80% of your profitability and referrals. We intellectually know that and yet our behavior sure doesn’t show it. We spend all kinds of dollars, time, energy and worry chasing after new customers and after someone starts to buy, the typical business sort of forgets all about them. Much like people’s dating patterns — there’s a lot of wooing that goes on before the wedding but after the “I do’s” get said, the florist goes broke. Our poor best customers get the same treatment from us and that needs to stop. We need to shift a portion of our marketing focus away from prospects and invest even more in our best customers — the ones who have already proven that they’ll sing our praises, buy more and more and bring their friends along for the ride. Fortunately, my friend Stan Phelps has written a book to help us all do just that. This book, What’s Your Golden Goldfish, is the third book in a trilogy of marketing books that are all built around over 2,200 crowdsourced examples of real life marketing smarts. This particular book shares over 100 examples of what leading brands like Starbucks, Doubletree, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Virgin Atlantic are doing differently to cater to their best customers and earn even more of their business and loyalty. The book showcases nine different ways to let your best customers (and employees) know how much you value them. By doing those little extras, you will make your company even stronger. You will differentiate yourself even more from your competitors, you’ll keep both your best customers and employees longer so they contribute to your success and with every little extra, you will create more word of mouth buzz. The entire series of books is all built around the idea of lagniappe which is a creole word for “a little something extra.” In this edition — Stan helps his readers explore how organizations large and small can do a little something extra for their most loyal customers and employees. You’ll love the storytelling but make sure you have a pen and paper handy because this book is going to spark so many ideas that you’ll never remember them all. And as you implement them — your best customers will reward you with even more buzz, money and referrals. Sounds like it is going to work out well for everyone, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in Stan’s entire series, here’s how you can get them from Amazon. If your an Amazon Unlimited customer, you can read the electronic version for free. If you want the paperbacks, click on the links below: Third book — What’s Your Golden Goldfish: The Vital Few Second book — What’s your Green Goldfish: 15 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement and Reinforce Culture First book — What’s your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth Note: If you click on one of the Amazon links, I get a few cents. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Books, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Best Customers, Golden Goldfish, Goldfish series, referrals, Stan Phelps, Word of mouth The Freelance Studio Denver, Co.User Experience Agency We only care about you if it’s really about us October 28, 2014 by Drew McLellan 9 Comments Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 19 I Love MeWe recently bought an ad for a client and the ad rep suggested we make a big deal out of the fact that our client has been in business for 130 years. I politely told her that we definitely were not going to do that. Instead, we were going to talk about something their readers and our prospects might actually care about. My conversation with her is what prompted this blog post. We’ve all seen the ads or sales that are somehow tied to a businesses 25th anniversary or the “we’ve been in business for a century” sale announcements. The reality is – no one cares. While that may be a laudable accomplishment – to have hung in there that long, from your consumer’s point of view – it’s fluff or a gimmick (we’ve been around for 50 years so everything is 50% off!). Is a business going to offer me a better product after they’ve been around for 100 years? Was the stuff they sold in their ninety-fifth year just junk? Of course not. Is someone who just turned 60 a better advisor than when she was 59? Nope. You make that the focus of your ad or your sale when you don’t have anything better to say. And if you can’t come up with something more customer-centric than that to say – you’re lucky to still be in business. It’s actually a symptom of an age-old marketing problem. Businesses talk about themselves rather than talking about what the customer cares about. Here’s how to fix two of the most common “it’s all about me” types of marketing statements and make them customer centric and customer valued communications instead. #1 — We’re old and you should care All about us: We’re 100 years old. Come enjoy some birthday cake and celebrate with us as we cross the century mark. All about them: Over the many years we’ve been in business, we’ve learned that our customers value three things. They value incredible customer service (click here to speak live with one of our teammates), fair pricing (click here to read about our fair price every time program) and they want quality they can count on (watch a short video about our factory’s 100% right or 100% wrong policy). You’re saying the same thing – we’ve been in business long enough to be stable, to have earned our customer’s trust and no one has to worry about you being a fly by night operation. But when you push beyond focusing on yourself, you can outline exactly why your longevity is of value to the prospect that is considering doing business with you. #2 – The difference is our people (perhaps the most trite sentence uttered in marketing today) All about us: Our people really care. You’re not just a number to us. All about them: Hi Mr. McLellan – we see that you’re going to be staying at our hotel XYZ in Big City. We’re glad to have you staying with us and want to make sure we do everything in our power to make your stay an awesome one. As the manager of the hotel, I want you to have my direct line (123-456-7890) and email (manager@BigHotel.com) so you can get a hold of me if there’s anything you need. Don’t tell me that your people care. Show me. It sounds like hype when you brag about it. It feels remarkable when I experience it for myself. The truth is…most businesses say it but few actually deliver on it. Why not just shut up and show it? If you’re going to expend the effort to talk to your customers and prospects, stop talking about yourself and talk about what they care about — what’s in it for me. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Strategy Tagged With: marketing, messaging Building a website your users will love July 14, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 24 website your users will loveIt seems like a “duh,” doesn’t it? Of course you want to build a website your users will love. But remember, not that long ago, many businesses were wondering whether or not they even needed a website. It seemed so far-fetched that any of their customers would ever do anything but show up at their store or pick up the phone to place an order. How quickly times change. Now, a business isn’t considered legitimate until they have a web presence. No matter what it is you sell, odds are your prospects are going to visit your website to decide if you’re even in the running. I’m hard pressed to think of an industry or business category that doesn’t rely on their website as the main workhorse in their marketing arsenal. It used to be that you had an opportunity to make the sale when someone walked into your retail location, your salesperson called on the buyer or you answered your phone. But today, a good portion of the sales process has nothing to do with you actively engaging with the potential buyer. They’re doing a great deal of their due diligence tire kicking without you being in the room at all. It’s happening on your website, within social networks and with the help of a Google search. Which makes what you put out on the web absolutely vital to your business’ success. You must build a website your users will love. All of that being said – most websites stink. They’re badly designed, built for the business’ ego rather than the customer’s utility and they’re out of date. Why? I think most businesses think of their website like an ever expanding junk drawer. They just keep tossing more stuff in there and hope that when someone rummages through it – they can find what they need. If you’d like your website to be the effective workhorse you need it to be, consider these best practices: It should be an experience: Keep in mind that many people will decide whether or not to do business with you based on their web visit. So you want them to have a memorable and enjoyable experience. Get them interacting with you – give them a quiz, help them find answers to their specific questions or offer them something they might want to share with others. In addition: Let your company’s personality be a part of the site — both in design and voice Simple navigation matters – make it intuitive Remember eye flow – give them plenty of white space and eye rest Don’t talk about yourself: Talk about their world and how you can improve it. Everything should be presented from their perspective, not yours. You might need an outside perspective to help you identify what truly matters to your audience. In addition: Don’t over share – think hors’ oeuvres, not a six course meal Start at the 101 level — not every visitor will already be an expert Leave them wanting more so they call or send an email Keep the content fresh – stale content does not sell Cascade your content – start with a little and then let them choose to drill down for more if they want it Make it easy, no matter the device: Don’t assume everyone is using a 15-inch screen. Within the next couple years, the majority of web searches will be conducted on a mobile phone. Check your site on desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones because if there’s one thing your users will love is being able to access your content no matter where they are. In addition: Pay attention to page placement — your most important content should be above the fold Give them more than one way to navigate Use landing pages to help diverse audiences get where they want to go Don’t let a mediocre website discourage prospects from becoming customers before they even shake your hand. If you haven’t already done it — start tomorrow. Build a website your users will love and share and best of all — buy from. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Marketing, Web/Tech How to be a good agency client July 1, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 23 How to be a good agency clientI’ve been working in advertising agencies for almost 30 years now and I’ve had the incredible good fortune to work with some amazing clients over the years. Early in my career, before I had the deciding vote on who we’d serve, I also worked with some real jerks. For most of us in the marketing world, we serve clients (could be an internal department or external, paying clients) and in most cases, we are also someone else’s client (vendor, strategic partner, agency if you’re client side, etc.) as well. I thought I’d reflect on my life with clients (and being a client) …and share the best practices so we can all be a better client on the next go around. Have you ever wondered how to be a good agency client? Talk to us about budget: It’s ridiculous how some clients make their agency jump through hoops to guess at the budget. We can’t help you spend your money in the wisest, most effective way possible if we don’t know the boundaries. If you don’t trust us enough to tell us – fire us. Say thank you in your own way: One of my all-time favorite clients came over one Christmas week and serenaded us with one of her holiday favorites. What an incredible gift – to share something so personal with such affection and heart. I’ll never forget the experience. Invite us to the party: We can be so much more helpful if you bring us inside. Let us interact with your c-suite, sales team, and customer service reps and be a part of the very early strategy sessions. We bring a very unique and valuable perspective – we’re informed outsiders. We can see with more clarity and less bias but we also know enough to ask the hard but insightful questions. Trust us: Our job is to make you a rock star. To help you achieve and surpass your company’s goals. We’re on your side. In theory, you selected us to be your partner because you believe we’re good at our work. So trust us. Don’t let your personal bias or preferences lead you in the wrong direction – when we disagree with you, let us explain, from our experience and expertise, why we disagree and be mindful of your mindset. In the end, it’s your money and we’ll do as you ask, but don’t shortchange our desire to being your best ally. Pay your bills on time: On the other end of the money — pay your bills on time. Odds are we jumped through hoops to hit your deadlines, and now it’s your turn. Don’t put your agency in the position of being your bank. Remember, they’ve incurred costs on your behalf, so don’t hang them out to dry. Everyone hits a tough spot and when that happens, talk to us about it. But don’t leave us in the dark. Connect with us: We all want to work with people we like. Don’t hide your humanity. Show us your vacation pictures. Tell us your funny weekend story. Reminisce about the old job or the old boss. We don’t have to be best buddies (although it’s nice when that happens) but it’s human nature to work harder for someone you like. So let us get to know you on a personal level. Celebrate with us: Marketing is usually a a winding road of obstacles and last minute adjustments, done at breakneck speed and involves a bit of risk. When it all comes together, it’s magical. Take time to celebrate with the entire team. Give kudos to the people who often don’t get the lead the team or enjoy the glory. Rewarding everyone with a special dinner or even a bagel break will fire up the team for the next challenge. The lion’s share of agency owners and employees chose the profession because they love to use their creativity to help clients. Letting them know you appreciate their efforts and actually helping them help you means you both get more of what will make you happy and successful. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Agency Life, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Advertising Agency, clients, marketing firm, partner, working together Leave a Reply Marketing automation — evil or misunderstood? July 16, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment marketing automationWhen the subject of marketing automation comes up, many purists shake their head and talk about how robotic and impersonal it is. Well — if you do it badly, that’s very true. In that case — you really do make your potential customers feel like they’re just a number to you and that you treat everyone the same, with little regard to their specific needs. But when you build the system with your customer in mind — it can be a wonderful experience for them and for you. It all depends on if you build it once and put it on auto pilot or if you use it as a tool to serve up exactly what each visitor is looking for. Automation allows you to create a user experience that puts the user in the driver’s seat. They can access the exact information they want, when they want it — and how they want it. The key is to realize that different people are going to have different needs and you need to anticipate that as you build out the options. Even more important — once you start getting visitors, you need to learn from where they go and don’t want to go. It’s a given that every potential customer probably isn’t going to want exactly the same information. As you watch and learn — you can create new paths and test the results. At the end of the day, thanks to automation, you can create multiple paths, so each person can have a different experience, based on their own needs and interests. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Recently, the folks at Marketo asked me to comment on the question “can big data lead to big love?” Check out the article and my comments. If you’re using marketing automation to make it easy for you and only you, then it probably isn’t going to work so well. But if you use it as a tool to serve your customers better — it can indeed lead to big love. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Your best customers are pure gold July 19, 2014 by Drew McLellan 1 Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 28 best customersYou’ve heard it before — the top 20% of your customers, your very best customers, account for 80% of your profitability and referrals. We intellectually know that and yet our behavior sure doesn’t show it. We spend all kinds of dollars, time, energy and worry chasing after new customers and after someone starts to buy, the typical business sort of forgets all about them. Much like people’s dating patterns — there’s a lot of wooing that goes on before the wedding but after the “I do’s” get said, the florist goes broke. Our poor best customers get the same treatment from us and that needs to stop. We need to shift a portion of our marketing focus away from prospects and invest even more in our best customers — the ones who have already proven that they’ll sing our praises, buy more and more and bring their friends along for the ride. Fortunately, my friend Stan Phelps has written a book to help us all do just that. This book, What’s Your Golden Goldfish, is the third book in a trilogy of marketing books that are all built around over 2,200 crowdsourced examples of real life marketing smarts. This particular book shares over 100 examples of what leading brands like Starbucks, Doubletree, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Virgin Atlantic are doing differently to cater to their best customers and earn even more of their business and loyalty. The book showcases nine different ways to let your best customers (and employees) know how much you value them. By doing those little extras, you will make your company even stronger. You will differentiate yourself even more from your competitors, you’ll keep both your best customers and employees longer so they contribute to your success and with every little extra, you will create more word of mouth buzz. The entire series of books is all built around the idea of lagniappe which is a creole word for “a little something extra.” In this edition — Stan helps his readers explore how organizations large and small can do a little something extra for their most loyal customers and employees. You’ll love the storytelling but make sure you have a pen and paper handy because this book is going to spark so many ideas that you’ll never remember them all. And as you implement them — your best customers will reward you with even more buzz, money and referrals. Sounds like it is going to work out well for everyone, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in Stan’s entire series, here’s how you can get them from Amazon. If your an Amazon Unlimited customer, you can read the electronic version for free. If you want the paperbacks, click on the links below: Third book — What’s Your Golden Goldfish: The Vital Few Second book — What’s your Green Goldfish: 15 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement and Reinforce Culture First book — What’s your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth Note: If you click on one of the Amazon links, I get a few cents. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Books, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Best Customers, Golden Goldfish, Goldfish series, referrals, Stan Phelps, Word of mouth The Freelance Studio Denver, Co.User Experience Agency We only care about you if it’s really about us October 28, 2014 by Drew McLellan 9 Comments Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 19 I Love MeWe recently bought an ad for a client and the ad rep suggested we make a big deal out of the fact that our client has been in business for 130 years. I politely told her that we definitely were not going to do that. Instead, we were going to talk about something their readers and our prospects might actually care about. My conversation with her is what prompted this blog post. We’ve all seen the ads or sales that are somehow tied to a businesses 25th anniversary or the “we’ve been in business for a century” sale announcements. The reality is – no one cares. While that may be a laudable accomplishment – to have hung in there that long, from your consumer’s point of view – it’s fluff or a gimmick (we’ve been around for 50 years so everything is 50% off!). Is a business going to offer me a better product after they’ve been around for 100 years? Was the stuff they sold in their ninety-fifth year just junk? Of course not. Is someone who just turned 60 a better advisor than when she was 59? Nope. You make that the focus of your ad or your sale when you don’t have anything better to say. And if you can’t come up with something more customer-centric than that to say – you’re lucky to still be in business. It’s actually a symptom of an age-old marketing problem. Businesses talk about themselves rather than talking about what the customer cares about. Here’s how to fix two of the most common “it’s all about me” types of marketing statements and make them customer centric and customer valued communications instead. #1 — We’re old and you should care All about us: We’re 100 years old. Come enjoy some birthday cake and celebrate with us as we cross the century mark. All about them: Over the many years we’ve been in business, we’ve learned that our customers value three things. They value incredible customer service (click here to speak live with one of our teammates), fair pricing (click here to read about our fair price every time program) and they want quality they can count on (watch a short video about our factory’s 100% right or 100% wrong policy). You’re saying the same thing – we’ve been in business long enough to be stable, to have earned our customer’s trust and no one has to worry about you being a fly by night operation. But when you push beyond focusing on yourself, you can outline exactly why your longevity is of value to the prospect that is considering doing business with you. #2 – The difference is our people (perhaps the most trite sentence uttered in marketing today) All about us: Our people really care. You’re not just a number to us. All about them: Hi Mr. McLellan – we see that you’re going to be staying at our hotel XYZ in Big City. We’re glad to have you staying with us and want to make sure we do everything in our power to make your stay an awesome one. As the manager of the hotel, I want you to have my direct line (123-456-7890) and email (manager@BigHotel.com) so you can get a hold of me if there’s anything you need. Don’t tell me that your people care. Show me. It sounds like hype when you brag about it. It feels remarkable when I experience it for myself. The truth is…most businesses say it but few actually deliver on it. Why not just shut up and show it? If you’re going to expend the effort to talk to your customers and prospects, stop talking about yourself and talk about what they care about — what’s in it for me. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Strategy Tagged With: marketing, messaging Building a website your users will love July 14, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 24 website your users will loveIt seems like a “duh,” doesn’t it? Of course you want to build a website your users will love. But remember, not that long ago, many businesses were wondering whether or not they even needed a website. It seemed so far-fetched that any of their customers would ever do anything but show up at their store or pick up the phone to place an order. How quickly times change. Now, a business isn’t considered legitimate until they have a web presence. No matter what it is you sell, odds are your prospects are going to visit your website to decide if you’re even in the running. I’m hard pressed to think of an industry or business category that doesn’t rely on their website as the main workhorse in their marketing arsenal. It used to be that you had an opportunity to make the sale when someone walked into your retail location, your salesperson called on the buyer or you answered your phone. But today, a good portion of the sales process has nothing to do with you actively engaging with the potential buyer. They’re doing a great deal of their due diligence tire kicking without you being in the room at all. It’s happening on your website, within social networks and with the help of a Google search. Which makes what you put out on the web absolutely vital to your business’ success. You must build a website your users will love. All of that being said – most websites stink. They’re badly designed, built for the business’ ego rather than the customer’s utility and they’re out of date. Why? I think most businesses think of their website like an ever expanding junk drawer. They just keep tossing more stuff in there and hope that when someone rummages through it – they can find what they need. If you’d like your website to be the effective workhorse you need it to be, consider these best practices: It should be an experience: Keep in mind that many people will decide whether or not to do business with you based on their web visit. So you want them to have a memorable and enjoyable experience. Get them interacting with you – give them a quiz, help them find answers to their specific questions or offer them something they might want to share with others. In addition: Let your company’s personality be a part of the site — both in design and voice Simple navigation matters – make it intuitive Remember eye flow – give them plenty of white space and eye rest Don’t talk about yourself: Talk about their world and how you can improve it. Everything should be presented from their perspective, not yours. You might need an outside perspective to help you identify what truly matters to your audience. In addition: Don’t over share – think hors’ oeuvres, not a six course meal Start at the 101 level — not every visitor will already be an expert Leave them wanting more so they call or send an email Keep the content fresh – stale content does not sell Cascade your content – start with a little and then let them choose to drill down for more if they want it Make it easy, no matter the device: Don’t assume everyone is using a 15-inch screen. Within the next couple years, the majority of web searches will be conducted on a mobile phone. Check your site on desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones because if there’s one thing your users will love is being able to access your content no matter where they are. In addition: Pay attention to page placement — your most important content should be above the fold Give them more than one way to navigate Use landing pages to help diverse audiences get where they want to go Don’t let a mediocre website discourage prospects from becoming customers before they even shake your hand. If you haven’t already done it — start tomorrow. Build a website your users will love and share and best of all — buy from. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Marketing, Web/Tech How to be a good agency client July 1, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 23 How to be a good agency clientI’ve been working in advertising agencies for almost 30 years now and I’ve had the incredible good fortune to work with some amazing clients over the years. Early in my career, before I had the deciding vote on who we’d serve, I also worked with some real jerks. For most of us in the marketing world, we serve clients (could be an internal department or external, paying clients) and in most cases, we are also someone else’s client (vendor, strategic partner, agency if you’re client side, etc.) as well. I thought I’d reflect on my life with clients (and being a client) …and share the best practices so we can all be a better client on the next go around. Have you ever wondered how to be a good agency client? Talk to us about budget: It’s ridiculous how some clients make their agency jump through hoops to guess at the budget. We can’t help you spend your money in the wisest, most effective way possible if we don’t know the boundaries. If you don’t trust us enough to tell us – fire us. Say thank you in your own way: One of my all-time favorite clients came over one Christmas week and serenaded us with one of her holiday favorites. What an incredible gift – to share something so personal with such affection and heart. I’ll never forget the experience. Invite us to the party: We can be so much more helpful if you bring us inside. Let us interact with your c-suite, sales team, and customer service reps and be a part of the very early strategy sessions. We bring a very unique and valuable perspective – we’re informed outsiders. We can see with more clarity and less bias but we also know enough to ask the hard but insightful questions. Trust us: Our job is to make you a rock star. To help you achieve and surpass your company’s goals. We’re on your side. In theory, you selected us to be your partner because you believe we’re good at our work. So trust us. Don’t let your personal bias or preferences lead you in the wrong direction – when we disagree with you, let us explain, from our experience and expertise, why we disagree and be mindful of your mindset. In the end, it’s your money and we’ll do as you ask, but don’t shortchange our desire to being your best ally. Pay your bills on time: On the other end of the money — pay your bills on time. Odds are we jumped through hoops to hit your deadlines, and now it’s your turn. Don’t put your agency in the position of being your bank. Remember, they’ve incurred costs on your behalf, so don’t hang them out to dry. Everyone hits a tough spot and when that happens, talk to us about it. But don’t leave us in the dark. Connect with us: We all want to work with people we like. Don’t hide your humanity. Show us your vacation pictures. Tell us your funny weekend story. Reminisce about the old job or the old boss. We don’t have to be best buddies (although it’s nice when that happens) but it’s human nature to work harder for someone you like. So let us get to know you on a personal level. Celebrate with us: Marketing is usually a a winding road of obstacles and last minute adjustments, done at breakneck speed and involves a bit of risk. When it all comes together, it’s magical. Take time to celebrate with the entire team. Give kudos to the people who often don’t get the lead the team or enjoy the glory. Rewarding everyone with a special dinner or even a bagel break will fire up the team for the next challenge. The lion’s share of agency owners and employees chose the profession because they love to use their creativity to help clients. Letting them know you appreciate their efforts and actually helping them help you means you both get more of what will make you happy and successful. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Agency Life, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Advertising Agency, clients, marketing firm, partner, working together Leave a Reply Marketing automation — evil or misunderstood? July 16, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment marketing automationWhen the subject of marketing automation comes up, many purists shake their head and talk about how robotic and impersonal it is. Well — if you do it badly, that’s very true. In that case — you really do make your potential customers feel like they’re just a number to you and that you treat everyone the same, with little regard to their specific needs. But when you build the system with your customer in mind — it can be a wonderful experience for them and for you. It all depends on if you build it once and put it on auto pilot or if you use it as a tool to serve up exactly what each visitor is looking for. Automation allows you to create a user experience that puts the user in the driver’s seat. They can access the exact information they want, when they want it — and how they want it. The key is to realize that different people are going to have different needs and you need to anticipate that as you build out the options. Even more important — once you start getting visitors, you need to learn from where they go and don’t want to go. It’s a given that every potential customer probably isn’t going to want exactly the same information. As you watch and learn — you can create new paths and test the results. At the end of the day, thanks to automation, you can create multiple paths, so each person can have a different experience, based on their own needs and interests. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Recently, the folks at Marketo asked me to comment on the question “can big data lead to big love?” Check out the article and my comments. If you’re using marketing automation to make it easy for you and only you, then it probably isn’t going to work so well. But if you use it as a tool to serve your customers better — it can indeed lead to big love. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Your best customers are pure gold July 19, 2014 by Drew McLellan 1 Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 28 best customersYou’ve heard it before — the top 20% of your customers, your very best customers, account for 80% of your profitability and referrals. We intellectually know that and yet our behavior sure doesn’t show it. We spend all kinds of dollars, time, energy and worry chasing after new customers and after someone starts to buy, the typical business sort of forgets all about them. Much like people’s dating patterns — there’s a lot of wooing that goes on before the wedding but after the “I do’s” get said, the florist goes broke. Our poor best customers get the same treatment from us and that needs to stop. We need to shift a portion of our marketing focus away from prospects and invest even more in our best customers — the ones who have already proven that they’ll sing our praises, buy more and more and bring their friends along for the ride. Fortunately, my friend Stan Phelps has written a book to help us all do just that. This book, What’s Your Golden Goldfish, is the third book in a trilogy of marketing books that are all built around over 2,200 crowdsourced examples of real life marketing smarts. This particular book shares over 100 examples of what leading brands like Starbucks, Doubletree, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Virgin Atlantic are doing differently to cater to their best customers and earn even more of their business and loyalty. The book showcases nine different ways to let your best customers (and employees) know how much you value them. By doing those little extras, you will make your company even stronger. You will differentiate yourself even more from your competitors, you’ll keep both your best customers and employees longer so they contribute to your success and with every little extra, you will create more word of mouth buzz. The entire series of books is all built around the idea of lagniappe which is a creole word for “a little something extra.” In this edition — Stan helps his readers explore how organizations large and small can do a little something extra for their most loyal customers and employees. You’ll love the storytelling but make sure you have a pen and paper handy because this book is going to spark so many ideas that you’ll never remember them all. And as you implement them — your best customers will reward you with even more buzz, money and referrals. Sounds like it is going to work out well for everyone, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in Stan’s entire series, here’s how you can get them from Amazon. If your an Amazon Unlimited customer, you can read the electronic version for free. If you want the paperbacks, click on the links below: Third book — What’s Your Golden Goldfish: The Vital Few Second book — What’s your Green Goldfish: 15 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement and Reinforce Culture First book — What’s your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth Note: If you click on one of the Amazon links, I get a few cents. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Books, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Best Customers, Golden Goldfish, Goldfish series, referrals, Stan Phelps, Word of mouth The Freelance Studio Denver, Co.User Experience Agency We only care about you if it’s really about us October 28, 2014 by Drew McLellan 9 Comments Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 19 I Love MeWe recently bought an ad for a client and the ad rep suggested we make a big deal out of the fact that our client has been in business for 130 years. I politely told her that we definitely were not going to do that. Instead, we were going to talk about something their readers and our prospects might actually care about. My conversation with her is what prompted this blog post. We’ve all seen the ads or sales that are somehow tied to a businesses 25th anniversary or the “we’ve been in business for a century” sale announcements. The reality is – no one cares. While that may be a laudable accomplishment – to have hung in there that long, from your consumer’s point of view – it’s fluff or a gimmick (we’ve been around for 50 years so everything is 50% off!). Is a business going to offer me a better product after they’ve been around for 100 years? Was the stuff they sold in their ninety-fifth year just junk? Of course not. Is someone who just turned 60 a better advisor than when she was 59? Nope. You make that the focus of your ad or your sale when you don’t have anything better to say. And if you can’t come up with something more customer-centric than that to say – you’re lucky to still be in business. It’s actually a symptom of an age-old marketing problem. Businesses talk about themselves rather than talking about what the customer cares about. Here’s how to fix two of the most common “it’s all about me” types of marketing statements and make them customer centric and customer valued communications instead. #1 — We’re old and you should care All about us: We’re 100 years old. Come enjoy some birthday cake and celebrate with us as we cross the century mark. All about them: Over the many years we’ve been in business, we’ve learned that our customers value three things. They value incredible customer service (click here to speak live with one of our teammates), fair pricing (click here to read about our fair price every time program) and they want quality they can count on (watch a short video about our factory’s 100% right or 100% wrong policy). You’re saying the same thing – we’ve been in business long enough to be stable, to have earned our customer’s trust and no one has to worry about you being a fly by night operation. But when you push beyond focusing on yourself, you can outline exactly why your longevity is of value to the prospect that is considering doing business with you. #2 – The difference is our people (perhaps the most trite sentence uttered in marketing today) All about us: Our people really care. You’re not just a number to us. All about them: Hi Mr. McLellan – we see that you’re going to be staying at our hotel XYZ in Big City. We’re glad to have you staying with us and want to make sure we do everything in our power to make your stay an awesome one. As the manager of the hotel, I want you to have my direct line (123-456-7890) and email (manager@BigHotel.com) so you can get a hold of me if there’s anything you need. Don’t tell me that your people care. Show me. It sounds like hype when you brag about it. It feels remarkable when I experience it for myself. The truth is…most businesses say it but few actually deliver on it. Why not just shut up and show it? If you’re going to expend the effort to talk to your customers and prospects, stop talking about yourself and talk about what they care about — what’s in it for me. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Strategy Tagged With: marketing, messaging Building a website your users will love July 14, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 24 website your users will loveIt seems like a “duh,” doesn’t it? Of course you want to build a website your users will love. But remember, not that long ago, many businesses were wondering whether or not they even needed a website. It seemed so far-fetched that any of their customers would ever do anything but show up at their store or pick up the phone to place an order. How quickly times change. Now, a business isn’t considered legitimate until they have a web presence. No matter what it is you sell, odds are your prospects are going to visit your website to decide if you’re even in the running. I’m hard pressed to think of an industry or business category that doesn’t rely on their website as the main workhorse in their marketing arsenal. It used to be that you had an opportunity to make the sale when someone walked into your retail location, your salesperson called on the buyer or you answered your phone. But today, a good portion of the sales process has nothing to do with you actively engaging with the potential buyer. They’re doing a great deal of their due diligence tire kicking without you being in the room at all. It’s happening on your website, within social networks and with the help of a Google search. Which makes what you put out on the web absolutely vital to your business’ success. You must build a website your users will love. All of that being said – most websites stink. They’re badly designed, built for the business’ ego rather than the customer’s utility and they’re out of date. Why? I think most businesses think of their website like an ever expanding junk drawer. They just keep tossing more stuff in there and hope that when someone rummages through it – they can find what they need. If you’d like your website to be the effective workhorse you need it to be, consider these best practices: It should be an experience: Keep in mind that many people will decide whether or not to do business with you based on their web visit. So you want them to have a memorable and enjoyable experience. Get them interacting with you – give them a quiz, help them find answers to their specific questions or offer them something they might want to share with others. In addition: Let your company’s personality be a part of the site — both in design and voice Simple navigation matters – make it intuitive Remember eye flow – give them plenty of white space and eye rest Don’t talk about yourself: Talk about their world and how you can improve it. Everything should be presented from their perspective, not yours. You might need an outside perspective to help you identify what truly matters to your audience. In addition: Don’t over share – think hors’ oeuvres, not a six course meal Start at the 101 level — not every visitor will already be an expert Leave them wanting more so they call or send an email Keep the content fresh – stale content does not sell Cascade your content – start with a little and then let them choose to drill down for more if they want it Make it easy, no matter the device: Don’t assume everyone is using a 15-inch screen. Within the next couple years, the majority of web searches will be conducted on a mobile phone. Check your site on desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones because if there’s one thing your users will love is being able to access your content no matter where they are. In addition: Pay attention to page placement — your most important content should be above the fold Give them more than one way to navigate Use landing pages to help diverse audiences get where they want to go Don’t let a mediocre website discourage prospects from becoming customers before they even shake your hand. If you haven’t already done it — start tomorrow. Build a website your users will love and share and best of all — buy from. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Marketing, Web/Tech How to be a good agency client July 1, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 23 How to be a good agency clientI’ve been working in advertising agencies for almost 30 years now and I’ve had the incredible good fortune to work with some amazing clients over the years. Early in my career, before I had the deciding vote on who we’d serve, I also worked with some real jerks. For most of us in the marketing world, we serve clients (could be an internal department or external, paying clients) and in most cases, we are also someone else’s client (vendor, strategic partner, agency if you’re client side, etc.) as well. I thought I’d reflect on my life with clients (and being a client) …and share the best practices so we can all be a better client on the next go around. Have you ever wondered how to be a good agency client? Talk to us about budget: It’s ridiculous how some clients make their agency jump through hoops to guess at the budget. We can’t help you spend your money in the wisest, most effective way possible if we don’t know the boundaries. If you don’t trust us enough to tell us – fire us. Say thank you in your own way: One of my all-time favorite clients came over one Christmas week and serenaded us with one of her holiday favorites. What an incredible gift – to share something so personal with such affection and heart. I’ll never forget the experience. Invite us to the party: We can be so much more helpful if you bring us inside. Let us interact with your c-suite, sales team, and customer service reps and be a part of the very early strategy sessions. We bring a very unique and valuable perspective – we’re informed outsiders. We can see with more clarity and less bias but we also know enough to ask the hard but insightful questions. Trust us: Our job is to make you a rock star. To help you achieve and surpass your company’s goals. We’re on your side. In theory, you selected us to be your partner because you believe we’re good at our work. So trust us. Don’t let your personal bias or preferences lead you in the wrong direction – when we disagree with you, let us explain, from our experience and expertise, why we disagree and be mindful of your mindset. In the end, it’s your money and we’ll do as you ask, but don’t shortchange our desire to being your best ally. Pay your bills on time: On the other end of the money — pay your bills on time. Odds are we jumped through hoops to hit your deadlines, and now it’s your turn. Don’t put your agency in the position of being your bank. Remember, they’ve incurred costs on your behalf, so don’t hang them out to dry. Everyone hits a tough spot and when that happens, talk to us about it. But don’t leave us in the dark. Connect with us: We all want to work with people we like. Don’t hide your humanity. Show us your vacation pictures. Tell us your funny weekend story. Reminisce about the old job or the old boss. We don’t have to be best buddies (although it’s nice when that happens) but it’s human nature to work harder for someone you like. So let us get to know you on a personal level. Celebrate with us: Marketing is usually a a winding road of obstacles and last minute adjustments, done at breakneck speed and involves a bit of risk. When it all comes together, it’s magical. Take time to celebrate with the entire team. Give kudos to the people who often don’t get the lead the team or enjoy the glory. Rewarding everyone with a special dinner or even a bagel break will fire up the team for the next challenge. The lion’s share of agency owners and employees chose the profession because they love to use their creativity to help clients. Letting them know you appreciate their efforts and actually helping them help you means you both get more of what will make you happy and successful. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Agency Life, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Advertising Agency, clients, marketing firm, partner, working together Leave a Reply Marketing automation — evil or misunderstood? July 16, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment marketing automationWhen the subject of marketing automation comes up, many purists shake their head and talk about how robotic and impersonal it is. Well — if you do it badly, that’s very true. In that case — you really do make your potential customers feel like they’re just a number to you and that you treat everyone the same, with little regard to their specific needs. But when you build the system with your customer in mind — it can be a wonderful experience for them and for you. It all depends on if you build it once and put it on auto pilot or if you use it as a tool to serve up exactly what each visitor is looking for. Automation allows you to create a user experience that puts the user in the driver’s seat. They can access the exact information they want, when they want it — and how they want it. The key is to realize that different people are going to have different needs and you need to anticipate that as you build out the options. Even more important — once you start getting visitors, you need to learn from where they go and don’t want to go. It’s a given that every potential customer probably isn’t going to want exactly the same information. As you watch and learn — you can create new paths and test the results. At the end of the day, thanks to automation, you can create multiple paths, so each person can have a different experience, based on their own needs and interests. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Recently, the folks at Marketo asked me to comment on the question “can big data lead to big love?” Check out the article and my comments. If you’re using marketing automation to make it easy for you and only you, then it probably isn’t going to work so well. But if you use it as a tool to serve your customers better — it can indeed lead to big love. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Your best customers are pure gold July 19, 2014 by Drew McLellan 1 Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 28 best customersYou’ve heard it before — the top 20% of your customers, your very best customers, account for 80% of your profitability and referrals. We intellectually know that and yet our behavior sure doesn’t show it. We spend all kinds of dollars, time, energy and worry chasing after new customers and after someone starts to buy, the typical business sort of forgets all about them. Much like people’s dating patterns — there’s a lot of wooing that goes on before the wedding but after the “I do’s” get said, the florist goes broke. Our poor best customers get the same treatment from us and that needs to stop. We need to shift a portion of our marketing focus away from prospects and invest even more in our best customers — the ones who have already proven that they’ll sing our praises, buy more and more and bring their friends along for the ride. Fortunately, my friend Stan Phelps has written a book to help us all do just that. This book, What’s Your Golden Goldfish, is the third book in a trilogy of marketing books that are all built around over 2,200 crowdsourced examples of real life marketing smarts. This particular book shares over 100 examples of what leading brands like Starbucks, Doubletree, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Virgin Atlantic are doing differently to cater to their best customers and earn even more of their business and loyalty. The book showcases nine different ways to let your best customers (and employees) know how much you value them. By doing those little extras, you will make your company even stronger. You will differentiate yourself even more from your competitors, you’ll keep both your best customers and employees longer so they contribute to your success and with every little extra, you will create more word of mouth buzz. The entire series of books is all built around the idea of lagniappe which is a creole word for “a little something extra.” In this edition — Stan helps his readers explore how organizations large and small can do a little something extra for their most loyal customers and employees. You’ll love the storytelling but make sure you have a pen and paper handy because this book is going to spark so many ideas that you’ll never remember them all. And as you implement them — your best customers will reward you with even more buzz, money and referrals. Sounds like it is going to work out well for everyone, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in Stan’s entire series, here’s how you can get them from Amazon. If your an Amazon Unlimited customer, you can read the electronic version for free. If you want the paperbacks, click on the links below: Third book — What’s Your Golden Goldfish: The Vital Few Second book — What’s your Green Goldfish: 15 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement and Reinforce Culture First book — What’s your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth Note: If you click on one of the Amazon links, I get a few cents. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Books, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Best Customers, Golden Goldfish, Goldfish series, referrals, Stan Phelps, Word of mouth The Freelance Studio Denver, Co.User Experience Agency We only care about you if it’s really about us October 28, 2014 by Drew McLellan 9 Comments Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 19 I Love MeWe recently bought an ad for a client and the ad rep suggested we make a big deal out of the fact that our client has been in business for 130 years. I politely told her that we definitely were not going to do that. Instead, we were going to talk about something their readers and our prospects might actually care about. My conversation with her is what prompted this blog post. We’ve all seen the ads or sales that are somehow tied to a businesses 25th anniversary or the “we’ve been in business for a century” sale announcements. The reality is – no one cares. While that may be a laudable accomplishment – to have hung in there that long, from your consumer’s point of view – it’s fluff or a gimmick (we’ve been around for 50 years so everything is 50% off!). Is a business going to offer me a better product after they’ve been around for 100 years? Was the stuff they sold in their ninety-fifth year just junk? Of course not. Is someone who just turned 60 a better advisor than when she was 59? Nope. You make that the focus of your ad or your sale when you don’t have anything better to say. And if you can’t come up with something more customer-centric than that to say – you’re lucky to still be in business. It’s actually a symptom of an age-old marketing problem. Businesses talk about themselves rather than talking about what the customer cares about. Here’s how to fix two of the most common “it’s all about me” types of marketing statements and make them customer centric and customer valued communications instead. #1 — We’re old and you should care All about us: We’re 100 years old. Come enjoy some birthday cake and celebrate with us as we cross the century mark. All about them: Over the many years we’ve been in business, we’ve learned that our customers value three things. They value incredible customer service (click here to speak live with one of our teammates), fair pricing (click here to read about our fair price every time program) and they want quality they can count on (watch a short video about our factory’s 100% right or 100% wrong policy). You’re saying the same thing – we’ve been in business long enough to be stable, to have earned our customer’s trust and no one has to worry about you being a fly by night operation. But when you push beyond focusing on yourself, you can outline exactly why your longevity is of value to the prospect that is considering doing business with you. #2 – The difference is our people (perhaps the most trite sentence uttered in marketing today) All about us: Our people really care. You’re not just a number to us. All about them: Hi Mr. McLellan – we see that you’re going to be staying at our hotel XYZ in Big City. We’re glad to have you staying with us and want to make sure we do everything in our power to make your stay an awesome one. As the manager of the hotel, I want you to have my direct line (123-456-7890) and email (manager@BigHotel.com) so you can get a hold of me if there’s anything you need. Don’t tell me that your people care. Show me. It sounds like hype when you brag about it. It feels remarkable when I experience it for myself. The truth is…most businesses say it but few actually deliver on it. Why not just shut up and show it? If you’re going to expend the effort to talk to your customers and prospects, stop talking about yourself and talk about what they care about — what’s in it for me. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Strategy Tagged With: marketing, messaging Building a website your users will love July 14, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 24 website your users will loveIt seems like a “duh,” doesn’t it? Of course you want to build a website your users will love. But remember, not that long ago, many businesses were wondering whether or not they even needed a website. It seemed so far-fetched that any of their customers would ever do anything but show up at their store or pick up the phone to place an order. How quickly times change. Now, a business isn’t considered legitimate until they have a web presence. No matter what it is you sell, odds are your prospects are going to visit your website to decide if you’re even in the running. I’m hard pressed to think of an industry or business category that doesn’t rely on their website as the main workhorse in their marketing arsenal. It used to be that you had an opportunity to make the sale when someone walked into your retail location, your salesperson called on the buyer or you answered your phone. But today, a good portion of the sales process has nothing to do with you actively engaging with the potential buyer. They’re doing a great deal of their due diligence tire kicking without you being in the room at all. It’s happening on your website, within social networks and with the help of a Google search. Which makes what you put out on the web absolutely vital to your business’ success. You must build a website your users will love. All of that being said – most websites stink. They’re badly designed, built for the business’ ego rather than the customer’s utility and they’re out of date. Why? I think most businesses think of their website like an ever expanding junk drawer. They just keep tossing more stuff in there and hope that when someone rummages through it – they can find what they need. If you’d like your website to be the effective workhorse you need it to be, consider these best practices: It should be an experience: Keep in mind that many people will decide whether or not to do business with you based on their web visit. So you want them to have a memorable and enjoyable experience. Get them interacting with you – give them a quiz, help them find answers to their specific questions or offer them something they might want to share with others. In addition: Let your company’s personality be a part of the site — both in design and voice Simple navigation matters – make it intuitive Remember eye flow – give them plenty of white space and eye rest Don’t talk about yourself: Talk about their world and how you can improve it. Everything should be presented from their perspective, not yours. You might need an outside perspective to help you identify what truly matters to your audience. In addition: Don’t over share – think hors’ oeuvres, not a six course meal Start at the 101 level — not every visitor will already be an expert Leave them wanting more so they call or send an email Keep the content fresh – stale content does not sell Cascade your content – start with a little and then let them choose to drill down for more if they want it Make it easy, no matter the device: Don’t assume everyone is using a 15-inch screen. Within the next couple years, the majority of web searches will be conducted on a mobile phone. Check your site on desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones because if there’s one thing your users will love is being able to access your content no matter where they are. In addition: Pay attention to page placement — your most important content should be above the fold Give them more than one way to navigate Use landing pages to help diverse audiences get where they want to go Don’t let a mediocre website discourage prospects from becoming customers before they even shake your hand. If you haven’t already done it — start tomorrow. Build a website your users will love and share and best of all — buy from. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Marketing, Web/Tech How to be a good agency client July 1, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 23 How to be a good agency clientI’ve been working in advertising agencies for almost 30 years now and I’ve had the incredible good fortune to work with some amazing clients over the years. Early in my career, before I had the deciding vote on who we’d serve, I also worked with some real jerks. For most of us in the marketing world, we serve clients (could be an internal department or external, paying clients) and in most cases, we are also someone else’s client (vendor, strategic partner, agency if you’re client side, etc.) as well. I thought I’d reflect on my life with clients (and being a client) …and share the best practices so we can all be a better client on the next go around. Have you ever wondered how to be a good agency client? Talk to us about budget: It’s ridiculous how some clients make their agency jump through hoops to guess at the budget. We can’t help you spend your money in the wisest, most effective way possible if we don’t know the boundaries. If you don’t trust us enough to tell us – fire us. Say thank you in your own way: One of my all-time favorite clients came over one Christmas week and serenaded us with one of her holiday favorites. What an incredible gift – to share something so personal with such affection and heart. I’ll never forget the experience. Invite us to the party: We can be so much more helpful if you bring us inside. Let us interact with your c-suite, sales team, and customer service reps and be a part of the very early strategy sessions. We bring a very unique and valuable perspective – we’re informed outsiders. We can see with more clarity and less bias but we also know enough to ask the hard but insightful questions. Trust us: Our job is to make you a rock star. To help you achieve and surpass your company’s goals. We’re on your side. In theory, you selected us to be your partner because you believe we’re good at our work. So trust us. Don’t let your personal bias or preferences lead you in the wrong direction – when we disagree with you, let us explain, from our experience and expertise, why we disagree and be mindful of your mindset. In the end, it’s your money and we’ll do as you ask, but don’t shortchange our desire to being your best ally. Pay your bills on time: On the other end of the money — pay your bills on time. Odds are we jumped through hoops to hit your deadlines, and now it’s your turn. Don’t put your agency in the position of being your bank. Remember, they’ve incurred costs on your behalf, so don’t hang them out to dry. Everyone hits a tough spot and when that happens, talk to us about it. But don’t leave us in the dark. Connect with us: We all want to work with people we like. Don’t hide your humanity. Show us your vacation pictures. Tell us your funny weekend story. Reminisce about the old job or the old boss. We don’t have to be best buddies (although it’s nice when that happens) but it’s human nature to work harder for someone you like. So let us get to know you on a personal level. Celebrate with us: Marketing is usually a a winding road of obstacles and last minute adjustments, done at breakneck speed and involves a bit of risk. When it all comes together, it’s magical. Take time to celebrate with the entire team. Give kudos to the people who often don’t get the lead the team or enjoy the glory. Rewarding everyone with a special dinner or even a bagel break will fire up the team for the next challenge. The lion’s share of agency owners and employees chose the profession because they love to use their creativity to help clients. Letting them know you appreciate their efforts and actually helping them help you means you both get more of what will make you happy and successful. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Agency Life, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Advertising Agency, clients, marketing firm, partner, working together Leave a Reply Marketing automation — evil or misunderstood? July 16, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment marketing automationWhen the subject of marketing automation comes up, many purists shake their head and talk about how robotic and impersonal it is. Well — if you do it badly, that’s very true. In that case — you really do make your potential customers feel like they’re just a number to you and that you treat everyone the same, with little regard to their specific needs. But when you build the system with your customer in mind — it can be a wonderful experience for them and for you. It all depends on if you build it once and put it on auto pilot or if you use it as a tool to serve up exactly what each visitor is looking for. Automation allows you to create a user experience that puts the user in the driver’s seat. They can access the exact information they want, when they want it — and how they want it. The key is to realize that different people are going to have different needs and you need to anticipate that as you build out the options. Even more important — once you start getting visitors, you need to learn from where they go and don’t want to go. It’s a given that every potential customer probably isn’t going to want exactly the same information. As you watch and learn — you can create new paths and test the results. At the end of the day, thanks to automation, you can create multiple paths, so each person can have a different experience, based on their own needs and interests. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Recently, the folks at Marketo asked me to comment on the question “can big data lead to big love?” Check out the article and my comments. If you’re using marketing automation to make it easy for you and only you, then it probably isn’t going to work so well. But if you use it as a tool to serve your customers better — it can indeed lead to big love. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Your best customers are pure gold July 19, 2014 by Drew McLellan 1 Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 28 best customersYou’ve heard it before — the top 20% of your customers, your very best customers, account for 80% of your profitability and referrals. We intellectually know that and yet our behavior sure doesn’t show it. We spend all kinds of dollars, time, energy and worry chasing after new customers and after someone starts to buy, the typical business sort of forgets all about them. Much like people’s dating patterns — there’s a lot of wooing that goes on before the wedding but after the “I do’s” get said, the florist goes broke. Our poor best customers get the same treatment from us and that needs to stop. We need to shift a portion of our marketing focus away from prospects and invest even more in our best customers — the ones who have already proven that they’ll sing our praises, buy more and more and bring their friends along for the ride. Fortunately, my friend Stan Phelps has written a book to help us all do just that. This book, What’s Your Golden Goldfish, is the third book in a trilogy of marketing books that are all built around over 2,200 crowdsourced examples of real life marketing smarts. This particular book shares over 100 examples of what leading brands like Starbucks, Doubletree, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Virgin Atlantic are doing differently to cater to their best customers and earn even more of their business and loyalty. The book showcases nine different ways to let your best customers (and employees) know how much you value them. By doing those little extras, you will make your company even stronger. You will differentiate yourself even more from your competitors, you’ll keep both your best customers and employees longer so they contribute to your success and with every little extra, you will create more word of mouth buzz. The entire series of books is all built around the idea of lagniappe which is a creole word for “a little something extra.” In this edition — Stan helps his readers explore how organizations large and small can do a little something extra for their most loyal customers and employees. You’ll love the storytelling but make sure you have a pen and paper handy because this book is going to spark so many ideas that you’ll never remember them all. And as you implement them — your best customers will reward you with even more buzz, money and referrals. Sounds like it is going to work out well for everyone, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in Stan’s entire series, here’s how you can get them from Amazon. If your an Amazon Unlimited customer, you can read the electronic version for free. If you want the paperbacks, click on the links below: Third book — What’s Your Golden Goldfish: The Vital Few Second book — What’s your Green Goldfish: 15 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement and Reinforce Culture First book — What’s your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth Note: If you click on one of the Amazon links, I get a few cents. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Books, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Best Customers, Golden Goldfish, Goldfish series, referrals, Stan Phelps, Word of mouthThe Freelance Studio Denver, Co.User Experience Agency We only care about you if it’s really about us October 28, 2014 by Drew McLellan 9 Comments Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 19 I Love MeWe recently bought an ad for a client and the ad rep suggested we make a big deal out of the fact that our client has been in business for 130 years. I politely told her that we definitely were not going to do that. Instead, we were going to talk about something their readers and our prospects might actually care about. My conversation with her is what prompted this blog post. We’ve all seen the ads or sales that are somehow tied to a businesses 25th anniversary or the “we’ve been in business for a century” sale announcements. The reality is – no one cares. While that may be a laudable accomplishment – to have hung in there that long, from your consumer’s point of view – it’s fluff or a gimmick (we’ve been around for 50 years so everything is 50% off!). Is a business going to offer me a better product after they’ve been around for 100 years? Was the stuff they sold in their ninety-fifth year just junk? Of course not. Is someone who just turned 60 a better advisor than when she was 59? Nope. You make that the focus of your ad or your sale when you don’t have anything better to say. And if you can’t come up with something more customer-centric than that to say – you’re lucky to still be in business. It’s actually a symptom of an age-old marketing problem. Businesses talk about themselves rather than talking about what the customer cares about. Here’s how to fix two of the most common “it’s all about me” types of marketing statements and make them customer centric and customer valued communications instead. #1 — We’re old and you should care All about us: We’re 100 years old. Come enjoy some birthday cake and celebrate with us as we cross the century mark. All about them: Over the many years we’ve been in business, we’ve learned that our customers value three things. They value incredible customer service (click here to speak live with one of our teammates), fair pricing (click here to read about our fair price every time program) and they want quality they can count on (watch a short video about our factory’s 100% right or 100% wrong policy). You’re saying the same thing – we’ve been in business long enough to be stable, to have earned our customer’s trust and no one has to worry about you being a fly by night operation. But when you push beyond focusing on yourself, you can outline exactly why your longevity is of value to the prospect that is considering doing business with you. #2 – The difference is our people (perhaps the most trite sentence uttered in marketing today) All about us: Our people really care. You’re not just a number to us. All about them: Hi Mr. McLellan – we see that you’re going to be staying at our hotel XYZ in Big City. We’re glad to have you staying with us and want to make sure we do everything in our power to make your stay an awesome one. As the manager of the hotel, I want you to have my direct line (123-456-7890) and email (manager@BigHotel.com) so you can get a hold of me if there’s anything you need. Don’t tell me that your people care. Show me. It sounds like hype when you brag about it. It feels remarkable when I experience it for myself. The truth is…most businesses say it but few actually deliver on it. Why not just shut up and show it? If you’re going to expend the effort to talk to your customers and prospects, stop talking about yourself and talk about what they care about — what’s in it for me. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Strategy Tagged With: marketing, messaging Building a website your users will love July 14, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 24 website your users will loveIt seems like a “duh,” doesn’t it? Of course you want to build a website your users will love. But remember, not that long ago, many businesses were wondering whether or not they even needed a website. It seemed so far-fetched that any of their customers would ever do anything but show up at their store or pick up the phone to place an order. How quickly times change. Now, a business isn’t considered legitimate until they have a web presence. No matter what it is you sell, odds are your prospects are going to visit your website to decide if you’re even in the running. I’m hard pressed to think of an industry or business category that doesn’t rely on their website as the main workhorse in their marketing arsenal. It used to be that you had an opportunity to make the sale when someone walked into your retail location, your salesperson called on the buyer or you answered your phone. But today, a good portion of the sales process has nothing to do with you actively engaging with the potential buyer. They’re doing a great deal of their due diligence tire kicking without you being in the room at all. It’s happening on your website, within social networks and with the help of a Google search. Which makes what you put out on the web absolutely vital to your business’ success. You must build a website your users will love. All of that being said – most websites stink. They’re badly designed, built for the business’ ego rather than the customer’s utility and they’re out of date. Why? I think most businesses think of their website like an ever expanding junk drawer. They just keep tossing more stuff in there and hope that when someone rummages through it – they can find what they need. If you’d like your website to be the effective workhorse you need it to be, consider these best practices: It should be an experience: Keep in mind that many people will decide whether or not to do business with you based on their web visit. So you want them to have a memorable and enjoyable experience. Get them interacting with you – give them a quiz, help them find answers to their specific questions or offer them something they might want to share with others. In addition: Let your company’s personality be a part of the site — both in design and voice Simple navigation matters – make it intuitive Remember eye flow – give them plenty of white space and eye rest Don’t talk about yourself: Talk about their world and how you can improve it. Everything should be presented from their perspective, not yours. You might need an outside perspective to help you identify what truly matters to your audience. In addition: Don’t over share – think hors’ oeuvres, not a six course meal Start at the 101 level — not every visitor will already be an expert Leave them wanting more so they call or send an email Keep the content fresh – stale content does not sell Cascade your content – start with a little and then let them choose to drill down for more if they want it Make it easy, no matter the device: Don’t assume everyone is using a 15-inch screen. Within the next couple years, the majority of web searches will be conducted on a mobile phone. Check your site on desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones because if there’s one thing your users will love is being able to access your content no matter where they are. In addition: Pay attention to page placement — your most important content should be above the fold Give them more than one way to navigate Use landing pages to help diverse audiences get where they want to go Don’t let a mediocre website discourage prospects from becoming customers before they even shake your hand. If you haven’t already done it — start tomorrow. Build a website your users will love and share and best of all — buy from. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Marketing, Web/Tech How to be a good agency client July 1, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 23 How to be a good agency clientI’ve been working in advertising agencies for almost 30 years now and I’ve had the incredible good fortune to work with some amazing clients over the years. Early in my career, before I had the deciding vote on who we’d serve, I also worked with some real jerks. For most of us in the marketing world, we serve clients (could be an internal department or external, paying clients) and in most cases, we are also someone else’s client (vendor, strategic partner, agency if you’re client side, etc.) as well. I thought I’d reflect on my life with clients (and being a client) …and share the best practices so we can all be a better client on the next go around. Have you ever wondered how to be a good agency client? Talk to us about budget: It’s ridiculous how some clients make their agency jump through hoops to guess at the budget. We can’t help you spend your money in the wisest, most effective way possible if we don’t know the boundaries. If you don’t trust us enough to tell us – fire us. Say thank you in your own way: One of my all-time favorite clients came over one Christmas week and serenaded us with one of her holiday favorites. What an incredible gift – to share something so personal with such affection and heart. I’ll never forget the experience. Invite us to the party: We can be so much more helpful if you bring us inside. Let us interact with your c-suite, sales team, and customer service reps and be a part of the very early strategy sessions. We bring a very unique and valuable perspective – we’re informed outsiders. We can see with more clarity and less bias but we also know enough to ask the hard but insightful questions. Trust us: Our job is to make you a rock star. To help you achieve and surpass your company’s goals. We’re on your side. In theory, you selected us to be your partner because you believe we’re good at our work. So trust us. Don’t let your personal bias or preferences lead you in the wrong direction – when we disagree with you, let us explain, from our experience and expertise, why we disagree and be mindful of your mindset. In the end, it’s your money and we’ll do as you ask, but don’t shortchange our desire to being your best ally. Pay your bills on time: On the other end of the money — pay your bills on time. Odds are we jumped through hoops to hit your deadlines, and now it’s your turn. Don’t put your agency in the position of being your bank. Remember, they’ve incurred costs on your behalf, so don’t hang them out to dry. Everyone hits a tough spot and when that happens, talk to us about it. But don’t leave us in the dark. Connect with us: We all want to work with people we like. Don’t hide your humanity. Show us your vacation pictures. Tell us your funny weekend story. Reminisce about the old job or the old boss. We don’t have to be best buddies (although it’s nice when that happens) but it’s human nature to work harder for someone you like. So let us get to know you on a personal level. Celebrate with us: Marketing is usually a a winding road of obstacles and last minute adjustments, done at breakneck speed and involves a bit of risk. When it all comes together, it’s magical. Take time to celebrate with the entire team. Give kudos to the people who often don’t get the lead the team or enjoy the glory. Rewarding everyone with a special dinner or even a bagel break will fire up the team for the next challenge. The lion’s share of agency owners and employees chose the profession because they love to use their creativity to help clients. Letting them know you appreciate their efforts and actually helping them help you means you both get more of what will make you happy and successful. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Agency Life, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Advertising Agency, clients, marketing firm, partner, working together Leave a Reply Marketing automation — evil or misunderstood? July 16, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment marketing automationWhen the subject of marketing automation comes up, many purists shake their head and talk about how robotic and impersonal it is. Well — if you do it badly, that’s very true. In that case — you really do make your potential customers feel like they’re just a number to you and that you treat everyone the same, with little regard to their specific needs. But when you build the system with your customer in mind — it can be a wonderful experience for them and for you. It all depends on if you build it once and put it on auto pilot or if you use it as a tool to serve up exactly what each visitor is looking for. Automation allows you to create a user experience that puts the user in the driver’s seat. They can access the exact information they want, when they want it — and how they want it. The key is to realize that different people are going to have different needs and you need to anticipate that as you build out the options. Even more important — once you start getting visitors, you need to learn from where they go and don’t want to go. It’s a given that every potential customer probably isn’t going to want exactly the same information. As you watch and learn — you can create new paths and test the results. At the end of the day, thanks to automation, you can create multiple paths, so each person can have a different experience, based on their own needs and interests. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Recently, the folks at Marketo asked me to comment on the question “can big data lead to big love?” Check out the article and my comments. If you’re using marketing automation to make it easy for you and only you, then it probably isn’t going to work so well. But if you use it as a tool to serve your customers better — it can indeed lead to big love. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Your best customers are pure gold July 19, 2014 by Drew McLellan 1 Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 28 best customersYou’ve heard it before — the top 20% of your customers, your very best customers, account for 80% of your profitability and referrals. We intellectually know that and yet our behavior sure doesn’t show it. We spend all kinds of dollars, time, energy and worry chasing after new customers and after someone starts to buy, the typical business sort of forgets all about them. Much like people’s dating patterns — there’s a lot of wooing that goes on before the wedding but after the “I do’s” get said, the florist goes broke. Our poor best customers get the same treatment from us and that needs to stop. We need to shift a portion of our marketing focus away from prospects and invest even more in our best customers — the ones who have already proven that they’ll sing our praises, buy more and more and bring their friends along for the ride. Fortunately, my friend Stan Phelps has written a book to help us all do just that. This book, What’s Your Golden Goldfish, is the third book in a trilogy of marketing books that are all built around over 2,200 crowdsourced examples of real life marketing smarts. This particular book shares over 100 examples of what leading brands like Starbucks, Doubletree, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Virgin Atlantic are doing differently to cater to their best customers and earn even more of their business and loyalty. The book showcases nine different ways to let your best customers (and employees) know how much you value them. By doing those little extras, you will make your company even stronger. You will differentiate yourself even more from your competitors, you’ll keep both your best customers and employees longer so they contribute to your success and with every little extra, you will create more word of mouth buzz. The entire series of books is all built around the idea of lagniappe which is a creole word for “a little something extra.” In this edition — Stan helps his readers explore how organizations large and small can do a little something extra for their most loyal customers and employees. You’ll love the storytelling but make sure you have a pen and paper handy because this book is going to spark so many ideas that you’ll never remember them all. And as you implement them — your best customers will reward you with even more buzz, money and referrals. Sounds like it is going to work out well for everyone, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in Stan’s entire series, here’s how you can get them from Amazon. If your an Amazon Unlimited customer, you can read the electronic version for free. If you want the paperbacks, click on the links below: Third book — What’s Your Golden Goldfish: The Vital Few Second book — What’s your Green Goldfish: 15 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement and Reinforce Culture First book — What’s your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth Note: If you click on one of the Amazon links, I get a few cents. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Books, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Best Customers, Golden Goldfish, Goldfish series, referrals, Stan Phelps, Word of mouth The Freelance Studio Denver, Co.User Experience Agency We only care about you if it’s really about us October 28, 2014 by Drew McLellan 9 Comments Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 19 I Love MeWe recently bought an ad for a client and the ad rep suggested we make a big deal out of the fact that our client has been in business for 130 years. I politely told her that we definitely were not going to do that. Instead, we were going to talk about something their readers and our prospects might actually care about. My conversation with her is what prompted this blog post. We’ve all seen the ads or sales that are somehow tied to a businesses 25th anniversary or the “we’ve been in business for a century” sale announcements. The reality is – no one cares. While that may be a laudable accomplishment – to have hung in there that long, from your consumer’s point of view – it’s fluff or a gimmick (we’ve been around for 50 years so everything is 50% off!). Is a business going to offer me a better product after they’ve been around for 100 years? Was the stuff they sold in their ninety-fifth year just junk? Of course not. Is someone who just turned 60 a better advisor than when she was 59? Nope. You make that the focus of your ad or your sale when you don’t have anything better to say. And if you can’t come up with something more customer-centric than that to say – you’re lucky to still be in business. It’s actually a symptom of an age-old marketing problem. Businesses talk about themselves rather than talking about what the customer cares about. Here’s how to fix two of the most common “it’s all about me” types of marketing statements and make them customer centric and customer valued communications instead. #1 — We’re old and you should care All about us: We’re 100 years old. Come enjoy some birthday cake and celebrate with us as we cross the century mark. All about them: Over the many years we’ve been in business, we’ve learned that our customers value three things. They value incredible customer service (click here to speak live with one of our teammates), fair pricing (click here to read about our fair price every time program) and they want quality they can count on (watch a short video about our factory’s 100% right or 100% wrong policy). You’re saying the same thing – we’ve been in business long enough to be stable, to have earned our customer’s trust and no one has to worry about you being a fly by night operation. But when you push beyond focusing on yourself, you can outline exactly why your longevity is of value to the prospect that is considering doing business with you. #2 – The difference is our people (perhaps the most trite sentence uttered in marketing today) All about us: Our people really care. You’re not just a number to us. All about them: Hi Mr. McLellan – we see that you’re going to be staying at our hotel XYZ in Big City. We’re glad to have you staying with us and want to make sure we do everything in our power to make your stay an awesome one. As the manager of the hotel, I want you to have my direct line (123-456-7890) and email (manager@BigHotel.com) so you can get a hold of me if there’s anything you need. Don’t tell me that your people care. Show me. It sounds like hype when you brag about it. It feels remarkable when I experience it for myself. The truth is…most businesses say it but few actually deliver on it. Why not just shut up and show it? If you’re going to expend the effort to talk to your customers and prospects, stop talking about yourself and talk about what they care about — what’s in it for me. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Strategy Tagged With: marketing, messaging Building a website your users will love July 14, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 24 website your users will loveIt seems like a “duh,” doesn’t it? Of course you want to build a website your users will love. But remember, not that long ago, many businesses were wondering whether or not they even needed a website. It seemed so far-fetched that any of their customers would ever do anything but show up at their store or pick up the phone to place an order. How quickly times change. Now, a business isn’t considered legitimate until they have a web presence. No matter what it is you sell, odds are your prospects are going to visit your website to decide if you’re even in the running. I’m hard pressed to think of an industry or business category that doesn’t rely on their website as the main workhorse in their marketing arsenal. It used to be that you had an opportunity to make the sale when someone walked into your retail location, your salesperson called on the buyer or you answered your phone. But today, a good portion of the sales process has nothing to do with you actively engaging with the potential buyer. They’re doing a great deal of their due diligence tire kicking without you being in the room at all. It’s happening on your website, within social networks and with the help of a Google search. Which makes what you put out on the web absolutely vital to your business’ success. You must build a website your users will love. All of that being said – most websites stink. They’re badly designed, built for the business’ ego rather than the customer’s utility and they’re out of date. Why? I think most businesses think of their website like an ever expanding junk drawer. They just keep tossing more stuff in there and hope that when someone rummages through it – they can find what they need. If you’d like your website to be the effective workhorse you need it to be, consider these best practices: It should be an experience: Keep in mind that many people will decide whether or not to do business with you based on their web visit. So you want them to have a memorable and enjoyable experience. Get them interacting with you – give them a quiz, help them find answers to their specific questions or offer them something they might want to share with others. In addition: Let your company’s personality be a part of the site — both in design and voice Simple navigation matters – make it intuitive Remember eye flow – give them plenty of white space and eye rest Don’t talk about yourself: Talk about their world and how you can improve it. Everything should be presented from their perspective, not yours. You might need an outside perspective to help you identify what truly matters to your audience. In addition: Don’t over share – think hors’ oeuvres, not a six course meal Start at the 101 level — not every visitor will already be an expert Leave them wanting more so they call or send an email Keep the content fresh – stale content does not sell Cascade your content – start with a little and then let them choose to drill down for more if they want it Make it easy, no matter the device: Don’t assume everyone is using a 15-inch screen. Within the next couple years, the majority of web searches will be conducted on a mobile phone. Check your site on desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones because if there’s one thing your users will love is being able to access your content no matter where they are. In addition: Pay attention to page placement — your most important content should be above the fold Give them more than one way to navigate Use landing pages to help diverse audiences get where they want to go Don’t let a mediocre website discourage prospects from becoming customers before they even shake your hand. If you haven’t already done it — start tomorrow. Build a website your users will love and share and best of all — buy from. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Marketing, Web/Tech How to be a good agency client July 1, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 23 How to be a good agency clientI’ve been working in advertising agencies for almost 30 years now and I’ve had the incredible good fortune to work with some amazing clients over the years. Early in my career, before I had the deciding vote on who we’d serve, I also worked with some real jerks. For most of us in the marketing world, we serve clients (could be an internal department or external, paying clients) and in most cases, we are also someone else’s client (vendor, strategic partner, agency if you’re client side, etc.) as well. I thought I’d reflect on my life with clients (and being a client) …and share the best practices so we can all be a better client on the next go around. Have you ever wondered how to be a good agency client? Talk to us about budget: It’s ridiculous how some clients make their agency jump through hoops to guess at the budget. We can’t help you spend your money in the wisest, most effective way possible if we don’t know the boundaries. If you don’t trust us enough to tell us – fire us. Say thank you in your own way: One of my all-time favorite clients came over one Christmas week and serenaded us with one of her holiday favorites. What an incredible gift – to share something so personal with such affection and heart. I’ll never forget the experience. Invite us to the party: We can be so much more helpful if you bring us inside. Let us interact with your c-suite, sales team, and customer service reps and be a part of the very early strategy sessions. We bring a very unique and valuable perspective – we’re informed outsiders. We can see with more clarity and less bias but we also know enough to ask the hard but insightful questions. Trust us: Our job is to make you a rock star. To help you achieve and surpass your company’s goals. We’re on your side. In theory, you selected us to be your partner because you believe we’re good at our work. So trust us. Don’t let your personal bias or preferences lead you in the wrong direction – when we disagree with you, let us explain, from our experience and expertise, why we disagree and be mindful of your mindset. In the end, it’s your money and we’ll do as you ask, but don’t shortchange our desire to being your best ally. Pay your bills on time: On the other end of the money — pay your bills on time. Odds are we jumped through hoops to hit your deadlines, and now it’s your turn. Don’t put your agency in the position of being your bank. Remember, they’ve incurred costs on your behalf, so don’t hang them out to dry. Everyone hits a tough spot and when that happens, talk to us about it. But don’t leave us in the dark. Connect with us: We all want to work with people we like. Don’t hide your humanity. Show us your vacation pictures. Tell us your funny weekend story. Reminisce about the old job or the old boss. We don’t have to be best buddies (although it’s nice when that happens) but it’s human nature to work harder for someone you like. So let us get to know you on a personal level. Celebrate with us: Marketing is usually a a winding road of obstacles and last minute adjustments, done at breakneck speed and involves a bit of risk. When it all comes together, it’s magical. Take time to celebrate with the entire team. Give kudos to the people who often don’t get the lead the team or enjoy the glory. Rewarding everyone with a special dinner or even a bagel break will fire up the team for the next challenge. The lion’s share of agency owners and employees chose the profession because they love to use their creativity to help clients. Letting them know you appreciate their efforts and actually helping them help you means you both get more of what will make you happy and successful. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Agency Life, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Advertising Agency, clients, marketing firm, partner, working together Leave a Reply Marketing automation — evil or misunderstood? July 16, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment marketing automationWhen the subject of marketing automation comes up, many purists shake their head and talk about how robotic and impersonal it is. Well — if you do it badly, that’s very true. In that case — you really do make your potential customers feel like they’re just a number to you and that you treat everyone the same, with little regard to their specific needs. But when you build the system with your customer in mind — it can be a wonderful experience for them and for you. It all depends on if you build it once and put it on auto pilot or if you use it as a tool to serve up exactly what each visitor is looking for. Automation allows you to create a user experience that puts the user in the driver’s seat. They can access the exact information they want, when they want it — and how they want it. The key is to realize that different people are going to have different needs and you need to anticipate that as you build out the options. Even more important — once you start getting visitors, you need to learn from where they go and don’t want to go. It’s a given that every potential customer probably isn’t going to want exactly the same information. As you watch and learn — you can create new paths and test the results. At the end of the day, thanks to automation, you can create multiple paths, so each person can have a different experience, based on their own needs and interests. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Recently, the folks at Marketo asked me to comment on the question “can big data lead to big love?” Check out the article and my comments. If you’re using marketing automation to make it easy for you and only you, then it probably isn’t going to work so well. But if you use it as a tool to serve your customers better — it can indeed lead to big love. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Your best customers are pure gold July 19, 2014 by Drew McLellan 1 Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 28 best customersYou’ve heard it before — the top 20% of your customers, your very best customers, account for 80% of your profitability and referrals. We intellectually know that and yet our behavior sure doesn’t show it. We spend all kinds of dollars, time, energy and worry chasing after new customers and after someone starts to buy, the typical business sort of forgets all about them. Much like people’s dating patterns — there’s a lot of wooing that goes on before the wedding but after the “I do’s” get said, the florist goes broke. Our poor best customers get the same treatment from us and that needs to stop. We need to shift a portion of our marketing focus away from prospects and invest even more in our best customers — the ones who have already proven that they’ll sing our praises, buy more and more and bring their friends along for the ride. Fortunately, my friend Stan Phelps has written a book to help us all do just that. This book, What’s Your Golden Goldfish, is the third book in a trilogy of marketing books that are all built around over 2,200 crowdsourced examples of real life marketing smarts. This particular book shares over 100 examples of what leading brands like Starbucks, Doubletree, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Virgin Atlantic are doing differently to cater to their best customers and earn even more of their business and loyalty. The book showcases nine different ways to let your best customers (and employees) know how much you value them. By doing those little extras, you will make your company even stronger. You will differentiate yourself even more from your competitors, you’ll keep both your best customers and employees longer so they contribute to your success and with every little extra, you will create more word of mouth buzz. The entire series of books is all built around the idea of lagniappe which is a creole word for “a little something extra.” In this edition — Stan helps his readers explore how organizations large and small can do a little something extra for their most loyal customers and employees. You’ll love the storytelling but make sure you have a pen and paper handy because this book is going to spark so many ideas that you’ll never remember them all. And as you implement them — your best customers will reward you with even more buzz, money and referrals. Sounds like it is going to work out well for everyone, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in Stan’s entire series, here’s how you can get them from Amazon. If your an Amazon Unlimited customer, you can read the electronic version for free. If you want the paperbacks, click on the links below: Third book — What’s Your Golden Goldfish: The Vital Few Second book — What’s your Green Goldfish: 15 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement and Reinforce Culture First book — What’s your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth Note: If you click on one of the Amazon links, I get a few cents. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Books, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Best Customers, Golden Goldfish, Goldfish series, referrals, Stan Phelps, Word of mouth The Freelance Studio Denver, Co.User Experience Agency We only care about you if it’s really about us October 28, 2014 by Drew McLellan 9 Comments Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 19 I Love MeWe recently bought an ad for a client and the ad rep suggested we make a big deal out of the fact that our client has been in business for 130 years. I politely told her that we definitely were not going to do that. Instead, we were going to talk about something their readers and our prospects might actually care about. My conversation with her is what prompted this blog post. We’ve all seen the ads or sales that are somehow tied to a businesses 25th anniversary or the “we’ve been in business for a century” sale announcements. The reality is – no one cares. While that may be a laudable accomplishment – to have hung in there that long, from your consumer’s point of view – it’s fluff or a gimmick (we’ve been around for 50 years so everything is 50% off!). Is a business going to offer me a better product after they’ve been around for 100 years? Was the stuff they sold in their ninety-fifth year just junk? Of course not. Is someone who just turned 60 a better advisor than when she was 59? Nope. You make that the focus of your ad or your sale when you don’t have anything better to say. And if you can’t come up with something more customer-centric than that to say – you’re lucky to still be in business. It’s actually a symptom of an age-old marketing problem. Businesses talk about themselves rather than talking about what the customer cares about. Here’s how to fix two of the most common “it’s all about me” types of marketing statements and make them customer centric and customer valued communications instead. #1 — We’re old and you should care All about us: We’re 100 years old. Come enjoy some birthday cake and celebrate with us as we cross the century mark. All about them: Over the many years we’ve been in business, we’ve learned that our customers value three things. They value incredible customer service (click here to speak live with one of our teammates), fair pricing (click here to read about our fair price every time program) and they want quality they can count on (watch a short video about our factory’s 100% right or 100% wrong policy). You’re saying the same thing – we’ve been in business long enough to be stable, to have earned our customer’s trust and no one has to worry about you being a fly by night operation. But when you push beyond focusing on yourself, you can outline exactly why your longevity is of value to the prospect that is considering doing business with you. #2 – The difference is our people (perhaps the most trite sentence uttered in marketing today) All about us: Our people really care. You’re not just a number to us. All about them: Hi Mr. McLellan – we see that you’re going to be staying at our hotel XYZ in Big City. We’re glad to have you staying with us and want to make sure we do everything in our power to make your stay an awesome one. As the manager of the hotel, I want you to have my direct line (123-456-7890) and email (manager@BigHotel.com) so you can get a hold of me if there’s anything you need. Don’t tell me that your people care. Show me. It sounds like hype when you brag about it. It feels remarkable when I experience it for myself. The truth is…most businesses say it but few actually deliver on it. Why not just shut up and show it? If you’re going to expend the effort to talk to your customers and prospects, stop talking about yourself and talk about what they care about — what’s in it for me. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Strategy Tagged With: marketing, messaging Building a website your users will love July 14, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 24 website your users will loveIt seems like a “duh,” doesn’t it? Of course you want to build a website your users will love. But remember, not that long ago, many businesses were wondering whether or not they even needed a website. It seemed so far-fetched that any of their customers would ever do anything but show up at their store or pick up the phone to place an order. How quickly times change. Now, a business isn’t considered legitimate until they have a web presence. No matter what it is you sell, odds are your prospects are going to visit your website to decide if you’re even in the running. I’m hard pressed to think of an industry or business category that doesn’t rely on their website as the main workhorse in their marketing arsenal. It used to be that you had an opportunity to make the sale when someone walked into your retail location, your salesperson called on the buyer or you answered your phone. But today, a good portion of the sales process has nothing to do with you actively engaging with the potential buyer. They’re doing a great deal of their due diligence tire kicking without you being in the room at all. It’s happening on your website, within social networks and with the help of a Google search. Which makes what you put out on the web absolutely vital to your business’ success. You must build a website your users will love. All of that being said – most websites stink. They’re badly designed, built for the business’ ego rather than the customer’s utility and they’re out of date. Why? I think most businesses think of their website like an ever expanding junk drawer. They just keep tossing more stuff in there and hope that when someone rummages through it – they can find what they need. If you’d like your website to be the effective workhorse you need it to be, consider these best practices: It should be an experience: Keep in mind that many people will decide whether or not to do business with you based on their web visit. So you want them to have a memorable and enjoyable experience. Get them interacting with you – give them a quiz, help them find answers to their specific questions or offer them something they might want to share with others. In addition: Let your company’s personality be a part of the site — both in design and voice Simple navigation matters – make it intuitive Remember eye flow – give them plenty of white space and eye rest Don’t talk about yourself: Talk about their world and how you can improve it. Everything should be presented from their perspective, not yours. You might need an outside perspective to help you identify what truly matters to your audience. In addition: Don’t over share – think hors’ oeuvres, not a six course meal Start at the 101 level — not every visitor will already be an expert Leave them wanting more so they call or send an email Keep the content fresh – stale content does not sell Cascade your content – start with a little and then let them choose to drill down for more if they want it Make it easy, no matter the device: Don’t assume everyone is using a 15-inch screen. Within the next couple years, the majority of web searches will be conducted on a mobile phone. Check your site on desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones because if there’s one thing your users will love is being able to access your content no matter where they are. In addition: Pay attention to page placement — your most important content should be above the fold Give them more than one way to navigate Use landing pages to help diverse audiences get where they want to go Don’t let a mediocre website discourage prospects from becoming customers before they even shake your hand. If you haven’t already done it — start tomorrow. Build a website your users will love and share and best of all — buy from. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Marketing, Web/Tech How to be a good agency client July 1, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 23 How to be a good agency clientI’ve been working in advertising agencies for almost 30 years now and I’ve had the incredible good fortune to work with some amazing clients over the years. Early in my career, before I had the deciding vote on who we’d serve, I also worked with some real jerks. For most of us in the marketing world, we serve clients (could be an internal department or external, paying clients) and in most cases, we are also someone else’s client (vendor, strategic partner, agency if you’re client side, etc.) as well. I thought I’d reflect on my life with clients (and being a client) …and share the best practices so we can all be a better client on the next go around. Have you ever wondered how to be a good agency client? Talk to us about budget: It’s ridiculous how some clients make their agency jump through hoops to guess at the budget. We can’t help you spend your money in the wisest, most effective way possible if we don’t know the boundaries. If you don’t trust us enough to tell us – fire us. Say thank you in your own way: One of my all-time favorite clients came over one Christmas week and serenaded us with one of her holiday favorites. What an incredible gift – to share something so personal with such affection and heart. I’ll never forget the experience. Invite us to the party: We can be so much more helpful if you bring us inside. Let us interact with your c-suite, sales team, and customer service reps and be a part of the very early strategy sessions. We bring a very unique and valuable perspective – we’re informed outsiders. We can see with more clarity and less bias but we also know enough to ask the hard but insightful questions. Trust us: Our job is to make you a rock star. To help you achieve and surpass your company’s goals. We’re on your side. In theory, you selected us to be your partner because you believe we’re good at our work. So trust us. Don’t let your personal bias or preferences lead you in the wrong direction – when we disagree with you, let us explain, from our experience and expertise, why we disagree and be mindful of your mindset. In the end, it’s your money and we’ll do as you ask, but don’t shortchange our desire to being your best ally. Pay your bills on time: On the other end of the money — pay your bills on time. Odds are we jumped through hoops to hit your deadlines, and now it’s your turn. Don’t put your agency in the position of being your bank. Remember, they’ve incurred costs on your behalf, so don’t hang them out to dry. Everyone hits a tough spot and when that happens, talk to us about it. But don’t leave us in the dark. Connect with us: We all want to work with people we like. Don’t hide your humanity. Show us your vacation pictures. Tell us your funny weekend story. Reminisce about the old job or the old boss. We don’t have to be best buddies (although it’s nice when that happens) but it’s human nature to work harder for someone you like. So let us get to know you on a personal level. Celebrate with us: Marketing is usually a a winding road of obstacles and last minute adjustments, done at breakneck speed and involves a bit of risk. When it all comes together, it’s magical. Take time to celebrate with the entire team. Give kudos to the people who often don’t get the lead the team or enjoy the glory. Rewarding everyone with a special dinner or even a bagel break will fire up the team for the next challenge. The lion’s share of agency owners and employees chose the profession because they love to use their creativity to help clients. Letting them know you appreciate their efforts and actually helping them help you means you both get more of what will make you happy and successful. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Agency Life, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Advertising Agency, clients, marketing firm, partner, working together Leave a Reply Marketing automation — evil or misunderstood? July 16, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment marketing automationWhen the subject of marketing automation comes up, many purists shake their head and talk about how robotic and impersonal it is. Well — if you do it badly, that’s very true. In that case — you really do make your potential customers feel like they’re just a number to you and that you treat everyone the same, with little regard to their specific needs. But when you build the system with your customer in mind — it can be a wonderful experience for them and for you. It all depends on if you build it once and put it on auto pilot or if you use it as a tool to serve up exactly what each visitor is looking for. Automation allows you to create a user experience that puts the user in the driver’s seat. They can access the exact information they want, when they want it — and how they want it. The key is to realize that different people are going to have different needs and you need to anticipate that as you build out the options. Even more important — once you start getting visitors, you need to learn from where they go and don’t want to go. It’s a given that every potential customer probably isn’t going to want exactly the same information. As you watch and learn — you can create new paths and test the results. At the end of the day, thanks to automation, you can create multiple paths, so each person can have a different experience, based on their own needs and interests. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Recently, the folks at Marketo asked me to comment on the question “can big data lead to big love?” Check out the article and my comments. If you’re using marketing automation to make it easy for you and only you, then it probably isn’t going to work so well. But if you use it as a tool to serve your customers better — it can indeed lead to big love. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Your best customers are pure gold July 19, 2014 by Drew McLellan 1 Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 28 best customersYou’ve heard it before — the top 20% of your customers, your very best customers, account for 80% of your profitability and referrals. We intellectually know that and yet our behavior sure doesn’t show it. We spend all kinds of dollars, time, energy and worry chasing after new customers and after someone starts to buy, the typical business sort of forgets all about them. Much like people’s dating patterns — there’s a lot of wooing that goes on before the wedding but after the “I do’s” get said, the florist goes broke. Our poor best customers get the same treatment from us and that needs to stop. We need to shift a portion of our marketing focus away from prospects and invest even more in our best customers — the ones who have already proven that they’ll sing our praises, buy more and more and bring their friends along for the ride. Fortunately, my friend Stan Phelps has written a book to help us all do just that. This book, What’s Your Golden Goldfish, is the third book in a trilogy of marketing books that are all built around over 2,200 crowdsourced examples of real life marketing smarts. This particular book shares over 100 examples of what leading brands like Starbucks, Doubletree, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Virgin Atlantic are doing differently to cater to their best customers and earn even more of their business and loyalty. The book showcases nine different ways to let your best customers (and employees) know how much you value them. By doing those little extras, you will make your company even stronger. You will differentiate yourself even more from your competitors, you’ll keep both your best customers and employees longer so they contribute to your success and with every little extra, you will create more word of mouth buzz. The entire series of books is all built around the idea of lagniappe which is a creole word for “a little something extra.” In this edition — Stan helps his readers explore how organizations large and small can do a little something extra for their most loyal customers and employees. You’ll love the storytelling but make sure you have a pen and paper handy because this book is going to spark so many ideas that you’ll never remember them all. And as you implement them — your best customers will reward you with even more buzz, money and referrals. Sounds like it is going to work out well for everyone, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in Stan’s entire series, here’s how you can get them from Amazon. If your an Amazon Unlimited customer, you can read the electronic version for free. If you want the paperbacks, click on the links below: Third book — What’s Your Golden Goldfish: The Vital Few Second book — What’s your Green Goldfish: 15 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement and Reinforce Culture First book — What’s your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth Note: If you click on one of the Amazon links, I get a few cents. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Books, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Best Customers, Golden Goldfish, Goldfish series, referrals, Stan Phelps, Word of mouth The Freelance Studio Denver, Co.User Experience Agency We only care about you if it’s really about us October 28, 2014 by Drew McLellan 9 Comments Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 19 I Love MeWe recently bought an ad for a client and the ad rep suggested we make a big deal out of the fact that our client has been in business for 130 years. I politely told her that we definitely were not going to do that. Instead, we were going to talk about something their readers and our prospects might actually care about. My conversation with her is what prompted this blog post. We’ve all seen the ads or sales that are somehow tied to a businesses 25th anniversary or the “we’ve been in business for a century” sale announcements. The reality is – no one cares. While that may be a laudable accomplishment – to have hung in there that long, from your consumer’s point of view – it’s fluff or a gimmick (we’ve been around for 50 years so everything is 50% off!). Is a business going to offer me a better product after they’ve been around for 100 years? Was the stuff they sold in their ninety-fifth year just junk? Of course not. Is someone who just turned 60 a better advisor than when she was 59? Nope. You make that the focus of your ad or your sale when you don’t have anything better to say. And if you can’t come up with something more customer-centric than that to say – you’re lucky to still be in business. It’s actually a symptom of an age-old marketing problem. Businesses talk about themselves rather than talking about what the customer cares about. Here’s how to fix two of the most common “it’s all about me” types of marketing statements and make them customer centric and customer valued communications instead. #1 — We’re old and you should care All about us: We’re 100 years old. Come enjoy some birthday cake and celebrate with us as we cross the century mark. All about them: Over the many years we’ve been in business, we’ve learned that our customers value three things. They value incredible customer service (click here to speak live with one of our teammates), fair pricing (click here to read about our fair price every time program) and they want quality they can count on (watch a short video about our factory’s 100% right or 100% wrong policy). You’re saying the same thing – we’ve been in business long enough to be stable, to have earned our customer’s trust and no one has to worry about you being a fly by night operation. But when you push beyond focusing on yourself, you can outline exactly why your longevity is of value to the prospect that is considering doing business with you. #2 – The difference is our people (perhaps the most trite sentence uttered in marketing today) All about us: Our people really care. You’re not just a number to us. All about them: Hi Mr. McLellan – we see that you’re going to be staying at our hotel XYZ in Big City. We’re glad to have you staying with us and want to make sure we do everything in our power to make your stay an awesome one. As the manager of the hotel, I want you to have my direct line (123-456-7890) and email (manager@BigHotel.com) so you can get a hold of me if there’s anything you need. Don’t tell me that your people care. Show me. It sounds like hype when you brag about it. It feels remarkable when I experience it for myself. The truth is…most businesses say it but few actually deliver on it. Why not just shut up and show it? If you’re going to expend the effort to talk to your customers and prospects, stop talking about yourself and talk about what they care about — what’s in it for me. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Strategy Tagged With: marketing, messaging Building a website your users will love July 14, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 24 website your users will loveIt seems like a “duh,” doesn’t it? Of course you want to build a website your users will love. But remember, not that long ago, many businesses were wondering whether or not they even needed a website. It seemed so far-fetched that any of their customers would ever do anything but show up at their store or pick up the phone to place an order. How quickly times change. Now, a business isn’t considered legitimate until they have a web presence. No matter what it is you sell, odds are your prospects are going to visit your website to decide if you’re even in the running. I’m hard pressed to think of an industry or business category that doesn’t rely on their website as the main workhorse in their marketing arsenal. It used to be that you had an opportunity to make the sale when someone walked into your retail location, your salesperson called on the buyer or you answered your phone. But today, a good portion of the sales process has nothing to do with you actively engaging with the potential buyer. They’re doing a great deal of their due diligence tire kicking without you being in the room at all. It’s happening on your website, within social networks and with the help of a Google search. Which makes what you put out on the web absolutely vital to your business’ success. You must build a website your users will love. All of that being said – most websites stink. They’re badly designed, built for the business’ ego rather than the customer’s utility and they’re out of date. Why? I think most businesses think of their website like an ever expanding junk drawer. They just keep tossing more stuff in there and hope that when someone rummages through it – they can find what they need. If you’d like your website to be the effective workhorse you need it to be, consider these best practices: It should be an experience: Keep in mind that many people will decide whether or not to do business with you based on their web visit. So you want them to have a memorable and enjoyable experience. Get them interacting with you – give them a quiz, help them find answers to their specific questions or offer them something they might want to share with others. In addition: Let your company’s personality be a part of the site — both in design and voice Simple navigation matters – make it intuitive Remember eye flow – give them plenty of white space and eye rest Don’t talk about yourself: Talk about their world and how you can improve it. Everything should be presented from their perspective, not yours. You might need an outside perspective to help you identify what truly matters to your audience. In addition: Don’t over share – think hors’ oeuvres, not a six course meal Start at the 101 level — not every visitor will already be an expert Leave them wanting more so they call or send an email Keep the content fresh – stale content does not sell Cascade your content – start with a little and then let them choose to drill down for more if they want it Make it easy, no matter the device: Don’t assume everyone is using a 15-inch screen. Within the next couple years, the majority of web searches will be conducted on a mobile phone. Check your site on desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones because if there’s one thing your users will love is being able to access your content no matter where they are. In addition: Pay attention to page placement — your most important content should be above the fold Give them more than one way to navigate Use landing pages to help diverse audiences get where they want to go Don’t let a mediocre website discourage prospects from becoming customers before they even shake your hand. If you haven’t already done it — start tomorrow. Build a website your users will love and share and best of all — buy from. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Marketing, Web/Tech How to be a good agency client July 1, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 23 How to be a good agency clientI’ve been working in advertising agencies for almost 30 years now and I’ve had the incredible good fortune to work with some amazing clients over the years. Early in my career, before I had the deciding vote on who we’d serve, I also worked with some real jerks. For most of us in the marketing world, we serve clients (could be an internal department or external, paying clients) and in most cases, we are also someone else’s client (vendor, strategic partner, agency if you’re client side, etc.) as well. I thought I’d reflect on my life with clients (and being a client) …and share the best practices so we can all be a better client on the next go around. Have you ever wondered how to be a good agency client? Talk to us about budget: It’s ridiculous how some clients make their agency jump through hoops to guess at the budget. We can’t help you spend your money in the wisest, most effective way possible if we don’t know the boundaries. If you don’t trust us enough to tell us – fire us. Say thank you in your own way: One of my all-time favorite clients came over one Christmas week and serenaded us with one of her holiday favorites. What an incredible gift – to share something so personal with such affection and heart. I’ll never forget the experience. Invite us to the party: We can be so much more helpful if you bring us inside. Let us interact with your c-suite, sales team, and customer service reps and be a part of the very early strategy sessions. We bring a very unique and valuable perspective – we’re informed outsiders. We can see with more clarity and less bias but we also know enough to ask the hard but insightful questions. Trust us: Our job is to make you a rock star. To help you achieve and surpass your company’s goals. We’re on your side. In theory, you selected us to be your partner because you believe we’re good at our work. So trust us. Don’t let your personal bias or preferences lead you in the wrong direction – when we disagree with you, let us explain, from our experience and expertise, why we disagree and be mindful of your mindset. In the end, it’s your money and we’ll do as you ask, but don’t shortchange our desire to being your best ally. Pay your bills on time: On the other end of the money — pay your bills on time. Odds are we jumped through hoops to hit your deadlines, and now it’s your turn. Don’t put your agency in the position of being your bank. Remember, they’ve incurred costs on your behalf, so don’t hang them out to dry. Everyone hits a tough spot and when that happens, talk to us about it. But don’t leave us in the dark. Connect with us: We all want to work with people we like. Don’t hide your humanity. Show us your vacation pictures. Tell us your funny weekend story. Reminisce about the old job or the old boss. We don’t have to be best buddies (although it’s nice when that happens) but it’s human nature to work harder for someone you like. So let us get to know you on a personal level. Celebrate with us: Marketing is usually a a winding road of obstacles and last minute adjustments, done at breakneck speed and involves a bit of risk. When it all comes together, it’s magical. Take time to celebrate with the entire team. Give kudos to the people who often don’t get the lead the team or enjoy the glory. Rewarding everyone with a special dinner or even a bagel break will fire up the team for the next challenge. The lion’s share of agency owners and employees chose the profession because they love to use their creativity to help clients. Letting them know you appreciate their efforts and actually helping them help you means you both get more of what will make you happy and successful. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Agency Life, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Advertising Agency, clients, marketing firm, partner, working together Leave a Reply Marketing automation — evil or misunderstood? July 16, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment marketing automationWhen the subject of marketing automation comes up, many purists shake their head and talk about how robotic and impersonal it is. Well — if you do it badly, that’s very true. In that case — you really do make your potential customers feel like they’re just a number to you and that you treat everyone the same, with little regard to their specific needs. But when you build the system with your customer in mind — it can be a wonderful experience for them and for you. It all depends on if you build it once and put it on auto pilot or if you use it as a tool to serve up exactly what each visitor is looking for. Automation allows you to create a user experience that puts the user in the driver’s seat. They can access the exact information they want, when they want it — and how they want it. The key is to realize that different people are going to have different needs and you need to anticipate that as you build out the options. Even more important — once you start getting visitors, you need to learn from where they go and don’t want to go. It’s a given that every potential customer probably isn’t going to want exactly the same information. As you watch and learn — you can create new paths and test the results. At the end of the day, thanks to automation, you can create multiple paths, so each person can have a different experience, based on their own needs and interests. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Recently, the folks at Marketo asked me to comment on the question “can big data lead to big love?” Check out the article and my comments. If you’re using marketing automation to make it easy for you and only you, then it probably isn’t going to work so well. But if you use it as a tool to serve your customers better — it can indeed lead to big love. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Your best customers are pure gold July 19, 2014 by Drew McLellan 1 Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 28 best customersYou’ve heard it before — the top 20% of your customers, your very best customers, account for 80% of your profitability and referrals. We intellectually know that and yet our behavior sure doesn’t show it. We spend all kinds of dollars, time, energy and worry chasing after new customers and after someone starts to buy, the typical business sort of forgets all about them. Much like people’s dating patterns — there’s a lot of wooing that goes on before the wedding but after the “I do’s” get said, the florist goes broke. Our poor best customers get the same treatment from us and that needs to stop. We need to shift a portion of our marketing focus away from prospects and invest even more in our best customers — the ones who have already proven that they’ll sing our praises, buy more and more and bring their friends along for the ride. Fortunately, my friend Stan Phelps has written a book to help us all do just that. This book, What’s Your Golden Goldfish, is the third book in a trilogy of marketing books that are all built around over 2,200 crowdsourced examples of real life marketing smarts. This particular book shares over 100 examples of what leading brands like Starbucks, Doubletree, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Virgin Atlantic are doing differently to cater to their best customers and earn even more of their business and loyalty. The book showcases nine different ways to let your best customers (and employees) know how much you value them. By doing those little extras, you will make your company even stronger. You will differentiate yourself even more from your competitors, you’ll keep both your best customers and employees longer so they contribute to your success and with every little extra, you will create more word of mouth buzz. The entire series of books is all built around the idea of lagniappe which is a creole word for “a little something extra.” In this edition — Stan helps his readers explore how organizations large and small can do a little something extra for their most loyal customers and employees. You’ll love the storytelling but make sure you have a pen and paper handy because this book is going to spark so many ideas that you’ll never remember them all. And as you implement them — your best customers will reward you with even more buzz, money and referrals. Sounds like it is going to work out well for everyone, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in Stan’s entire series, here’s how you can get them from Amazon. If your an Amazon Unlimited customer, you can read the electronic version for free. If you want the paperbacks, click on the links below: Third book — What’s Your Golden Goldfish: The Vital Few Second book — What’s your Green Goldfish: 15 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement and Reinforce Culture First book — What’s your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth Note: If you click on one of the Amazon links, I get a few cents. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Books, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Best Customers, Golden Goldfish, Goldfish series, referrals, Stan Phelps, Word of mouth The Freelance Studio Denver, Co.User Experience Agency We only care about you if it’s really about us October 28, 2014 by Drew McLellan 9 Comments Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 19 I Love MeWe recently bought an ad for a client and the ad rep suggested we make a big deal out of the fact that our client has been in business for 130 years. I politely told her that we definitely were not going to do that. Instead, we were going to talk about something their readers and our prospects might actually care about. My conversation with her is what prompted this blog post. We’ve all seen the ads or sales that are somehow tied to a businesses 25th anniversary or the “we’ve been in business for a century” sale announcements. The reality is – no one cares. While that may be a laudable accomplishment – to have hung in there that long, from your consumer’s point of view – it’s fluff or a gimmick (we’ve been around for 50 years so everything is 50% off!). Is a business going to offer me a better product after they’ve been around for 100 years? Was the stuff they sold in their ninety-fifth year just junk? Of course not. Is someone who just turned 60 a better advisor than when she was 59? Nope. You make that the focus of your ad or your sale when you don’t have anything better to say. And if you can’t come up with something more customer-centric than that to say – you’re lucky to still be in business. It’s actually a symptom of an age-old marketing problem. Businesses talk about themselves rather than talking about what the customer cares about. Here’s how to fix two of the most common “it’s all about me” types of marketing statements and make them customer centric and customer valued communications instead. #1 — We’re old and you should care All about us: We’re 100 years old. Come enjoy some birthday cake and celebrate with us as we cross the century mark. All about them: Over the many years we’ve been in business, we’ve learned that our customers value three things. They value incredible customer service (click here to speak live with one of our teammates), fair pricing (click here to read about our fair price every time program) and they want quality they can count on (watch a short video about our factory’s 100% right or 100% wrong policy). You’re saying the same thing – we’ve been in business long enough to be stable, to have earned our customer’s trust and no one has to worry about you being a fly by night operation. But when you push beyond focusing on yourself, you can outline exactly why your longevity is of value to the prospect that is considering doing business with you. #2 – The difference is our people (perhaps the most trite sentence uttered in marketing today) All about us: Our people really care. You’re not just a number to us. All about them: Hi Mr. McLellan – we see that you’re going to be staying at our hotel XYZ in Big City. We’re glad to have you staying with us and want to make sure we do everything in our power to make your stay an awesome one. As the manager of the hotel, I want you to have my direct line (123-456-7890) and email (manager@BigHotel.com) so you can get a hold of me if there’s anything you need. Don’t tell me that your people care. Show me. It sounds like hype when you brag about it. It feels remarkable when I experience it for myself. The truth is…most businesses say it but few actually deliver on it. Why not just shut up and show it? If you’re going to expend the effort to talk to your customers and prospects, stop talking about yourself and talk about what they care about — what’s in it for me. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Strategy Tagged With: marketing, messaging Building a website your users will love July 14, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 24 website your users will loveIt seems like a “duh,” doesn’t it? Of course you want to build a website your users will love. But remember, not that long ago, many businesses were wondering whether or not they even needed a website. It seemed so far-fetched that any of their customers would ever do anything but show up at their store or pick up the phone to place an order. How quickly times change. Now, a business isn’t considered legitimate until they have a web presence. No matter what it is you sell, odds are your prospects are going to visit your website to decide if you’re even in the running. I’m hard pressed to think of an industry or business category that doesn’t rely on their website as the main workhorse in their marketing arsenal. It used to be that you had an opportunity to make the sale when someone walked into your retail location, your salesperson called on the buyer or you answered your phone. But today, a good portion of the sales process has nothing to do with you actively engaging with the potential buyer. They’re doing a great deal of their due diligence tire kicking without you being in the room at all. It’s happening on your website, within social networks and with the help of a Google search. Which makes what you put out on the web absolutely vital to your business’ success. You must build a website your users will love. All of that being said – most websites stink. They’re badly designed, built for the business’ ego rather than the customer’s utility and they’re out of date. Why? I think most businesses think of their website like an ever expanding junk drawer. They just keep tossing more stuff in there and hope that when someone rummages through it – they can find what they need. If you’d like your website to be the effective workhorse you need it to be, consider these best practices: It should be an experience: Keep in mind that many people will decide whether or not to do business with you based on their web visit. So you want them to have a memorable and enjoyable experience. Get them interacting with you – give them a quiz, help them find answers to their specific questions or offer them something they might want to share with others. In addition: Let your company’s personality be a part of the site — both in design and voice Simple navigation matters – make it intuitive Remember eye flow – give them plenty of white space and eye rest Don’t talk about yourself: Talk about their world and how you can improve it. Everything should be presented from their perspective, not yours. You might need an outside perspective to help you identify what truly matters to your audience. In addition: Don’t over share – think hors’ oeuvres, not a six course meal Start at the 101 level — not every visitor will already be an expert Leave them wanting more so they call or send an email Keep the content fresh – stale content does not sell Cascade your content – start with a little and then let them choose to drill down for more if they want it Make it easy, no matter the device: Don’t assume everyone is using a 15-inch screen. Within the next couple years, the majority of web searches will be conducted on a mobile phone. Check your site on desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones because if there’s one thing your users will love is being able to access your content no matter where they are. In addition: Pay attention to page placement — your most important content should be above the fold Give them more than one way to navigate Use landing pages to help diverse audiences get where they want to go Don’t let a mediocre website discourage prospects from becoming customers before they even shake your hand. If you haven’t already done it — start tomorrow. Build a website your users will love and share and best of all — buy from. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Marketing, Web/Tech How to be a good agency client July 1, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 23 How to be a good agency clientI’ve been working in advertising agencies for almost 30 years now and I’ve had the incredible good fortune to work with some amazing clients over the years. Early in my career, before I had the deciding vote on who we’d serve, I also worked with some real jerks. For most of us in the marketing world, we serve clients (could be an internal department or external, paying clients) and in most cases, we are also someone else’s client (vendor, strategic partner, agency if you’re client side, etc.) as well. I thought I’d reflect on my life with clients (and being a client) …and share the best practices so we can all be a better client on the next go around. Have you ever wondered how to be a good agency client? Talk to us about budget: It’s ridiculous how some clients make their agency jump through hoops to guess at the budget. We can’t help you spend your money in the wisest, most effective way possible if we don’t know the boundaries. If you don’t trust us enough to tell us – fire us. Say thank you in your own way: One of my all-time favorite clients came over one Christmas week and serenaded us with one of her holiday favorites. What an incredible gift – to share something so personal with such affection and heart. I’ll never forget the experience. Invite us to the party: We can be so much more helpful if you bring us inside. Let us interact with your c-suite, sales team, and customer service reps and be a part of the very early strategy sessions. We bring a very unique and valuable perspective – we’re informed outsiders. We can see with more clarity and less bias but we also know enough to ask the hard but insightful questions. Trust us: Our job is to make you a rock star. To help you achieve and surpass your company’s goals. We’re on your side. In theory, you selected us to be your partner because you believe we’re good at our work. So trust us. Don’t let your personal bias or preferences lead you in the wrong direction – when we disagree with you, let us explain, from our experience and expertise, why we disagree and be mindful of your mindset. In the end, it’s your money and we’ll do as you ask, but don’t shortchange our desire to being your best ally. Pay your bills on time: On the other end of the money — pay your bills on time. Odds are we jumped through hoops to hit your deadlines, and now it’s your turn. Don’t put your agency in the position of being your bank. Remember, they’ve incurred costs on your behalf, so don’t hang them out to dry. Everyone hits a tough spot and when that happens, talk to us about it. But don’t leave us in the dark. Connect with us: We all want to work with people we like. Don’t hide your humanity. Show us your vacation pictures. Tell us your funny weekend story. Reminisce about the old job or the old boss. We don’t have to be best buddies (although it’s nice when that happens) but it’s human nature to work harder for someone you like. So let us get to know you on a personal level. Celebrate with us: Marketing is usually a a winding road of obstacles and last minute adjustments, done at breakneck speed and involves a bit of risk. When it all comes together, it’s magical. Take time to celebrate with the entire team. Give kudos to the people who often don’t get the lead the team or enjoy the glory. Rewarding everyone with a special dinner or even a bagel break will fire up the team for the next challenge. The lion’s share of agency owners and employees chose the profession because they love to use their creativity to help clients. Letting them know you appreciate their efforts and actually helping them help you means you both get more of what will make you happy and successful. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Agency Life, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Advertising Agency, clients, marketing firm, partner, working together Leave a Reply Marketing automation — evil or misunderstood? July 16, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment marketing automationWhen the subject of marketing automation comes up, many purists shake their head and talk about how robotic and impersonal it is. Well — if you do it badly, that’s very true. In that case — you really do make your potential customers feel like they’re just a number to you and that you treat everyone the same, with little regard to their specific needs. But when you build the system with your customer in mind — it can be a wonderful experience for them and for you. It all depends on if you build it once and put it on auto pilot or if you use it as a tool to serve up exactly what each visitor is looking for. Automation allows you to create a user experience that puts the user in the driver’s seat. They can access the exact information they want, when they want it — and how they want it. The key is to realize that different people are going to have different needs and you need to anticipate that as you build out the options. Even more important — once you start getting visitors, you need to learn from where they go and don’t want to go. It’s a given that every potential customer probably isn’t going to want exactly the same information. As you watch and learn — you can create new paths and test the results. At the end of the day, thanks to automation, you can create multiple paths, so each person can have a different experience, based on their own needs and interests. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Recently, the folks at Marketo asked me to comment on the question “can big data lead to big love?” Check out the article and my comments. If you’re using marketing automation to make it easy for you and only you, then it probably isn’t going to work so well. But if you use it as a tool to serve your customers better — it can indeed lead to big love. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Your best customers are pure gold July 19, 2014 by Drew McLellan 1 Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 28 best customersYou’ve heard it before — the top 20% of your customers, your very best customers, account for 80% of your profitability and referrals. We intellectually know that and yet our behavior sure doesn’t show it. We spend all kinds of dollars, time, energy and worry chasing after new customers and after someone starts to buy, the typical business sort of forgets all about them. Much like people’s dating patterns — there’s a lot of wooing that goes on before the wedding but after the “I do’s” get said, the florist goes broke. Our poor best customers get the same treatment from us and that needs to stop. We need to shift a portion of our marketing focus away from prospects and invest even more in our best customers — the ones who have already proven that they’ll sing our praises, buy more and more and bring their friends along for the ride. Fortunately, my friend Stan Phelps has written a book to help us all do just that. This book, What’s Your Golden Goldfish, is the third book in a trilogy of marketing books that are all built around over 2,200 crowdsourced examples of real life marketing smarts. This particular book shares over 100 examples of what leading brands like Starbucks, Doubletree, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Virgin Atlantic are doing differently to cater to their best customers and earn even more of their business and loyalty. The book showcases nine different ways to let your best customers (and employees) know how much you value them. By doing those little extras, you will make your company even stronger. You will differentiate yourself even more from your competitors, you’ll keep both your best customers and employees longer so they contribute to your success and with every little extra, you will create more word of mouth buzz. The entire series of books is all built around the idea of lagniappe which is a creole word for “a little something extra.” In this edition — Stan helps his readers explore how organizations large and small can do a little something extra for their most loyal customers and employees. You’ll love the storytelling but make sure you have a pen and paper handy because this book is going to spark so many ideas that you’ll never remember them all. And as you implement them — your best customers will reward you with even more buzz, money and referrals. Sounds like it is going to work out well for everyone, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in Stan’s entire series, here’s how you can get them from Amazon. If your an Amazon Unlimited customer, you can read the electronic version for free. If you want the paperbacks, click on the links below: Third book — What’s Your Golden Goldfish: The Vital Few Second book — What’s your Green Goldfish: 15 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement and Reinforce Culture First book — What’s your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth Note: If you click on one of the Amazon links, I get a few cents. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Books, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Best Customers, Golden Goldfish, Goldfish series, referrals, Stan Phelps, Word of mouth The Freelance Studio Denver, Co.User Experience Agency We only care about you if it’s really about us October 28, 2014 by Drew McLellan 9 Comments Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 19 I Love MeWe recently bought an ad for a client and the ad rep suggested we make a big deal out of the fact that our client has been in business for 130 years. I politely told her that we definitely were not going to do that. Instead, we were going to talk about something their readers and our prospects might actually care about. My conversation with her is what prompted this blog post. We’ve all seen the ads or sales that are somehow tied to a businesses 25th anniversary or the “we’ve been in business for a century” sale announcements. The reality is – no one cares. While that may be a laudable accomplishment – to have hung in there that long, from your consumer’s point of view – it’s fluff or a gimmick (we’ve been around for 50 years so everything is 50% off!). Is a business going to offer me a better product after they’ve been around for 100 years? Was the stuff they sold in their ninety-fifth year just junk? Of course not. Is someone who just turned 60 a better advisor than when she was 59? Nope. You make that the focus of your ad or your sale when you don’t have anything better to say. And if you can’t come up with something more customer-centric than that to say – you’re lucky to still be in business. It’s actually a symptom of an age-old marketing problem. Businesses talk about themselves rather than talking about what the customer cares about. Here’s how to fix two of the most common “it’s all about me” types of marketing statements and make them customer centric and customer valued communications instead. #1 — We’re old and you should care All about us: We’re 100 years old. Come enjoy some birthday cake and celebrate with us as we cross the century mark. All about them: Over the many years we’ve been in business, we’ve learned that our customers value three things. They value incredible customer service (click here to speak live with one of our teammates), fair pricing (click here to read about our fair price every time program) and they want quality they can count on (watch a short video about our factory’s 100% right or 100% wrong policy). You’re saying the same thing – we’ve been in business long enough to be stable, to have earned our customer’s trust and no one has to worry about you being a fly by night operation. But when you push beyond focusing on yourself, you can outline exactly why your longevity is of value to the prospect that is considering doing business with you. #2 – The difference is our people (perhaps the most trite sentence uttered in marketing today) All about us: Our people really care. You’re not just a number to us. All about them: Hi Mr. McLellan – we see that you’re going to be staying at our hotel XYZ in Big City. We’re glad to have you staying with us and want to make sure we do everything in our power to make your stay an awesome one. As the manager of the hotel, I want you to have my direct line (123-456-7890) and email (manager@BigHotel.com) so you can get a hold of me if there’s anything you need. Don’t tell me that your people care. Show me. It sounds like hype when you brag about it. It feels remarkable when I experience it for myself. The truth is…most businesses say it but few actually deliver on it. Why not just shut up and show it? If you’re going to expend the effort to talk to your customers and prospects, stop talking about yourself and talk about what they care about — what’s in it for me. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Strategy Tagged With: marketing, messaging Building a website your users will love July 14, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 24 website your users will loveIt seems like a “duh,” doesn’t it? Of course you want to build a website your users will love. But remember, not that long ago, many businesses were wondering whether or not they even needed a website. It seemed so far-fetched that any of their customers would ever do anything but show up at their store or pick up the phone to place an order. How quickly times change. Now, a business isn’t considered legitimate until they have a web presence. No matter what it is you sell, odds are your prospects are going to visit your website to decide if you’re even in the running. I’m hard pressed to think of an industry or business category that doesn’t rely on their website as the main workhorse in their marketing arsenal. It used to be that you had an opportunity to make the sale when someone walked into your retail location, your salesperson called on the buyer or you answered your phone. But today, a good portion of the sales process has nothing to do with you actively engaging with the potential buyer. They’re doing a great deal of their due diligence tire kicking without you being in the room at all. It’s happening on your website, within social networks and with the help of a Google search. Which makes what you put out on the web absolutely vital to your business’ success. You must build a website your users will love. All of that being said – most websites stink. They’re badly designed, built for the business’ ego rather than the customer’s utility and they’re out of date. Why? I think most businesses think of their website like an ever expanding junk drawer. They just keep tossing more stuff in there and hope that when someone rummages through it – they can find what they need. If you’d like your website to be the effective workhorse you need it to be, consider these best practices: It should be an experience: Keep in mind that many people will decide whether or not to do business with you based on their web visit. So you want them to have a memorable and enjoyable experience. Get them interacting with you – give them a quiz, help them find answers to their specific questions or offer them something they might want to share with others. In addition: Let your company’s personality be a part of the site — both in design and voice Simple navigation matters – make it intuitive Remember eye flow – give them plenty of white space and eye rest Don’t talk about yourself: Talk about their world and how you can improve it. Everything should be presented from their perspective, not yours. You might need an outside perspective to help you identify what truly matters to your audience. In addition: Don’t over share – think hors’ oeuvres, not a six course meal Start at the 101 level — not every visitor will already be an expert Leave them wanting more so they call or send an email Keep the content fresh – stale content does not sell Cascade your content – start with a little and then let them choose to drill down for more if they want it Make it easy, no matter the device: Don’t assume everyone is using a 15-inch screen. Within the next couple years, the majority of web searches will be conducted on a mobile phone. Check your site on desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones because if there’s one thing your users will love is being able to access your content no matter where they are. In addition: Pay attention to page placement — your most important content should be above the fold Give them more than one way to navigate Use landing pages to help diverse audiences get where they want to go Don’t let a mediocre website discourage prospects from becoming customers before they even shake your hand. If you haven’t already done it — start tomorrow. Build a website your users will love and share and best of all — buy from. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Marketing, Web/Tech How to be a good agency client July 1, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 23 How to be a good agency clientI’ve been working in advertising agencies for almost 30 years now and I’ve had the incredible good fortune to work with some amazing clients over the years. Early in my career, before I had the deciding vote on who we’d serve, I also worked with some real jerks. For most of us in the marketing world, we serve clients (could be an internal department or external, paying clients) and in most cases, we are also someone else’s client (vendor, strategic partner, agency if you’re client side, etc.) as well. I thought I’d reflect on my life with clients (and being a client) …and share the best practices so we can all be a better client on the next go around. Have you ever wondered how to be a good agency client? Talk to us about budget: It’s ridiculous how some clients make their agency jump through hoops to guess at the budget. We can’t help you spend your money in the wisest, most effective way possible if we don’t know the boundaries. If you don’t trust us enough to tell us – fire us. Say thank you in your own way: One of my all-time favorite clients came over one Christmas week and serenaded us with one of her holiday favorites. What an incredible gift – to share something so personal with such affection and heart. I’ll never forget the experience. Invite us to the party: We can be so much more helpful if you bring us inside. Let us interact with your c-suite, sales team, and customer service reps and be a part of the very early strategy sessions. We bring a very unique and valuable perspective – we’re informed outsiders. We can see with more clarity and less bias but we also know enough to ask the hard but insightful questions. Trust us: Our job is to make you a rock star. To help you achieve and surpass your company’s goals. We’re on your side. In theory, you selected us to be your partner because you believe we’re good at our work. So trust us. Don’t let your personal bias or preferences lead you in the wrong direction – when we disagree with you, let us explain, from our experience and expertise, why we disagree and be mindful of your mindset. In the end, it’s your money and we’ll do as you ask, but don’t shortchange our desire to being your best ally. Pay your bills on time: On the other end of the money — pay your bills on time. Odds are we jumped through hoops to hit your deadlines, and now it’s your turn. Don’t put your agency in the position of being your bank. Remember, they’ve incurred costs on your behalf, so don’t hang them out to dry. Everyone hits a tough spot and when that happens, talk to us about it. But don’t leave us in the dark. Connect with us: We all want to work with people we like. Don’t hide your humanity. Show us your vacation pictures. Tell us your funny weekend story. Reminisce about the old job or the old boss. We don’t have to be best buddies (although it’s nice when that happens) but it’s human nature to work harder for someone you like. So let us get to know you on a personal level. Celebrate with us: Marketing is usually a a winding road of obstacles and last minute adjustments, done at breakneck speed and involves a bit of risk. When it all comes together, it’s magical. Take time to celebrate with the entire team. Give kudos to the people who often don’t get the lead the team or enjoy the glory. Rewarding everyone with a special dinner or even a bagel break will fire up the team for the next challenge. The lion’s share of agency owners and employees chose the profession because they love to use their creativity to help clients. Letting them know you appreciate their efforts and actually helping them help you means you both get more of what will make you happy and successful. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Agency Life, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Advertising Agency, clients, marketing firm, partner, working together Leave a Reply Marketing automation — evil or misunderstood? July 16, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment marketing automationWhen the subject of marketing automation comes up, many purists shake their head and talk about how robotic and impersonal it is. Well — if you do it badly, that’s very true. In that case — you really do make your potential customers feel like they’re just a number to you and that you treat everyone the same, with little regard to their specific needs. But when you build the system with your customer in mind — it can be a wonderful experience for them and for you. It all depends on if you build it once and put it on auto pilot or if you use it as a tool to serve up exactly what each visitor is looking for. Automation allows you to create a user experience that puts the user in the driver’s seat. They can access the exact information they want, when they want it — and how they want it. The key is to realize that different people are going to have different needs and you need to anticipate that as you build out the options. Even more important — once you start getting visitors, you need to learn from where they go and don’t want to go. It’s a given that every potential customer probably isn’t going to want exactly the same information. As you watch and learn — you can create new paths and test the results. At the end of the day, thanks to automation, you can create multiple paths, so each person can have a different experience, based on their own needs and interests. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Recently, the folks at Marketo asked me to comment on the question “can big data lead to big love?” Check out the article and my comments. If you’re using marketing automation to make it easy for you and only you, then it probably isn’t going to work so well. But if you use it as a tool to serve your customers better — it can indeed lead to big love. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Your best customers are pure gold July 19, 2014 by Drew McLellan 1 Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 28 best customersYou’ve heard it before — the top 20% of your customers, your very best customers, account for 80% of your profitability and referrals. We intellectually know that and yet our behavior sure doesn’t show it. We spend all kinds of dollars, time, energy and worry chasing after new customers and after someone starts to buy, the typical business sort of forgets all about them. Much like people’s dating patterns — there’s a lot of wooing that goes on before the wedding but after the “I do’s” get said, the florist goes broke. Our poor best customers get the same treatment from us and that needs to stop. We need to shift a portion of our marketing focus away from prospects and invest even more in our best customers — the ones who have already proven that they’ll sing our praises, buy more and more and bring their friends along for the ride. Fortunately, my friend Stan Phelps has written a book to help us all do just that. This book, What’s Your Golden Goldfish, is the third book in a trilogy of marketing books that are all built around over 2,200 crowdsourced examples of real life marketing smarts. This particular book shares over 100 examples of what leading brands like Starbucks, Doubletree, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Virgin Atlantic are doing differently to cater to their best customers and earn even more of their business and loyalty. The book showcases nine different ways to let your best customers (and employees) know how much you value them. By doing those little extras, you will make your company even stronger. You will differentiate yourself even more from your competitors, you’ll keep both your best customers and employees longer so they contribute to your success and with every little extra, you will create more word of mouth buzz. The entire series of books is all built around the idea of lagniappe which is a creole word for “a little something extra.” In this edition — Stan helps his readers explore how organizations large and small can do a little something extra for their most loyal customers and employees. You’ll love the storytelling but make sure you have a pen and paper handy because this book is going to spark so many ideas that you’ll never remember them all. And as you implement them — your best customers will reward you with even more buzz, money and referrals. Sounds like it is going to work out well for everyone, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in Stan’s entire series, here’s how you can get them from Amazon. If your an Amazon Unlimited customer, you can read the electronic version for free. If you want the paperbacks, click on the links below: Third book — What’s Your Golden Goldfish: The Vital Few Second book — What’s your Green Goldfish: 15 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement and Reinforce Culture First book — What’s your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth Note: If you click on one of the Amazon links, I get a few cents. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Books, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Best Customers, Golden Goldfish, Goldfish series, referrals, Stan Phelps, Word of mouthThe Freelance Studio Denver, Co.User Experience Agency We only care about you if it’s really about us October 28, 2014 by Drew McLellan 9 Comments Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 19 I Love MeWe recently bought an ad for a client and the ad rep suggested we make a big deal out of the fact that our client has been in business for 130 years. I politely told her that we definitely were not going to do that. Instead, we were going to talk about something their readers and our prospects might actually care about. My conversation with her is what prompted this blog post. We’ve all seen the ads or sales that are somehow tied to a businesses 25th anniversary or the “we’ve been in business for a century” sale announcements. The reality is – no one cares. While that may be a laudable accomplishment – to have hung in there that long, from your consumer’s point of view – it’s fluff or a gimmick (we’ve been around for 50 years so everything is 50% off!). Is a business going to offer me a better product after they’ve been around for 100 years? Was the stuff they sold in their ninety-fifth year just junk? Of course not. Is someone who just turned 60 a better advisor than when she was 59? Nope. You make that the focus of your ad or your sale when you don’t have anything better to say. And if you can’t come up with something more customer-centric than that to say – you’re lucky to still be in business. It’s actually a symptom of an age-old marketing problem. Businesses talk about themselves rather than talking about what the customer cares about. Here’s how to fix two of the most common “it’s all about me” types of marketing statements and make them customer centric and customer valued communications instead. #1 — We’re old and you should care All about us: We’re 100 years old. Come enjoy some birthday cake and celebrate with us as we cross the century mark. All about them: Over the many years we’ve been in business, we’ve learned that our customers value three things. They value incredible customer service (click here to speak live with one of our teammates), fair pricing (click here to read about our fair price every time program) and they want quality they can count on (watch a short video about our factory’s 100% right or 100% wrong policy). You’re saying the same thing – we’ve been in business long enough to be stable, to have earned our customer’s trust and no one has to worry about you being a fly by night operation. But when you push beyond focusing on yourself, you can outline exactly why your longevity is of value to the prospect that is considering doing business with you. #2 – The difference is our people (perhaps the most trite sentence uttered in marketing today) All about us: Our people really care. You’re not just a number to us. All about them: Hi Mr. McLellan – we see that you’re going to be staying at our hotel XYZ in Big City. We’re glad to have you staying with us and want to make sure we do everything in our power to make your stay an awesome one. As the manager of the hotel, I want you to have my direct line (123-456-7890) and email (manager@BigHotel.com) so you can get a hold of me if there’s anything you need. Don’t tell me that your people care. Show me. It sounds like hype when you brag about it. It feels remarkable when I experience it for myself. The truth is…most businesses say it but few actually deliver on it. Why not just shut up and show it? If you’re going to expend the effort to talk to your customers and prospects, stop talking about yourself and talk about what they care about — what’s in it for me. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Strategy Tagged With: marketing, messaging Building a website your users will love July 14, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 24 website your users will loveIt seems like a “duh,” doesn’t it? Of course you want to build a website your users will love. But remember, not that long ago, many businesses were wondering whether or not they even needed a website. It seemed so far-fetched that any of their customers would ever do anything but show up at their store or pick up the phone to place an order. How quickly times change. Now, a business isn’t considered legitimate until they have a web presence. No matter what it is you sell, odds are your prospects are going to visit your website to decide if you’re even in the running. I’m hard pressed to think of an industry or business category that doesn’t rely on their website as the main workhorse in their marketing arsenal. It used to be that you had an opportunity to make the sale when someone walked into your retail location, your salesperson called on the buyer or you answered your phone. But today, a good portion of the sales process has nothing to do with you actively engaging with the potential buyer. They’re doing a great deal of their due diligence tire kicking without you being in the room at all. It’s happening on your website, within social networks and with the help of a Google search. Which makes what you put out on the web absolutely vital to your business’ success. You must build a website your users will love. All of that being said – most websites stink. They’re badly designed, built for the business’ ego rather than the customer’s utility and they’re out of date. Why? I think most businesses think of their website like an ever expanding junk drawer. They just keep tossing more stuff in there and hope that when someone rummages through it – they can find what they need. If you’d like your website to be the effective workhorse you need it to be, consider these best practices: It should be an experience: Keep in mind that many people will decide whether or not to do business with you based on their web visit. So you want them to have a memorable and enjoyable experience. Get them interacting with you – give them a quiz, help them find answers to their specific questions or offer them something they might want to share with others. In addition: Let your company’s personality be a part of the site — both in design and voice Simple navigation matters – make it intuitive Remember eye flow – give them plenty of white space and eye rest Don’t talk about yourself: Talk about their world and how you can improve it. Everything should be presented from their perspective, not yours. You might need an outside perspective to help you identify what truly matters to your audience. In addition: Don’t over share – think hors’ oeuvres, not a six course meal Start at the 101 level — not every visitor will already be an expert Leave them wanting more so they call or send an email Keep the content fresh – stale content does not sell Cascade your content – start with a little and then let them choose to drill down for more if they want it Make it easy, no matter the device: Don’t assume everyone is using a 15-inch screen. Within the next couple years, the majority of web searches will be conducted on a mobile phone. Check your site on desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones because if there’s one thing your users will love is being able to access your content no matter where they are. In addition: Pay attention to page placement — your most important content should be above the fold Give them more than one way to navigate Use landing pages to help diverse audiences get where they want to go Don’t let a mediocre website discourage prospects from becoming customers before they even shake your hand. If you haven’t already done it — start tomorrow. Build a website your users will love and share and best of all — buy from. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Marketing, Web/Tech How to be a good agency client July 1, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 23 How to be a good agency clientI’ve been working in advertising agencies for almost 30 years now and I’ve had the incredible good fortune to work with some amazing clients over the years. Early in my career, before I had the deciding vote on who we’d serve, I also worked with some real jerks. For most of us in the marketing world, we serve clients (could be an internal department or external, paying clients) and in most cases, we are also someone else’s client (vendor, strategic partner, agency if you’re client side, etc.) as well. I thought I’d reflect on my life with clients (and being a client) …and share the best practices so we can all be a better client on the next go around. Have you ever wondered how to be a good agency client? Talk to us about budget: It’s ridiculous how some clients make their agency jump through hoops to guess at the budget. We can’t help you spend your money in the wisest, most effective way possible if we don’t know the boundaries. If you don’t trust us enough to tell us – fire us. Say thank you in your own way: One of my all-time favorite clients came over one Christmas week and serenaded us with one of her holiday favorites. What an incredible gift – to share something so personal with such affection and heart. I’ll never forget the experience. Invite us to the party: We can be so much more helpful if you bring us inside. Let us interact with your c-suite, sales team, and customer service reps and be a part of the very early strategy sessions. We bring a very unique and valuable perspective – we’re informed outsiders. We can see with more clarity and less bias but we also know enough to ask the hard but insightful questions. Trust us: Our job is to make you a rock star. To help you achieve and surpass your company’s goals. We’re on your side. In theory, you selected us to be your partner because you believe we’re good at our work. So trust us. Don’t let your personal bias or preferences lead you in the wrong direction – when we disagree with you, let us explain, from our experience and expertise, why we disagree and be mindful of your mindset. In the end, it’s your money and we’ll do as you ask, but don’t shortchange our desire to being your best ally. Pay your bills on time: On the other end of the money — pay your bills on time. Odds are we jumped through hoops to hit your deadlines, and now it’s your turn. Don’t put your agency in the position of being your bank. Remember, they’ve incurred costs on your behalf, so don’t hang them out to dry. Everyone hits a tough spot and when that happens, talk to us about it. But don’t leave us in the dark. Connect with us: We all want to work with people we like. Don’t hide your humanity. Show us your vacation pictures. Tell us your funny weekend story. Reminisce about the old job or the old boss. We don’t have to be best buddies (although it’s nice when that happens) but it’s human nature to work harder for someone you like. So let us get to know you on a personal level. Celebrate with us: Marketing is usually a a winding road of obstacles and last minute adjustments, done at breakneck speed and involves a bit of risk. When it all comes together, it’s magical. Take time to celebrate with the entire team. Give kudos to the people who often don’t get the lead the team or enjoy the glory. Rewarding everyone with a special dinner or even a bagel break will fire up the team for the next challenge. The lion’s share of agency owners and employees chose the profession because they love to use their creativity to help clients. Letting them know you appreciate their efforts and actually helping them help you means you both get more of what will make you happy and successful. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Agency Life, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Advertising Agency, clients, marketing firm, partner, working together Leave a Reply Marketing automation — evil or misunderstood? July 16, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment marketing automationWhen the subject of marketing automation comes up, many purists shake their head and talk about how robotic and impersonal it is. Well — if you do it badly, that’s very true. In that case — you really do make your potential customers feel like they’re just a number to you and that you treat everyone the same, with little regard to their specific needs. But when you build the system with your customer in mind — it can be a wonderful experience for them and for you. It all depends on if you build it once and put it on auto pilot or if you use it as a tool to serve up exactly what each visitor is looking for. Automation allows you to create a user experience that puts the user in the driver’s seat. They can access the exact information they want, when they want it — and how they want it. The key is to realize that different people are going to have different needs and you need to anticipate that as you build out the options. Even more important — once you start getting visitors, you need to learn from where they go and don’t want to go. It’s a given that every potential customer probably isn’t going to want exactly the same information. As you watch and learn — you can create new paths and test the results. At the end of the day, thanks to automation, you can create multiple paths, so each person can have a different experience, based on their own needs and interests. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Recently, the folks at Marketo asked me to comment on the question “can big data lead to big love?” Check out the article and my comments. If you’re using marketing automation to make it easy for you and only you, then it probably isn’t going to work so well. But if you use it as a tool to serve your customers better — it can indeed lead to big love. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Your best customers are pure gold July 19, 2014 by Drew McLellan 1 Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 28 best customersYou’ve heard it before — the top 20% of your customers, your very best customers, account for 80% of your profitability and referrals. We intellectually know that and yet our behavior sure doesn’t show it. We spend all kinds of dollars, time, energy and worry chasing after new customers and after someone starts to buy, the typical business sort of forgets all about them. Much like people’s dating patterns — there’s a lot of wooing that goes on before the wedding but after the “I do’s” get said, the florist goes broke. Our poor best customers get the same treatment from us and that needs to stop. We need to shift a portion of our marketing focus away from prospects and invest even more in our best customers — the ones who have already proven that they’ll sing our praises, buy more and more and bring their friends along for the ride. Fortunately, my friend Stan Phelps has written a book to help us all do just that. This book, What’s Your Golden Goldfish, is the third book in a trilogy of marketing books that are all built around over 2,200 crowdsourced examples of real life marketing smarts. This particular book shares over 100 examples of what leading brands like Starbucks, Doubletree, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Virgin Atlantic are doing differently to cater to their best customers and earn even more of their business and loyalty. The book showcases nine different ways to let your best customers (and employees) know how much you value them. By doing those little extras, you will make your company even stronger. You will differentiate yourself even more from your competitors, you’ll keep both your best customers and employees longer so they contribute to your success and with every little extra, you will create more word of mouth buzz. The entire series of books is all built around the idea of lagniappe which is a creole word for “a little something extra.” In this edition — Stan helps his readers explore how organizations large and small can do a little something extra for their most loyal customers and employees. You’ll love the storytelling but make sure you have a pen and paper handy because this book is going to spark so many ideas that you’ll never remember them all. And as you implement them — your best customers will reward you with even more buzz, money and referrals. Sounds like it is going to work out well for everyone, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in Stan’s entire series, here’s how you can get them from Amazon. If your an Amazon Unlimited customer, you can read the electronic version for free. If you want the paperbacks, click on the links below: Third book — What’s Your Golden Goldfish: The Vital Few Second book — What’s your Green Goldfish: 15 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement and Reinforce Culture First book — What’s your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth Note: If you click on one of the Amazon links, I get a few cents. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Books, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Best Customers, Golden Goldfish, Goldfish series, referrals, Stan Phelps, Word of mouth The Freelance Studio Denver, Co.User Experience Agency We only care about you if it’s really about us October 28, 2014 by Drew McLellan 9 Comments Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 19 I Love MeWe recently bought an ad for a client and the ad rep suggested we make a big deal out of the fact that our client has been in business for 130 years. I politely told her that we definitely were not going to do that. Instead, we were going to talk about something their readers and our prospects might actually care about. My conversation with her is what prompted this blog post. We’ve all seen the ads or sales that are somehow tied to a businesses 25th anniversary or the “we’ve been in business for a century” sale announcements. The reality is – no one cares. While that may be a laudable accomplishment – to have hung in there that long, from your consumer’s point of view – it’s fluff or a gimmick (we’ve been around for 50 years so everything is 50% off!). Is a business going to offer me a better product after they’ve been around for 100 years? Was the stuff they sold in their ninety-fifth year just junk? Of course not. Is someone who just turned 60 a better advisor than when she was 59? Nope. You make that the focus of your ad or your sale when you don’t have anything better to say. And if you can’t come up with something more customer-centric than that to say – you’re lucky to still be in business. It’s actually a symptom of an age-old marketing problem. Businesses talk about themselves rather than talking about what the customer cares about. Here’s how to fix two of the most common “it’s all about me” types of marketing statements and make them customer centric and customer valued communications instead. #1 — We’re old and you should care All about us: We’re 100 years old. Come enjoy some birthday cake and celebrate with us as we cross the century mark. All about them: Over the many years we’ve been in business, we’ve learned that our customers value three things. They value incredible customer service (click here to speak live with one of our teammates), fair pricing (click here to read about our fair price every time program) and they want quality they can count on (watch a short video about our factory’s 100% right or 100% wrong policy). You’re saying the same thing – we’ve been in business long enough to be stable, to have earned our customer’s trust and no one has to worry about you being a fly by night operation. But when you push beyond focusing on yourself, you can outline exactly why your longevity is of value to the prospect that is considering doing business with you. #2 – The difference is our people (perhaps the most trite sentence uttered in marketing today) All about us: Our people really care. You’re not just a number to us. All about them: Hi Mr. McLellan – we see that you’re going to be staying at our hotel XYZ in Big City. We’re glad to have you staying with us and want to make sure we do everything in our power to make your stay an awesome one. As the manager of the hotel, I want you to have my direct line (123-456-7890) and email (manager@BigHotel.com) so you can get a hold of me if there’s anything you need. Don’t tell me that your people care. Show me. It sounds like hype when you brag about it. It feels remarkable when I experience it for myself. The truth is…most businesses say it but few actually deliver on it. Why not just shut up and show it? If you’re going to expend the effort to talk to your customers and prospects, stop talking about yourself and talk about what they care about — what’s in it for me. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Strategy Tagged With: marketing, messaging Building a website your users will love July 14, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 24 website your users will loveIt seems like a “duh,” doesn’t it? Of course you want to build a website your users will love. But remember, not that long ago, many businesses were wondering whether or not they even needed a website. It seemed so far-fetched that any of their customers would ever do anything but show up at their store or pick up the phone to place an order. How quickly times change. Now, a business isn’t considered legitimate until they have a web presence. No matter what it is you sell, odds are your prospects are going to visit your website to decide if you’re even in the running. I’m hard pressed to think of an industry or business category that doesn’t rely on their website as the main workhorse in their marketing arsenal. It used to be that you had an opportunity to make the sale when someone walked into your retail location, your salesperson called on the buyer or you answered your phone. But today, a good portion of the sales process has nothing to do with you actively engaging with the potential buyer. They’re doing a great deal of their due diligence tire kicking without you being in the room at all. It’s happening on your website, within social networks and with the help of a Google search. Which makes what you put out on the web absolutely vital to your business’ success. You must build a website your users will love. All of that being said – most websites stink. They’re badly designed, built for the business’ ego rather than the customer’s utility and they’re out of date. Why? I think most businesses think of their website like an ever expanding junk drawer. They just keep tossing more stuff in there and hope that when someone rummages through it – they can find what they need. If you’d like your website to be the effective workhorse you need it to be, consider these best practices: It should be an experience: Keep in mind that many people will decide whether or not to do business with you based on their web visit. So you want them to have a memorable and enjoyable experience. Get them interacting with you – give them a quiz, help them find answers to their specific questions or offer them something they might want to share with others. In addition: Let your company’s personality be a part of the site — both in design and voice Simple navigation matters – make it intuitive Remember eye flow – give them plenty of white space and eye rest Don’t talk about yourself: Talk about their world and how you can improve it. Everything should be presented from their perspective, not yours. You might need an outside perspective to help you identify what truly matters to your audience. In addition: Don’t over share – think hors’ oeuvres, not a six course meal Start at the 101 level — not every visitor will already be an expert Leave them wanting more so they call or send an email Keep the content fresh – stale content does not sell Cascade your content – start with a little and then let them choose to drill down for more if they want it Make it easy, no matter the device: Don’t assume everyone is using a 15-inch screen. Within the next couple years, the majority of web searches will be conducted on a mobile phone. Check your site on desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones because if there’s one thing your users will love is being able to access your content no matter where they are. In addition: Pay attention to page placement — your most important content should be above the fold Give them more than one way to navigate Use landing pages to help diverse audiences get where they want to go Don’t let a mediocre website discourage prospects from becoming customers before they even shake your hand. If you haven’t already done it — start tomorrow. Build a website your users will love and share and best of all — buy from. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Marketing, Web/Tech How to be a good agency client July 1, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 23 How to be a good agency clientI’ve been working in advertising agencies for almost 30 years now and I’ve had the incredible good fortune to work with some amazing clients over the years. Early in my career, before I had the deciding vote on who we’d serve, I also worked with some real jerks. For most of us in the marketing world, we serve clients (could be an internal department or external, paying clients) and in most cases, we are also someone else’s client (vendor, strategic partner, agency if you’re client side, etc.) as well. I thought I’d reflect on my life with clients (and being a client) …and share the best practices so we can all be a better client on the next go around. Have you ever wondered how to be a good agency client? Talk to us about budget: It’s ridiculous how some clients make their agency jump through hoops to guess at the budget. We can’t help you spend your money in the wisest, most effective way possible if we don’t know the boundaries. If you don’t trust us enough to tell us – fire us. Say thank you in your own way: One of my all-time favorite clients came over one Christmas week and serenaded us with one of her holiday favorites. What an incredible gift – to share something so personal with such affection and heart. I’ll never forget the experience. Invite us to the party: We can be so much more helpful if you bring us inside. Let us interact with your c-suite, sales team, and customer service reps and be a part of the very early strategy sessions. We bring a very unique and valuable perspective – we’re informed outsiders. We can see with more clarity and less bias but we also know enough to ask the hard but insightful questions. Trust us: Our job is to make you a rock star. To help you achieve and surpass your company’s goals. We’re on your side. In theory, you selected us to be your partner because you believe we’re good at our work. So trust us. Don’t let your personal bias or preferences lead you in the wrong direction – when we disagree with you, let us explain, from our experience and expertise, why we disagree and be mindful of your mindset. In the end, it’s your money and we’ll do as you ask, but don’t shortchange our desire to being your best ally. Pay your bills on time: On the other end of the money — pay your bills on time. Odds are we jumped through hoops to hit your deadlines, and now it’s your turn. Don’t put your agency in the position of being your bank. Remember, they’ve incurred costs on your behalf, so don’t hang them out to dry. Everyone hits a tough spot and when that happens, talk to us about it. But don’t leave us in the dark. Connect with us: We all want to work with people we like. Don’t hide your humanity. Show us your vacation pictures. Tell us your funny weekend story. Reminisce about the old job or the old boss. We don’t have to be best buddies (although it’s nice when that happens) but it’s human nature to work harder for someone you like. So let us get to know you on a personal level. Celebrate with us: Marketing is usually a a winding road of obstacles and last minute adjustments, done at breakneck speed and involves a bit of risk. When it all comes together, it’s magical. Take time to celebrate with the entire team. Give kudos to the people who often don’t get the lead the team or enjoy the glory. Rewarding everyone with a special dinner or even a bagel break will fire up the team for the next challenge. The lion’s share of agency owners and employees chose the profession because they love to use their creativity to help clients. Letting them know you appreciate their efforts and actually helping them help you means you both get more of what will make you happy and successful. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Agency Life, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Advertising Agency, clients, marketing firm, partner, working together Leave a Reply Marketing automation — evil or misunderstood? July 16, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment marketing automationWhen the subject of marketing automation comes up, many purists shake their head and talk about how robotic and impersonal it is. Well — if you do it badly, that’s very true. In that case — you really do make your potential customers feel like they’re just a number to you and that you treat everyone the same, with little regard to their specific needs. But when you build the system with your customer in mind — it can be a wonderful experience for them and for you. It all depends on if you build it once and put it on auto pilot or if you use it as a tool to serve up exactly what each visitor is looking for. Automation allows you to create a user experience that puts the user in the driver’s seat. They can access the exact information they want, when they want it — and how they want it. The key is to realize that different people are going to have different needs and you need to anticipate that as you build out the options. Even more important — once you start getting visitors, you need to learn from where they go and don’t want to go. It’s a given that every potential customer probably isn’t going to want exactly the same information. As you watch and learn — you can create new paths and test the results. At the end of the day, thanks to automation, you can create multiple paths, so each person can have a different experience, based on their own needs and interests. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Recently, the folks at Marketo asked me to comment on the question “can big data lead to big love?” Check out the article and my comments. If you’re using marketing automation to make it easy for you and only you, then it probably isn’t going to work so well. But if you use it as a tool to serve your customers better — it can indeed lead to big love. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Your best customers are pure gold July 19, 2014 by Drew McLellan 1 Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 28 best customersYou’ve heard it before — the top 20% of your customers, your very best customers, account for 80% of your profitability and referrals. We intellectually know that and yet our behavior sure doesn’t show it. We spend all kinds of dollars, time, energy and worry chasing after new customers and after someone starts to buy, the typical business sort of forgets all about them. Much like people’s dating patterns — there’s a lot of wooing that goes on before the wedding but after the “I do’s” get said, the florist goes broke. Our poor best customers get the same treatment from us and that needs to stop. We need to shift a portion of our marketing focus away from prospects and invest even more in our best customers — the ones who have already proven that they’ll sing our praises, buy more and more and bring their friends along for the ride. Fortunately, my friend Stan Phelps has written a book to help us all do just that. This book, What’s Your Golden Goldfish, is the third book in a trilogy of marketing books that are all built around over 2,200 crowdsourced examples of real life marketing smarts. This particular book shares over 100 examples of what leading brands like Starbucks, Doubletree, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Virgin Atlantic are doing differently to cater to their best customers and earn even more of their business and loyalty. The book showcases nine different ways to let your best customers (and employees) know how much you value them. By doing those little extras, you will make your company even stronger. You will differentiate yourself even more from your competitors, you’ll keep both your best customers and employees longer so they contribute to your success and with every little extra, you will create more word of mouth buzz. The entire series of books is all built around the idea of lagniappe which is a creole word for “a little something extra.” In this edition — Stan helps his readers explore how organizations large and small can do a little something extra for their most loyal customers and employees. You’ll love the storytelling but make sure you have a pen and paper handy because this book is going to spark so many ideas that you’ll never remember them all. And as you implement them — your best customers will reward you with even more buzz, money and referrals. Sounds like it is going to work out well for everyone, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in Stan’s entire series, here’s how you can get them from Amazon. If your an Amazon Unlimited customer, you can read the electronic version for free. If you want the paperbacks, click on the links below: Third book — What’s Your Golden Goldfish: The Vital Few Second book — What’s your Green Goldfish: 15 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement and Reinforce Culture First book — What’s your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth Note: If you click on one of the Amazon links, I get a few cents. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Books, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Best Customers, Golden Goldfish, Goldfish series, referrals, Stan Phelps, Word of mouth The Freelance Studio Denver, Co.User Experience Agency We only care about you if it’s really about us October 28, 2014 by Drew McLellan 9 Comments Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 19 I Love MeWe recently bought an ad for a client and the ad rep suggested we make a big deal out of the fact that our client has been in business for 130 years. I politely told her that we definitely were not going to do that. Instead, we were going to talk about something their readers and our prospects might actually care about. My conversation with her is what prompted this blog post. We’ve all seen the ads or sales that are somehow tied to a businesses 25th anniversary or the “we’ve been in business for a century” sale announcements. The reality is – no one cares. While that may be a laudable accomplishment – to have hung in there that long, from your consumer’s point of view – it’s fluff or a gimmick (we’ve been around for 50 years so everything is 50% off!). Is a business going to offer me a better product after they’ve been around for 100 years? Was the stuff they sold in their ninety-fifth year just junk? Of course not. Is someone who just turned 60 a better advisor than when she was 59? Nope. You make that the focus of your ad or your sale when you don’t have anything better to say. And if you can’t come up with something more customer-centric than that to say – you’re lucky to still be in business. It’s actually a symptom of an age-old marketing problem. Businesses talk about themselves rather than talking about what the customer cares about. Here’s how to fix two of the most common “it’s all about me” types of marketing statements and make them customer centric and customer valued communications instead. #1 — We’re old and you should care All about us: We’re 100 years old. Come enjoy some birthday cake and celebrate with us as we cross the century mark. All about them: Over the many years we’ve been in business, we’ve learned that our customers value three things. They value incredible customer service (click here to speak live with one of our teammates), fair pricing (click here to read about our fair price every time program) and they want quality they can count on (watch a short video about our factory’s 100% right or 100% wrong policy). You’re saying the same thing – we’ve been in business long enough to be stable, to have earned our customer’s trust and no one has to worry about you being a fly by night operation. But when you push beyond focusing on yourself, you can outline exactly why your longevity is of value to the prospect that is considering doing business with you. #2 – The difference is our people (perhaps the most trite sentence uttered in marketing today) All about us: Our people really care. You’re not just a number to us. All about them: Hi Mr. McLellan – we see that you’re going to be staying at our hotel XYZ in Big City. We’re glad to have you staying with us and want to make sure we do everything in our power to make your stay an awesome one. As the manager of the hotel, I want you to have my direct line (123-456-7890) and email (manager@BigHotel.com) so you can get a hold of me if there’s anything you need. Don’t tell me that your people care. Show me. It sounds like hype when you brag about it. It feels remarkable when I experience it for myself. The truth is…most businesses say it but few actually deliver on it. Why not just shut up and show it? If you’re going to expend the effort to talk to your customers and prospects, stop talking about yourself and talk about what they care about — what’s in it for me. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Strategy Tagged With: marketing, messaging Building a website your users will love July 14, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 24 website your users will loveIt seems like a “duh,” doesn’t it? Of course you want to build a website your users will love. But remember, not that long ago, many businesses were wondering whether or not they even needed a website. It seemed so far-fetched that any of their customers would ever do anything but show up at their store or pick up the phone to place an order. How quickly times change. Now, a business isn’t considered legitimate until they have a web presence. No matter what it is you sell, odds are your prospects are going to visit your website to decide if you’re even in the running. I’m hard pressed to think of an industry or business category that doesn’t rely on their website as the main workhorse in their marketing arsenal. It used to be that you had an opportunity to make the sale when someone walked into your retail location, your salesperson called on the buyer or you answered your phone. But today, a good portion of the sales process has nothing to do with you actively engaging with the potential buyer. They’re doing a great deal of their due diligence tire kicking without you being in the room at all. It’s happening on your website, within social networks and with the help of a Google search. Which makes what you put out on the web absolutely vital to your business’ success. You must build a website your users will love. All of that being said – most websites stink. They’re badly designed, built for the business’ ego rather than the customer’s utility and they’re out of date. Why? I think most businesses think of their website like an ever expanding junk drawer. They just keep tossing more stuff in there and hope that when someone rummages through it – they can find what they need. If you’d like your website to be the effective workhorse you need it to be, consider these best practices: It should be an experience: Keep in mind that many people will decide whether or not to do business with you based on their web visit. So you want them to have a memorable and enjoyable experience. Get them interacting with you – give them a quiz, help them find answers to their specific questions or offer them something they might want to share with others. In addition: Let your company’s personality be a part of the site — both in design and voice Simple navigation matters – make it intuitive Remember eye flow – give them plenty of white space and eye rest Don’t talk about yourself: Talk about their world and how you can improve it. Everything should be presented from their perspective, not yours. You might need an outside perspective to help you identify what truly matters to your audience. In addition: Don’t over share – think hors’ oeuvres, not a six course meal Start at the 101 level — not every visitor will already be an expert Leave them wanting more so they call or send an email Keep the content fresh – stale content does not sell Cascade your content – start with a little and then let them choose to drill down for more if they want it Make it easy, no matter the device: Don’t assume everyone is using a 15-inch screen. Within the next couple years, the majority of web searches will be conducted on a mobile phone. Check your site on desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones because if there’s one thing your users will love is being able to access your content no matter where they are. In addition: Pay attention to page placement — your most important content should be above the fold Give them more than one way to navigate Use landing pages to help diverse audiences get where they want to go Don’t let a mediocre website discourage prospects from becoming customers before they even shake your hand. If you haven’t already done it — start tomorrow. Build a website your users will love and share and best of all — buy from. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Marketing, Web/Tech How to be a good agency client July 1, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 23 How to be a good agency clientI’ve been working in advertising agencies for almost 30 years now and I’ve had the incredible good fortune to work with some amazing clients over the years. Early in my career, before I had the deciding vote on who we’d serve, I also worked with some real jerks. For most of us in the marketing world, we serve clients (could be an internal department or external, paying clients) and in most cases, we are also someone else’s client (vendor, strategic partner, agency if you’re client side, etc.) as well. I thought I’d reflect on my life with clients (and being a client) …and share the best practices so we can all be a better client on the next go around. Have you ever wondered how to be a good agency client? Talk to us about budget: It’s ridiculous how some clients make their agency jump through hoops to guess at the budget. We can’t help you spend your money in the wisest, most effective way possible if we don’t know the boundaries. If you don’t trust us enough to tell us – fire us. Say thank you in your own way: One of my all-time favorite clients came over one Christmas week and serenaded us with one of her holiday favorites. What an incredible gift – to share something so personal with such affection and heart. I’ll never forget the experience. Invite us to the party: We can be so much more helpful if you bring us inside. Let us interact with your c-suite, sales team, and customer service reps and be a part of the very early strategy sessions. We bring a very unique and valuable perspective – we’re informed outsiders. We can see with more clarity and less bias but we also know enough to ask the hard but insightful questions. Trust us: Our job is to make you a rock star. To help you achieve and surpass your company’s goals. We’re on your side. In theory, you selected us to be your partner because you believe we’re good at our work. So trust us. Don’t let your personal bias or preferences lead you in the wrong direction – when we disagree with you, let us explain, from our experience and expertise, why we disagree and be mindful of your mindset. In the end, it’s your money and we’ll do as you ask, but don’t shortchange our desire to being your best ally. Pay your bills on time: On the other end of the money — pay your bills on time. Odds are we jumped through hoops to hit your deadlines, and now it’s your turn. Don’t put your agency in the position of being your bank. Remember, they’ve incurred costs on your behalf, so don’t hang them out to dry. Everyone hits a tough spot and when that happens, talk to us about it. But don’t leave us in the dark. Connect with us: We all want to work with people we like. Don’t hide your humanity. Show us your vacation pictures. Tell us your funny weekend story. Reminisce about the old job or the old boss. We don’t have to be best buddies (although it’s nice when that happens) but it’s human nature to work harder for someone you like. So let us get to know you on a personal level. Celebrate with us: Marketing is usually a a winding road of obstacles and last minute adjustments, done at breakneck speed and involves a bit of risk. When it all comes together, it’s magical. Take time to celebrate with the entire team. Give kudos to the people who often don’t get the lead the team or enjoy the glory. Rewarding everyone with a special dinner or even a bagel break will fire up the team for the next challenge. The lion’s share of agency owners and employees chose the profession because they love to use their creativity to help clients. Letting them know you appreciate their efforts and actually helping them help you means you both get more of what will make you happy and successful. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Agency Life, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Advertising Agency, clients, marketing firm, partner, working together Leave a Reply Marketing automation — evil or misunderstood? July 16, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment marketing automationWhen the subject of marketing automation comes up, many purists shake their head and talk about how robotic and impersonal it is. Well — if you do it badly, that’s very true. In that case — you really do make your potential customers feel like they’re just a number to you and that you treat everyone the same, with little regard to their specific needs. But when you build the system with your customer in mind — it can be a wonderful experience for them and for you. It all depends on if you build it once and put it on auto pilot or if you use it as a tool to serve up exactly what each visitor is looking for. Automation allows you to create a user experience that puts the user in the driver’s seat. They can access the exact information they want, when they want it — and how they want it. The key is to realize that different people are going to have different needs and you need to anticipate that as you build out the options. Even more important — once you start getting visitors, you need to learn from where they go and don’t want to go. It’s a given that every potential customer probably isn’t going to want exactly the same information. As you watch and learn — you can create new paths and test the results. At the end of the day, thanks to automation, you can create multiple paths, so each person can have a different experience, based on their own needs and interests. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Recently, the folks at Marketo asked me to comment on the question “can big data lead to big love?” Check out the article and my comments. If you’re using marketing automation to make it easy for you and only you, then it probably isn’t going to work so well. But if you use it as a tool to serve your customers better — it can indeed lead to big love. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Your best customers are pure gold July 19, 2014 by Drew McLellan 1 Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 28 best customersYou’ve heard it before — the top 20% of your customers, your very best customers, account for 80% of your profitability and referrals. We intellectually know that and yet our behavior sure doesn’t show it. We spend all kinds of dollars, time, energy and worry chasing after new customers and after someone starts to buy, the typical business sort of forgets all about them. Much like people’s dating patterns — there’s a lot of wooing that goes on before the wedding but after the “I do’s” get said, the florist goes broke. Our poor best customers get the same treatment from us and that needs to stop. We need to shift a portion of our marketing focus away from prospects and invest even more in our best customers — the ones who have already proven that they’ll sing our praises, buy more and more and bring their friends along for the ride. Fortunately, my friend Stan Phelps has written a book to help us all do just that. This book, What’s Your Golden Goldfish, is the third book in a trilogy of marketing books that are all built around over 2,200 crowdsourced examples of real life marketing smarts. This particular book shares over 100 examples of what leading brands like Starbucks, Doubletree, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Virgin Atlantic are doing differently to cater to their best customers and earn even more of their business and loyalty. The book showcases nine different ways to let your best customers (and employees) know how much you value them. By doing those little extras, you will make your company even stronger. You will differentiate yourself even more from your competitors, you’ll keep both your best customers and employees longer so they contribute to your success and with every little extra, you will create more word of mouth buzz. The entire series of books is all built around the idea of lagniappe which is a creole word for “a little something extra.” In this edition — Stan helps his readers explore how organizations large and small can do a little something extra for their most loyal customers and employees. You’ll love the storytelling but make sure you have a pen and paper handy because this book is going to spark so many ideas that you’ll never remember them all. And as you implement them — your best customers will reward you with even more buzz, money and referrals. Sounds like it is going to work out well for everyone, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in Stan’s entire series, here’s how you can get them from Amazon. If your an Amazon Unlimited customer, you can read the electronic version for free. If you want the paperbacks, click on the links below: Third book — What’s Your Golden Goldfish: The Vital Few Second book — What’s your Green Goldfish: 15 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement and Reinforce Culture First book — What’s your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth Note: If you click on one of the Amazon links, I get a few cents. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Books, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Best Customers, Golden Goldfish, Goldfish series, referrals, Stan Phelps, Word of mouth The Freelance Studio Denver, Co.User Experience Agency We only care about you if it’s really about us October 28, 2014 by Drew McLellan 9 Comments Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 19 I Love MeWe recently bought an ad for a client and the ad rep suggested we make a big deal out of the fact that our client has been in business for 130 years. I politely told her that we definitely were not going to do that. Instead, we were going to talk about something their readers and our prospects might actually care about. My conversation with her is what prompted this blog post. We’ve all seen the ads or sales that are somehow tied to a businesses 25th anniversary or the “we’ve been in business for a century” sale announcements. The reality is – no one cares. While that may be a laudable accomplishment – to have hung in there that long, from your consumer’s point of view – it’s fluff or a gimmick (we’ve been around for 50 years so everything is 50% off!). Is a business going to offer me a better product after they’ve been around for 100 years? Was the stuff they sold in their ninety-fifth year just junk? Of course not. Is someone who just turned 60 a better advisor than when she was 59? Nope. You make that the focus of your ad or your sale when you don’t have anything better to say. And if you can’t come up with something more customer-centric than that to say – you’re lucky to still be in business. It’s actually a symptom of an age-old marketing problem. Businesses talk about themselves rather than talking about what the customer cares about. Here’s how to fix two of the most common “it’s all about me” types of marketing statements and make them customer centric and customer valued communications instead. #1 — We’re old and you should care All about us: We’re 100 years old. Come enjoy some birthday cake and celebrate with us as we cross the century mark. All about them: Over the many years we’ve been in business, we’ve learned that our customers value three things. They value incredible customer service (click here to speak live with one of our teammates), fair pricing (click here to read about our fair price every time program) and they want quality they can count on (watch a short video about our factory’s 100% right or 100% wrong policy). You’re saying the same thing – we’ve been in business long enough to be stable, to have earned our customer’s trust and no one has to worry about you being a fly by night operation. But when you push beyond focusing on yourself, you can outline exactly why your longevity is of value to the prospect that is considering doing business with you. #2 – The difference is our people (perhaps the most trite sentence uttered in marketing today) All about us: Our people really care. You’re not just a number to us. All about them: Hi Mr. McLellan – we see that you’re going to be staying at our hotel XYZ in Big City. We’re glad to have you staying with us and want to make sure we do everything in our power to make your stay an awesome one. As the manager of the hotel, I want you to have my direct line (123-456-7890) and email (manager@BigHotel.com) so you can get a hold of me if there’s anything you need. Don’t tell me that your people care. Show me. It sounds like hype when you brag about it. It feels remarkable when I experience it for myself. The truth is…most businesses say it but few actually deliver on it. Why not just shut up and show it? If you’re going to expend the effort to talk to your customers and prospects, stop talking about yourself and talk about what they care about — what’s in it for me. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Strategy Tagged With: marketing, messaging Building a website your users will love July 14, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 24 website your users will loveIt seems like a “duh,” doesn’t it? Of course you want to build a website your users will love. But remember, not that long ago, many businesses were wondering whether or not they even needed a website. It seemed so far-fetched that any of their customers would ever do anything but show up at their store or pick up the phone to place an order. How quickly times change. Now, a business isn’t considered legitimate until they have a web presence. No matter what it is you sell, odds are your prospects are going to visit your website to decide if you’re even in the running. I’m hard pressed to think of an industry or business category that doesn’t rely on their website as the main workhorse in their marketing arsenal. It used to be that you had an opportunity to make the sale when someone walked into your retail location, your salesperson called on the buyer or you answered your phone. But today, a good portion of the sales process has nothing to do with you actively engaging with the potential buyer. They’re doing a great deal of their due diligence tire kicking without you being in the room at all. It’s happening on your website, within social networks and with the help of a Google search. Which makes what you put out on the web absolutely vital to your business’ success. You must build a website your users will love. All of that being said – most websites stink. They’re badly designed, built for the business’ ego rather than the customer’s utility and they’re out of date. Why? I think most businesses think of their website like an ever expanding junk drawer. They just keep tossing more stuff in there and hope that when someone rummages through it – they can find what they need. If you’d like your website to be the effective workhorse you need it to be, consider these best practices: It should be an experience: Keep in mind that many people will decide whether or not to do business with you based on their web visit. So you want them to have a memorable and enjoyable experience. Get them interacting with you – give them a quiz, help them find answers to their specific questions or offer them something they might want to share with others. In addition: Let your company’s personality be a part of the site — both in design and voice Simple navigation matters – make it intuitive Remember eye flow – give them plenty of white space and eye rest Don’t talk about yourself: Talk about their world and how you can improve it. Everything should be presented from their perspective, not yours. You might need an outside perspective to help you identify what truly matters to your audience. In addition: Don’t over share – think hors’ oeuvres, not a six course meal Start at the 101 level — not every visitor will already be an expert Leave them wanting more so they call or send an email Keep the content fresh – stale content does not sell Cascade your content – start with a little and then let them choose to drill down for more if they want it Make it easy, no matter the device: Don’t assume everyone is using a 15-inch screen. Within the next couple years, the majority of web searches will be conducted on a mobile phone. Check your site on desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones because if there’s one thing your users will love is being able to access your content no matter where they are. In addition: Pay attention to page placement — your most important content should be above the fold Give them more than one way to navigate Use landing pages to help diverse audiences get where they want to go Don’t let a mediocre website discourage prospects from becoming customers before they even shake your hand. If you haven’t already done it — start tomorrow. Build a website your users will love and share and best of all — buy from. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Marketing, Web/Tech How to be a good agency client July 1, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 23 How to be a good agency clientI’ve been working in advertising agencies for almost 30 years now and I’ve had the incredible good fortune to work with some amazing clients over the years. Early in my career, before I had the deciding vote on who we’d serve, I also worked with some real jerks. For most of us in the marketing world, we serve clients (could be an internal department or external, paying clients) and in most cases, we are also someone else’s client (vendor, strategic partner, agency if you’re client side, etc.) as well. I thought I’d reflect on my life with clients (and being a client) …and share the best practices so we can all be a better client on the next go around. Have you ever wondered how to be a good agency client? Talk to us about budget: It’s ridiculous how some clients make their agency jump through hoops to guess at the budget. We can’t help you spend your money in the wisest, most effective way possible if we don’t know the boundaries. If you don’t trust us enough to tell us – fire us. Say thank you in your own way: One of my all-time favorite clients came over one Christmas week and serenaded us with one of her holiday favorites. What an incredible gift – to share something so personal with such affection and heart. I’ll never forget the experience. Invite us to the party: We can be so much more helpful if you bring us inside. Let us interact with your c-suite, sales team, and customer service reps and be a part of the very early strategy sessions. We bring a very unique and valuable perspective – we’re informed outsiders. We can see with more clarity and less bias but we also know enough to ask the hard but insightful questions. Trust us: Our job is to make you a rock star. To help you achieve and surpass your company’s goals. We’re on your side. In theory, you selected us to be your partner because you believe we’re good at our work. So trust us. Don’t let your personal bias or preferences lead you in the wrong direction – when we disagree with you, let us explain, from our experience and expertise, why we disagree and be mindful of your mindset. In the end, it’s your money and we’ll do as you ask, but don’t shortchange our desire to being your best ally. Pay your bills on time: On the other end of the money — pay your bills on time. Odds are we jumped through hoops to hit your deadlines, and now it’s your turn. Don’t put your agency in the position of being your bank. Remember, they’ve incurred costs on your behalf, so don’t hang them out to dry. Everyone hits a tough spot and when that happens, talk to us about it. But don’t leave us in the dark. Connect with us: We all want to work with people we like. Don’t hide your humanity. Show us your vacation pictures. Tell us your funny weekend story. Reminisce about the old job or the old boss. We don’t have to be best buddies (although it’s nice when that happens) but it’s human nature to work harder for someone you like. So let us get to know you on a personal level. Celebrate with us: Marketing is usually a a winding road of obstacles and last minute adjustments, done at breakneck speed and involves a bit of risk. When it all comes together, it’s magical. Take time to celebrate with the entire team. Give kudos to the people who often don’t get the lead the team or enjoy the glory. Rewarding everyone with a special dinner or even a bagel break will fire up the team for the next challenge. The lion’s share of agency owners and employees chose the profession because they love to use their creativity to help clients. Letting them know you appreciate their efforts and actually helping them help you means you both get more of what will make you happy and successful. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Agency Life, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Advertising Agency, clients, marketing firm, partner, working together Leave a Reply Marketing automation — evil or misunderstood? July 16, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment marketing automationWhen the subject of marketing automation comes up, many purists shake their head and talk about how robotic and impersonal it is. Well — if you do it badly, that’s very true. In that case — you really do make your potential customers feel like they’re just a number to you and that you treat everyone the same, with little regard to their specific needs. But when you build the system with your customer in mind — it can be a wonderful experience for them and for you. It all depends on if you build it once and put it on auto pilot or if you use it as a tool to serve up exactly what each visitor is looking for. Automation allows you to create a user experience that puts the user in the driver’s seat. They can access the exact information they want, when they want it — and how they want it. The key is to realize that different people are going to have different needs and you need to anticipate that as you build out the options. Even more important — once you start getting visitors, you need to learn from where they go and don’t want to go. It’s a given that every potential customer probably isn’t going to want exactly the same information. As you watch and learn — you can create new paths and test the results. At the end of the day, thanks to automation, you can create multiple paths, so each person can have a different experience, based on their own needs and interests. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Recently, the folks at Marketo asked me to comment on the question “can big data lead to big love?” Check out the article and my comments. If you’re using marketing automation to make it easy for you and only you, then it probably isn’t going to work so well. But if you use it as a tool to serve your customers better — it can indeed lead to big love. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Your best customers are pure gold July 19, 2014 by Drew McLellan 1 Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 28 best customersYou’ve heard it before — the top 20% of your customers, your very best customers, account for 80% of your profitability and referrals. We intellectually know that and yet our behavior sure doesn’t show it. We spend all kinds of dollars, time, energy and worry chasing after new customers and after someone starts to buy, the typical business sort of forgets all about them. Much like people’s dating patterns — there’s a lot of wooing that goes on before the wedding but after the “I do’s” get said, the florist goes broke. Our poor best customers get the same treatment from us and that needs to stop. We need to shift a portion of our marketing focus away from prospects and invest even more in our best customers — the ones who have already proven that they’ll sing our praises, buy more and more and bring their friends along for the ride. Fortunately, my friend Stan Phelps has written a book to help us all do just that. This book, What’s Your Golden Goldfish, is the third book in a trilogy of marketing books that are all built around over 2,200 crowdsourced examples of real life marketing smarts. This particular book shares over 100 examples of what leading brands like Starbucks, Doubletree, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Virgin Atlantic are doing differently to cater to their best customers and earn even more of their business and loyalty. The book showcases nine different ways to let your best customers (and employees) know how much you value them. By doing those little extras, you will make your company even stronger. You will differentiate yourself even more from your competitors, you’ll keep both your best customers and employees longer so they contribute to your success and with every little extra, you will create more word of mouth buzz. The entire series of books is all built around the idea of lagniappe which is a creole word for “a little something extra.” In this edition — Stan helps his readers explore how organizations large and small can do a little something extra for their most loyal customers and employees. You’ll love the storytelling but make sure you have a pen and paper handy because this book is going to spark so many ideas that you’ll never remember them all. And as you implement them — your best customers will reward you with even more buzz, money and referrals. Sounds like it is going to work out well for everyone, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in Stan’s entire series, here’s how you can get them from Amazon. If your an Amazon Unlimited customer, you can read the electronic version for free. If you want the paperbacks, click on the links below: Third book — What’s Your Golden Goldfish: The Vital Few Second book — What’s your Green Goldfish: 15 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement and Reinforce Culture First book — What’s your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth Note: If you click on one of the Amazon links, I get a few cents. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Books, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Best Customers, Golden Goldfish, Goldfish series, referrals, Stan Phelps, Word of mouth The Freelance Studio Denver, Co.User Experience Agency We only care about you if it’s really about us October 28, 2014 by Drew McLellan 9 Comments Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 19 I Love MeWe recently bought an ad for a client and the ad rep suggested we make a big deal out of the fact that our client has been in business for 130 years. I politely told her that we definitely were not going to do that. Instead, we were going to talk about something their readers and our prospects might actually care about. My conversation with her is what prompted this blog post. We’ve all seen the ads or sales that are somehow tied to a businesses 25th anniversary or the “we’ve been in business for a century” sale announcements. The reality is – no one cares. While that may be a laudable accomplishment – to have hung in there that long, from your consumer’s point of view – it’s fluff or a gimmick (we’ve been around for 50 years so everything is 50% off!). Is a business going to offer me a better product after they’ve been around for 100 years? Was the stuff they sold in their ninety-fifth year just junk? Of course not. Is someone who just turned 60 a better advisor than when she was 59? Nope. You make that the focus of your ad or your sale when you don’t have anything better to say. And if you can’t come up with something more customer-centric than that to say – you’re lucky to still be in business. It’s actually a symptom of an age-old marketing problem. Businesses talk about themselves rather than talking about what the customer cares about. Here’s how to fix two of the most common “it’s all about me” types of marketing statements and make them customer centric and customer valued communications instead. #1 — We’re old and you should care All about us: We’re 100 years old. Come enjoy some birthday cake and celebrate with us as we cross the century mark. All about them: Over the many years we’ve been in business, we’ve learned that our customers value three things. They value incredible customer service (click here to speak live with one of our teammates), fair pricing (click here to read about our fair price every time program) and they want quality they can count on (watch a short video about our factory’s 100% right or 100% wrong policy). You’re saying the same thing – we’ve been in business long enough to be stable, to have earned our customer’s trust and no one has to worry about you being a fly by night operation. But when you push beyond focusing on yourself, you can outline exactly why your longevity is of value to the prospect that is considering doing business with you. #2 – The difference is our people (perhaps the most trite sentence uttered in marketing today) All about us: Our people really care. You’re not just a number to us. All about them: Hi Mr. McLellan – we see that you’re going to be staying at our hotel XYZ in Big City. We’re glad to have you staying with us and want to make sure we do everything in our power to make your stay an awesome one. As the manager of the hotel, I want you to have my direct line (123-456-7890) and email (manager@BigHotel.com) so you can get a hold of me if there’s anything you need. Don’t tell me that your people care. Show me. It sounds like hype when you brag about it. It feels remarkable when I experience it for myself. The truth is…most businesses say it but few actually deliver on it. Why not just shut up and show it? If you’re going to expend the effort to talk to your customers and prospects, stop talking about yourself and talk about what they care about — what’s in it for me. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Strategy Tagged With: marketing, messaging Building a website your users will love July 14, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 24 website your users will loveIt seems like a “duh,” doesn’t it? Of course you want to build a website your users will love. But remember, not that long ago, many businesses were wondering whether or not they even needed a website. It seemed so far-fetched that any of their customers would ever do anything but show up at their store or pick up the phone to place an order. How quickly times change. Now, a business isn’t considered legitimate until they have a web presence. No matter what it is you sell, odds are your prospects are going to visit your website to decide if you’re even in the running. I’m hard pressed to think of an industry or business category that doesn’t rely on their website as the main workhorse in their marketing arsenal. It used to be that you had an opportunity to make the sale when someone walked into your retail location, your salesperson called on the buyer or you answered your phone. But today, a good portion of the sales process has nothing to do with you actively engaging with the potential buyer. They’re doing a great deal of their due diligence tire kicking without you being in the room at all. It’s happening on your website, within social networks and with the help of a Google search. Which makes what you put out on the web absolutely vital to your business’ success. You must build a website your users will love. All of that being said – most websites stink. They’re badly designed, built for the business’ ego rather than the customer’s utility and they’re out of date. Why? I think most businesses think of their website like an ever expanding junk drawer. They just keep tossing more stuff in there and hope that when someone rummages through it – they can find what they need. If you’d like your website to be the effective workhorse you need it to be, consider these best practices: It should be an experience: Keep in mind that many people will decide whether or not to do business with you based on their web visit. So you want them to have a memorable and enjoyable experience. Get them interacting with you – give them a quiz, help them find answers to their specific questions or offer them something they might want to share with others. In addition: Let your company’s personality be a part of the site — both in design and voice Simple navigation matters – make it intuitive Remember eye flow – give them plenty of white space and eye rest Don’t talk about yourself: Talk about their world and how you can improve it. Everything should be presented from their perspective, not yours. You might need an outside perspective to help you identify what truly matters to your audience. In addition: Don’t over share – think hors’ oeuvres, not a six course meal Start at the 101 level — not every visitor will already be an expert Leave them wanting more so they call or send an email Keep the content fresh – stale content does not sell Cascade your content – start with a little and then let them choose to drill down for more if they want it Make it easy, no matter the device: Don’t assume everyone is using a 15-inch screen. Within the next couple years, the majority of web searches will be conducted on a mobile phone. Check your site on desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones because if there’s one thing your users will love is being able to access your content no matter where they are. In addition: Pay attention to page placement — your most important content should be above the fold Give them more than one way to navigate Use landing pages to help diverse audiences get where they want to go Don’t let a mediocre website discourage prospects from becoming customers before they even shake your hand. If you haven’t already done it — start tomorrow. Build a website your users will love and share and best of all — buy from. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Marketing, Web/Tech How to be a good agency client July 1, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 23 How to be a good agency clientI’ve been working in advertising agencies for almost 30 years now and I’ve had the incredible good fortune to work with some amazing clients over the years. Early in my career, before I had the deciding vote on who we’d serve, I also worked with some real jerks. For most of us in the marketing world, we serve clients (could be an internal department or external, paying clients) and in most cases, we are also someone else’s client (vendor, strategic partner, agency if you’re client side, etc.) as well. I thought I’d reflect on my life with clients (and being a client) …and share the best practices so we can all be a better client on the next go around. Have you ever wondered how to be a good agency client? Talk to us about budget: It’s ridiculous how some clients make their agency jump through hoops to guess at the budget. We can’t help you spend your money in the wisest, most effective way possible if we don’t know the boundaries. If you don’t trust us enough to tell us – fire us. Say thank you in your own way: One of my all-time favorite clients came over one Christmas week and serenaded us with one of her holiday favorites. What an incredible gift – to share something so personal with such affection and heart. I’ll never forget the experience. Invite us to the party: We can be so much more helpful if you bring us inside. Let us interact with your c-suite, sales team, and customer service reps and be a part of the very early strategy sessions. We bring a very unique and valuable perspective – we’re informed outsiders. We can see with more clarity and less bias but we also know enough to ask the hard but insightful questions. Trust us: Our job is to make you a rock star. To help you achieve and surpass your company’s goals. We’re on your side. In theory, you selected us to be your partner because you believe we’re good at our work. So trust us. Don’t let your personal bias or preferences lead you in the wrong direction – when we disagree with you, let us explain, from our experience and expertise, why we disagree and be mindful of your mindset. In the end, it’s your money and we’ll do as you ask, but don’t shortchange our desire to being your best ally. Pay your bills on time: On the other end of the money — pay your bills on time. Odds are we jumped through hoops to hit your deadlines, and now it’s your turn. Don’t put your agency in the position of being your bank. Remember, they’ve incurred costs on your behalf, so don’t hang them out to dry. Everyone hits a tough spot and when that happens, talk to us about it. But don’t leave us in the dark. Connect with us: We all want to work with people we like. Don’t hide your humanity. Show us your vacation pictures. Tell us your funny weekend story. Reminisce about the old job or the old boss. We don’t have to be best buddies (although it’s nice when that happens) but it’s human nature to work harder for someone you like. So let us get to know you on a personal level. Celebrate with us: Marketing is usually a a winding road of obstacles and last minute adjustments, done at breakneck speed and involves a bit of risk. When it all comes together, it’s magical. Take time to celebrate with the entire team. Give kudos to the people who often don’t get the lead the team or enjoy the glory. Rewarding everyone with a special dinner or even a bagel break will fire up the team for the next challenge. The lion’s share of agency owners and employees chose the profession because they love to use their creativity to help clients. Letting them know you appreciate their efforts and actually helping them help you means you both get more of what will make you happy and successful. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Agency Life, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Advertising Agency, clients, marketing firm, partner, working together Leave a Reply Marketing automation — evil or misunderstood? July 16, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment marketing automationWhen the subject of marketing automation comes up, many purists shake their head and talk about how robotic and impersonal it is. Well — if you do it badly, that’s very true. In that case — you really do make your potential customers feel like they’re just a number to you and that you treat everyone the same, with little regard to their specific needs. But when you build the system with your customer in mind — it can be a wonderful experience for them and for you. It all depends on if you build it once and put it on auto pilot or if you use it as a tool to serve up exactly what each visitor is looking for. Automation allows you to create a user experience that puts the user in the driver’s seat. They can access the exact information they want, when they want it — and how they want it. The key is to realize that different people are going to have different needs and you need to anticipate that as you build out the options. Even more important — once you start getting visitors, you need to learn from where they go and don’t want to go. It’s a given that every potential customer probably isn’t going to want exactly the same information. As you watch and learn — you can create new paths and test the results. At the end of the day, thanks to automation, you can create multiple paths, so each person can have a different experience, based on their own needs and interests. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Recently, the folks at Marketo asked me to comment on the question “can big data lead to big love?” Check out the article and my comments. If you’re using marketing automation to make it easy for you and only you, then it probably isn’t going to work so well. But if you use it as a tool to serve your customers better — it can indeed lead to big love. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Your best customers are pure gold July 19, 2014 by Drew McLellan 1 Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 28 best customersYou’ve heard it before — the top 20% of your customers, your very best customers, account for 80% of your profitability and referrals. We intellectually know that and yet our behavior sure doesn’t show it. We spend all kinds of dollars, time, energy and worry chasing after new customers and after someone starts to buy, the typical business sort of forgets all about them. Much like people’s dating patterns — there’s a lot of wooing that goes on before the wedding but after the “I do’s” get said, the florist goes broke. Our poor best customers get the same treatment from us and that needs to stop. We need to shift a portion of our marketing focus away from prospects and invest even more in our best customers — the ones who have already proven that they’ll sing our praises, buy more and more and bring their friends along for the ride. Fortunately, my friend Stan Phelps has written a book to help us all do just that. This book, What’s Your Golden Goldfish, is the third book in a trilogy of marketing books that are all built around over 2,200 crowdsourced examples of real life marketing smarts. This particular book shares over 100 examples of what leading brands like Starbucks, Doubletree, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Virgin Atlantic are doing differently to cater to their best customers and earn even more of their business and loyalty. The book showcases nine different ways to let your best customers (and employees) know how much you value them. By doing those little extras, you will make your company even stronger. You will differentiate yourself even more from your competitors, you’ll keep both your best customers and employees longer so they contribute to your success and with every little extra, you will create more word of mouth buzz. The entire series of books is all built around the idea of lagniappe which is a creole word for “a little something extra.” In this edition — Stan helps his readers explore how organizations large and small can do a little something extra for their most loyal customers and employees. You’ll love the storytelling but make sure you have a pen and paper handy because this book is going to spark so many ideas that you’ll never remember them all. And as you implement them — your best customers will reward you with even more buzz, money and referrals. Sounds like it is going to work out well for everyone, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in Stan’s entire series, here’s how you can get them from Amazon. If your an Amazon Unlimited customer, you can read the electronic version for free. If you want the paperbacks, click on the links below: Third book — What’s Your Golden Goldfish: The Vital Few Second book — What’s your Green Goldfish: 15 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement and Reinforce Culture First book — What’s your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth Note: If you click on one of the Amazon links, I get a few cents. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Books, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Best Customers, Golden Goldfish, Goldfish series, referrals, Stan Phelps, Word of mouth The Freelance Studio Denver, Co.User Experience Agency We only care about you if it’s really about us October 28, 2014 by Drew McLellan 9 Comments Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 19 I Love MeWe recently bought an ad for a client and the ad rep suggested we make a big deal out of the fact that our client has been in business for 130 years. I politely told her that we definitely were not going to do that. Instead, we were going to talk about something their readers and our prospects might actually care about. My conversation with her is what prompted this blog post. We’ve all seen the ads or sales that are somehow tied to a businesses 25th anniversary or the “we’ve been in business for a century” sale announcements. The reality is – no one cares. While that may be a laudable accomplishment – to have hung in there that long, from your consumer’s point of view – it’s fluff or a gimmick (we’ve been around for 50 years so everything is 50% off!). Is a business going to offer me a better product after they’ve been around for 100 years? Was the stuff they sold in their ninety-fifth year just junk? Of course not. Is someone who just turned 60 a better advisor than when she was 59? Nope. You make that the focus of your ad or your sale when you don’t have anything better to say. And if you can’t come up with something more customer-centric than that to say – you’re lucky to still be in business. It’s actually a symptom of an age-old marketing problem. Businesses talk about themselves rather than talking about what the customer cares about. Here’s how to fix two of the most common “it’s all about me” types of marketing statements and make them customer centric and customer valued communications instead. #1 — We’re old and you should care All about us: We’re 100 years old. Come enjoy some birthday cake and celebrate with us as we cross the century mark. All about them: Over the many years we’ve been in business, we’ve learned that our customers value three things. They value incredible customer service (click here to speak live with one of our teammates), fair pricing (click here to read about our fair price every time program) and they want quality they can count on (watch a short video about our factory’s 100% right or 100% wrong policy). You’re saying the same thing – we’ve been in business long enough to be stable, to have earned our customer’s trust and no one has to worry about you being a fly by night operation. But when you push beyond focusing on yourself, you can outline exactly why your longevity is of value to the prospect that is considering doing business with you. #2 – The difference is our people (perhaps the most trite sentence uttered in marketing today) All about us: Our people really care. You’re not just a number to us. All about them: Hi Mr. McLellan – we see that you’re going to be staying at our hotel XYZ in Big City. We’re glad to have you staying with us and want to make sure we do everything in our power to make your stay an awesome one. As the manager of the hotel, I want you to have my direct line (123-456-7890) and email (manager@BigHotel.com) so you can get a hold of me if there’s anything you need. Don’t tell me that your people care. Show me. It sounds like hype when you brag about it. It feels remarkable when I experience it for myself. The truth is…most businesses say it but few actually deliver on it. Why not just shut up and show it? If you’re going to expend the effort to talk to your customers and prospects, stop talking about yourself and talk about what they care about — what’s in it for me. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Strategy Tagged With: marketing, messaging Building a website your users will love July 14, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 24 website your users will loveIt seems like a “duh,” doesn’t it? Of course you want to build a website your users will love. But remember, not that long ago, many businesses were wondering whether or not they even needed a website. It seemed so far-fetched that any of their customers would ever do anything but show up at their store or pick up the phone to place an order. How quickly times change. Now, a business isn’t considered legitimate until they have a web presence. No matter what it is you sell, odds are your prospects are going to visit your website to decide if you’re even in the running. I’m hard pressed to think of an industry or business category that doesn’t rely on their website as the main workhorse in their marketing arsenal. It used to be that you had an opportunity to make the sale when someone walked into your retail location, your salesperson called on the buyer or you answered your phone. But today, a good portion of the sales process has nothing to do with you actively engaging with the potential buyer. They’re doing a great deal of their due diligence tire kicking without you being in the room at all. It’s happening on your website, within social networks and with the help of a Google search. Which makes what you put out on the web absolutely vital to your business’ success. You must build a website your users will love. All of that being said – most websites stink. They’re badly designed, built for the business’ ego rather than the customer’s utility and they’re out of date. Why? I think most businesses think of their website like an ever expanding junk drawer. They just keep tossing more stuff in there and hope that when someone rummages through it – they can find what they need. If you’d like your website to be the effective workhorse you need it to be, consider these best practices: It should be an experience: Keep in mind that many people will decide whether or not to do business with you based on their web visit. So you want them to have a memorable and enjoyable experience. Get them interacting with you – give them a quiz, help them find answers to their specific questions or offer them something they might want to share with others. In addition: Let your company’s personality be a part of the site — both in design and voice Simple navigation matters – make it intuitive Remember eye flow – give them plenty of white space and eye rest Don’t talk about yourself: Talk about their world and how you can improve it. Everything should be presented from their perspective, not yours. You might need an outside perspective to help you identify what truly matters to your audience. In addition: Don’t over share – think hors’ oeuvres, not a six course meal Start at the 101 level — not every visitor will already be an expert Leave them wanting more so they call or send an email Keep the content fresh – stale content does not sell Cascade your content – start with a little and then let them choose to drill down for more if they want it Make it easy, no matter the device: Don’t assume everyone is using a 15-inch screen. Within the next couple years, the majority of web searches will be conducted on a mobile phone. Check your site on desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones because if there’s one thing your users will love is being able to access your content no matter where they are. In addition: Pay attention to page placement — your most important content should be above the fold Give them more than one way to navigate Use landing pages to help diverse audiences get where they want to go Don’t let a mediocre website discourage prospects from becoming customers before they even shake your hand. If you haven’t already done it — start tomorrow. Build a website your users will love and share and best of all — buy from. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Marketing, Web/Tech How to be a good agency client July 1, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 23 How to be a good agency clientI’ve been working in advertising agencies for almost 30 years now and I’ve had the incredible good fortune to work with some amazing clients over the years. Early in my career, before I had the deciding vote on who we’d serve, I also worked with some real jerks. For most of us in the marketing world, we serve clients (could be an internal department or external, paying clients) and in most cases, we are also someone else’s client (vendor, strategic partner, agency if you’re client side, etc.) as well. I thought I’d reflect on my life with clients (and being a client) …and share the best practices so we can all be a better client on the next go around. Have you ever wondered how to be a good agency client? Talk to us about budget: It’s ridiculous how some clients make their agency jump through hoops to guess at the budget. We can’t help you spend your money in the wisest, most effective way possible if we don’t know the boundaries. If you don’t trust us enough to tell us – fire us. Say thank you in your own way: One of my all-time favorite clients came over one Christmas week and serenaded us with one of her holiday favorites. What an incredible gift – to share something so personal with such affection and heart. I’ll never forget the experience. Invite us to the party: We can be so much more helpful if you bring us inside. Let us interact with your c-suite, sales team, and customer service reps and be a part of the very early strategy sessions. We bring a very unique and valuable perspective – we’re informed outsiders. We can see with more clarity and less bias but we also know enough to ask the hard but insightful questions. Trust us: Our job is to make you a rock star. To help you achieve and surpass your company’s goals. We’re on your side. In theory, you selected us to be your partner because you believe we’re good at our work. So trust us. Don’t let your personal bias or preferences lead you in the wrong direction – when we disagree with you, let us explain, from our experience and expertise, why we disagree and be mindful of your mindset. In the end, it’s your money and we’ll do as you ask, but don’t shortchange our desire to being your best ally. Pay your bills on time: On the other end of the money — pay your bills on time. Odds are we jumped through hoops to hit your deadlines, and now it’s your turn. Don’t put your agency in the position of being your bank. Remember, they’ve incurred costs on your behalf, so don’t hang them out to dry. Everyone hits a tough spot and when that happens, talk to us about it. But don’t leave us in the dark. Connect with us: We all want to work with people we like. Don’t hide your humanity. Show us your vacation pictures. Tell us your funny weekend story. Reminisce about the old job or the old boss. We don’t have to be best buddies (although it’s nice when that happens) but it’s human nature to work harder for someone you like. So let us get to know you on a personal level. Celebrate with us: Marketing is usually a a winding road of obstacles and last minute adjustments, done at breakneck speed and involves a bit of risk. When it all comes together, it’s magical. Take time to celebrate with the entire team. Give kudos to the people who often don’t get the lead the team or enjoy the glory. Rewarding everyone with a special dinner or even a bagel break will fire up the team for the next challenge. The lion’s share of agency owners and employees chose the profession because they love to use their creativity to help clients. Letting them know you appreciate their efforts and actually helping them help you means you both get more of what will make you happy and successful. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Agency Life, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Advertising Agency, clients, marketing firm, partner, working together Leave a Reply Marketing automation — evil or misunderstood? July 16, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment marketing automationWhen the subject of marketing automation comes up, many purists shake their head and talk about how robotic and impersonal it is. Well — if you do it badly, that’s very true. In that case — you really do make your potential customers feel like they’re just a number to you and that you treat everyone the same, with little regard to their specific needs. But when you build the system with your customer in mind — it can be a wonderful experience for them and for you. It all depends on if you build it once and put it on auto pilot or if you use it as a tool to serve up exactly what each visitor is looking for. Automation allows you to create a user experience that puts the user in the driver’s seat. They can access the exact information they want, when they want it — and how they want it. The key is to realize that different people are going to have different needs and you need to anticipate that as you build out the options. Even more important — once you start getting visitors, you need to learn from where they go and don’t want to go. It’s a given that every potential customer probably isn’t going to want exactly the same information. As you watch and learn — you can create new paths and test the results. At the end of the day, thanks to automation, you can create multiple paths, so each person can have a different experience, based on their own needs and interests. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Recently, the folks at Marketo asked me to comment on the question “can big data lead to big love?” Check out the article and my comments. If you’re using marketing automation to make it easy for you and only you, then it probably isn’t going to work so well. But if you use it as a tool to serve your customers better — it can indeed lead to big love. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in The Freelance Studio Denver, Co.User Experience Agency We only care about you if it’s really about us October 28, 2014 by Drew McLellan 9 Comments Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 19 I Love MeWe recently bought an ad for a client and the ad rep suggested we make a big deal out of the fact that our client has been in business for 130 years. I politely told her that we definitely were not going to do that. Instead, we were going to talk about something their readers and our prospects might actually care about. My conversation with her is what prompted this blog post. We’ve all seen the ads or sales that are somehow tied to a businesses 25th anniversary or the “we’ve been in business for a century” sale announcements. The reality is – no one cares. While that may be a laudable accomplishment – to have hung in there that long, from your consumer’s point of view – it’s fluff or a gimmick (we’ve been around for 50 years so everything is 50% off!). Is a business going to offer me a better product after they’ve been around for 100 years? Was the stuff they sold in their ninety-fifth year just junk? Of course not. Is someone who just turned 60 a better advisor than when she was 59? Nope. You make that the focus of your ad or your sale when you don’t have anything better to say. And if you can’t come up with something more customer-centric than that to say – you’re lucky to still be in business. It’s actually a symptom of an age-old marketing problem. Businesses talk about themselves rather than talking about what the customer cares about. Here’s how to fix two of the most common “it’s all about me” types of marketing statements and make them customer centric and customer valued communications instead. #1 — We’re old and you should care All about us: We’re 100 years old. Come enjoy some birthday cake and celebrate with us as we cross the century mark. All about them: Over the many years we’ve been in business, we’ve learned that our customers value three things. They value incredible customer service (click here to speak live with one of our teammates), fair pricing (click here to read about our fair price every time program) and they want quality they can count on (watch a short video about our factory’s 100% right or 100% wrong policy). You’re saying the same thing – we’ve been in business long enough to be stable, to have earned our customer’s trust and no one has to worry about you being a fly by night operation. But when you push beyond focusing on yourself, you can outline exactly why your longevity is of value to the prospect that is considering doing business with you. #2 – The difference is our people (perhaps the most trite sentence uttered in marketing today) All about us: Our people really care. You’re not just a number to us. All about them: Hi Mr. McLellan – we see that you’re going to be staying at our hotel XYZ in Big City. We’re glad to have you staying with us and want to make sure we do everything in our power to make your stay an awesome one. As the manager of the hotel, I want you to have my direct line (123-456-7890) and email (manager@BigHotel.com) so you can get a hold of me if there’s anything you need. Don’t tell me that your people care. Show me. It sounds like hype when you brag about it. It feels remarkable when I experience it for myself. The truth is…most businesses say it but few actually deliver on it. Why not just shut up and show it? If you’re going to expend the effort to talk to your customers and prospects, stop talking about yourself and talk about what they care about — what’s in it for me. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Strategy Tagged With: marketing, messaging Building a website your users will love July 14, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 24 website your users will loveIt seems like a “duh,” doesn’t it? Of course you want to build a website your users will love. But remember, not that long ago, many businesses were wondering whether or not they even needed a website. It seemed so far-fetched that any of their customers would ever do anything but show up at their store or pick up the phone to place an order. How quickly times change. Now, a business isn’t considered legitimate until they have a web presence. No matter what it is you sell, odds are your prospects are going to visit your website to decide if you’re even in the running. I’m hard pressed to think of an industry or business category that doesn’t rely on their website as the main workhorse in their marketing arsenal. It used to be that you had an opportunity to make the sale when someone walked into your retail location, your salesperson called on the buyer or you answered your phone. But today, a good portion of the sales process has nothing to do with you actively engaging with the potential buyer. They’re doing a great deal of their due diligence tire kicking without you being in the room at all. It’s happening on your website, within social networks and with the help of a Google search. Which makes what you put out on the web absolutely vital to your business’ success. You must build a website your users will love. All of that being said – most websites stink. They’re badly designed, built for the business’ ego rather than the customer’s utility and they’re out of date. Why? I think most businesses think of their website like an ever expanding junk drawer. They just keep tossing more stuff in there and hope that when someone rummages through it – they can find what they need. If you’d like your website to be the effective workhorse you need it to be, consider these best practices: It should be an experience: Keep in mind that many people will decide whether or not to do business with you based on their web visit. So you want them to have a memorable and enjoyable experience. Get them interacting with you – give them a quiz, help them find answers to their specific questions or offer them something they might want to share with others. In addition: Let your company’s personality be a part of the site — both in design and voice Simple navigation matters – make it intuitive Remember eye flow – give them plenty of white space and eye rest Don’t talk about yourself: Talk about their world and how you can improve it. Everything should be presented from their perspective, not yours. You might need an outside perspective to help you identify what truly matters to your audience. In addition: Don’t over share – think hors’ oeuvres, not a six course meal Start at the 101 level — not every visitor will already be an expert Leave them wanting more so they call or send an email Keep the content fresh – stale content does not sell Cascade your content – start with a little and then let them choose to drill down for more if they want it Make it easy, no matter the device: Don’t assume everyone is using a 15-inch screen. Within the next couple years, the majority of web searches will be conducted on a mobile phone. Check your site on desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones because if there’s one thing your users will love is being able to access your content no matter where they are. In addition: Pay attention to page placement — your most important content should be above the fold Give them more than one way to navigate Use landing pages to help diverse audiences get where they want to go Don’t let a mediocre website discourage prospects from becoming customers before they even shake your hand. If you haven’t already done it — start tomorrow. Build a website your users will love and share and best of all — buy from. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Marketing, Web/Tech How to be a good agency client July 1, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 23 How to be a good agency clientI’ve been working in advertising agencies for almost 30 years now and I’ve had the incredible good fortune to work with some amazing clients over the years. Early in my career, before I had the deciding vote on who we’d serve, I also worked with some real jerks. For most of us in the marketing world, we serve clients (could be an internal department or external, paying clients) and in most cases, we are also someone else’s client (vendor, strategic partner, agency if you’re client side, etc.) as well. I thought I’d reflect on my life with clients (and being a client) …and share the best practices so we can all be a better client on the next go around. Have you ever wondered how to be a good agency client? Talk to us about budget: It’s ridiculous how some clients make their agency jump through hoops to guess at the budget. We can’t help you spend your money in the wisest, most effective way possible if we don’t know the boundaries. If you don’t trust us enough to tell us – fire us. Say thank you in your own way: One of my all-time favorite clients came over one Christmas week and serenaded us with one of her holiday favorites. What an incredible gift – to share something so personal with such affection and heart. I’ll never forget the experience. Invite us to the party: We can be so much more helpful if you bring us inside. Let us interact with your c-suite, sales team, and customer service reps and be a part of the very early strategy sessions. We bring a very unique and valuable perspective – we’re informed outsiders. We can see with more clarity and less bias but we also know enough to ask the hard but insightful questions. Trust us: Our job is to make you a rock star. To help you achieve and surpass your company’s goals. We’re on your side. In theory, you selected us to be your partner because you believe we’re good at our work. So trust us. Don’t let your personal bias or preferences lead you in the wrong direction – when we disagree with you, let us explain, from our experience and expertise, why we disagree and be mindful of your mindset. In the end, it’s your money and we’ll do as you ask, but don’t shortchange our desire to being your best ally. Pay your bills on time: On the other end of the money — pay your bills on time. Odds are we jumped through hoops to hit your deadlines, and now it’s your turn. Don’t put your agency in the position of being your bank. Remember, they’ve incurred costs on your behalf, so don’t hang them out to dry. Everyone hits a tough spot and when that happens, talk to us about it. But don’t leave us in the dark. Connect with us: We all want to work with people we like. Don’t hide your humanity. Show us your vacation pictures. Tell us your funny weekend story. Reminisce about the old job or the old boss. We don’t have to be best buddies (although it’s nice when that happens) but it’s human nature to work harder for someone you like. So let us get to know you on a personal level. Celebrate with us: Marketing is usually a a winding road of obstacles and last minute adjustments, done at breakneck speed and involves a bit of risk. When it all comes together, it’s magical. Take time to celebrate with the entire team. Give kudos to the people who often don’t get the lead the team or enjoy the glory. Rewarding everyone with a special dinner or even a bagel break will fire up the team for the next challenge. The lion’s share of agency owners and employees chose the profession because they love to use their creativity to help clients. Letting them know you appreciate their efforts and actually helping them help you means you both get more of what will make you happy and successful. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Agency Life, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Advertising Agency, clients, marketing firm, partner, working together Leave a Reply Marketing automation — evil or misunderstood? July 16, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment marketing automationWhen the subject of marketing automation comes up, many purists shake their head and talk about how robotic and impersonal it is. Well — if you do it badly, that’s very true. In that case — you really do make your potential customers feel like they’re just a number to you and that you treat everyone the same, with little regard to their specific needs. But when you build the system with your customer in mind — it can be a wonderful experience for them and for you. It all depends on if you build it once and put it on auto pilot or if you use it as a tool to serve up exactly what each visitor is looking for. Automation allows you to create a user experience that puts the user in the driver’s seat. They can access the exact information they want, when they want it — and how they want it. The key is to realize that different people are going to have different needs and you need to anticipate that as you build out the options. Even more important — once you start getting visitors, you need to learn from where they go and don’t want to go. It’s a given that every potential customer probably isn’t going to want exactly the same information. As you watch and learn — you can create new paths and test the results. At the end of the day, thanks to automation, you can create multiple paths, so each person can have a different experience, based on their own needs and interests. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Recently, the folks at Marketo asked me to comment on the question “can big data lead to big love?” Check out the article and my comments. If you’re using marketing automation to make it easy for you and only you, then it probably isn’t going to work so well. But if you use it as a tool to serve your customers better — it can indeed lead to big love. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Your best customers are pure gold July 19, 2014 by Drew McLellan 1 Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 28 best customersYou’ve heard it before — the top 20% of your customers, your very best customers, account for 80% of your profitability and referrals. We intellectually know that and yet our behavior sure doesn’t show it. We spend all kinds of dollars, time, energy and worry chasing after new customers and after someone starts to buy, the typical business sort of forgets all about them. Much like people’s dating patterns — there’s a lot of wooing that goes on before the wedding but after the “I do’s” get said, the florist goes broke. Our poor best customers get the same treatment from us and that needs to stop. We need to shift a portion of our marketing focus away from prospects and invest even more in our best customers — the ones who have already proven that they’ll sing our praises, buy more and more and bring their friends along for the ride. Fortunately, my friend Stan Phelps has written a book to help us all do just that. This book, What’s Your Golden Goldfish, is the third book in a trilogy of marketing books that are all built around over 2,200 crowdsourced examples of real life marketing smarts. This particular book shares over 100 examples of what leading brands like Starbucks, Doubletree, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Virgin Atlantic are doing differently to cater to their best customers and earn even more of their business and loyalty. The book showcases nine different ways to let your best customers (and employees) know how much you value them. By doing those little extras, you will make your company even stronger. You will differentiate yourself even more from your competitors, you’ll keep both your best customers and employees longer so they contribute to your success and with every little extra, you will create more word of mouth buzz. The entire series of books is all built around the idea of lagniappe which is a creole word for “a little something extra.” In this edition — Stan helps his readers explore how organizations large and small can do a little something extra for their most loyal customers and employees. You’ll love the storytelling but make sure you have a pen and paper handy because this book is going to spark so many ideas that you’ll never remember them all. And as you implement them — your best customers will reward you with even more buzz, money and referrals. Sounds like it is going to work out well for everyone, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in Stan’s entire series, here’s how you can get them from Amazon. If your an Amazon Unlimited customer, you can read the electronic version for free. If you want the paperbacks, click on the links below: Third book — What’s Your Golden Goldfish: The Vital Few Second book — What’s your Green Goldfish: 15 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement and Reinforce Culture First book — What’s your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth Note: If you click on one of the Amazon links, I get a few cents. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Books, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Best Customers, Golden Goldfish, Goldfish series, referrals, Stan Phelps, Word of mouth The Freelance Studio Denver, Co.User Experience Agency We only care about you if it’s really about us October 28, 2014 by Drew McLellan 9 Comments Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 19 I Love MeWe recently bought an ad for a client and the ad rep suggested we make a big deal out of the fact that our client has been in business for 130 years. I politely told her that we definitely were not going to do that. Instead, we were going to talk about something their readers and our prospects might actually care about. My conversation with her is what prompted this blog post. We’ve all seen the ads or sales that are somehow tied to a businesses 25th anniversary or the “we’ve been in business for a century” sale announcements. The reality is – no one cares. While that may be a laudable accomplishment – to have hung in there that long, from your consumer’s point of view – it’s fluff or a gimmick (we’ve been around for 50 years so everything is 50% off!). Is a business going to offer me a better product after they’ve been around for 100 years? Was the stuff they sold in their ninety-fifth year just junk? Of course not. Is someone who just turned 60 a better advisor than when she was 59? Nope. You make that the focus of your ad or your sale when you don’t have anything better to say. And if you can’t come up with something more customer-centric than that to say – you’re lucky to still be in business. It’s actually a symptom of an age-old marketing problem. Businesses talk about themselves rather than talking about what the customer cares about. Here’s how to fix two of the most common “it’s all about me” types of marketing statements and make them customer centric and customer valued communications instead. #1 — We’re old and you should care All about us: We’re 100 years old. Come enjoy some birthday cake and celebrate with us as we cross the century mark. All about them: Over the many years we’ve been in business, we’ve learned that our customers value three things. They value incredible customer service (click here to speak live with one of our teammates), fair pricing (click here to read about our fair price every time program) and they want quality they can count on (watch a short video about our factory’s 100% right or 100% wrong policy). You’re saying the same thing – we’ve been in business long enough to be stable, to have earned our customer’s trust and no one has to worry about you being a fly by night operation. But when you push beyond focusing on yourself, you can outline exactly why your longevity is of value to the prospect that is considering doing business with you. #2 – The difference is our people (perhaps the most trite sentence uttered in marketing today) All about us: Our people really care. You’re not just a number to us. All about them: Hi Mr. McLellan – we see that you’re going to be staying at our hotel XYZ in Big City. We’re glad to have you staying with us and want to make sure we do everything in our power to make your stay an awesome one. As the manager of the hotel, I want you to have my direct line (123-456-7890) and email (manager@BigHotel.com) so you can get a hold of me if there’s anything you need. Don’t tell me that your people care. Show me. It sounds like hype when you brag about it. It feels remarkable when I experience it for myself. The truth is…most businesses say it but few actually deliver on it. Why not just shut up and show it? If you’re going to expend the effort to talk to your customers and prospects, stop talking about yourself and talk about what they care about — what’s in it for me. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Strategy Tagged With: marketing, messaging Building a website your users will love July 14, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 24 website your users will loveIt seems like a “duh,” doesn’t it? Of course you want to build a website your users will love. But remember, not that long ago, many businesses were wondering whether or not they even needed a website. It seemed so far-fetched that any of their customers would ever do anything but show up at their store or pick up the phone to place an order. How quickly times change. Now, a business isn’t considered legitimate until they have a web presence. No matter what it is you sell, odds are your prospects are going to visit your website to decide if you’re even in the running. I’m hard pressed to think of an industry or business category that doesn’t rely on their website as the main workhorse in their marketing arsenal. It used to be that you had an opportunity to make the sale when someone walked into your retail location, your salesperson called on the buyer or you answered your phone. But today, a good portion of the sales process has nothing to do with you actively engaging with the potential buyer. They’re doing a great deal of their due diligence tire kicking without you being in the room at all. It’s happening on your website, within social networks and with the help of a Google search. Which makes what you put out on the web absolutely vital to your business’ success. You must build a website your users will love. All of that being said – most websites stink. They’re badly designed, built for the business’ ego rather than the customer’s utility and they’re out of date. Why? I think most businesses think of their website like an ever expanding junk drawer. They just keep tossing more stuff in there and hope that when someone rummages through it – they can find what they need. If you’d like your website to be the effective workhorse you need it to be, consider these best practices: It should be an experience: Keep in mind that many people will decide whether or not to do business with you based on their web visit. So you want them to have a memorable and enjoyable experience. Get them interacting with you – give them a quiz, help them find answers to their specific questions or offer them something they might want to share with others. In addition: Let your company’s personality be a part of the site — both in design and voice Simple navigation matters – make it intuitive Remember eye flow – give them plenty of white space and eye rest Don’t talk about yourself: Talk about their world and how you can improve it. Everything should be presented from their perspective, not yours. You might need an outside perspective to help you identify what truly matters to your audience. In addition: Don’t over share – think hors’ oeuvres, not a six course meal Start at the 101 level — not every visitor will already be an expert Leave them wanting more so they call or send an email Keep the content fresh – stale content does not sell Cascade your content – start with a little and then let them choose to drill down for more if they want it Make it easy, no matter the device: Don’t assume everyone is using a 15-inch screen. Within the next couple years, the majority of web searches will be conducted on a mobile phone. Check your site on desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones because if there’s one thing your users will love is being able to access your content no matter where they are. In addition: Pay attention to page placement — your most important content should be above the fold Give them more than one way to navigate Use landing pages to help diverse audiences get where they want to go Don’t let a mediocre website discourage prospects from becoming customers before they even shake your hand. If you haven’t already done it — start tomorrow. Build a website your users will love and share and best of all — buy from. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Marketing, Web/Tech How to be a good agency client July 1, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 23 How to be a good agency clientI’ve been working in advertising agencies for almost 30 years now and I’ve had the incredible good fortune to work with some amazing clients over the years. Early in my career, before I had the deciding vote on who we’d serve, I also worked with some real jerks. For most of us in the marketing world, we serve clients (could be an internal department or external, paying clients) and in most cases, we are also someone else’s client (vendor, strategic partner, agency if you’re client side, etc.) as well. I thought I’d reflect on my life with clients (and being a client) …and share the best practices so we can all be a better client on the next go around. Have you ever wondered how to be a good agency client? Talk to us about budget: It’s ridiculous how some clients make their agency jump through hoops to guess at the budget. We can’t help you spend your money in the wisest, most effective way possible if we don’t know the boundaries. If you don’t trust us enough to tell us – fire us. Say thank you in your own way: One of my all-time favorite clients came over one Christmas week and serenaded us with one of her holiday favorites. What an incredible gift – to share something so personal with such affection and heart. I’ll never forget the experience. Invite us to the party: We can be so much more helpful if you bring us inside. Let us interact with your c-suite, sales team, and customer service reps and be a part of the very early strategy sessions. We bring a very unique and valuable perspective – we’re informed outsiders. We can see with more clarity and less bias but we also know enough to ask the hard but insightful questions. Trust us: Our job is to make you a rock star. To help you achieve and surpass your company’s goals. We’re on your side. In theory, you selected us to be your partner because you believe we’re good at our work. So trust us. Don’t let your personal bias or preferences lead you in the wrong direction – when we disagree with you, let us explain, from our experience and expertise, why we disagree and be mindful of your mindset. In the end, it’s your money and we’ll do as you ask, but don’t shortchange our desire to being your best ally. Pay your bills on time: On the other end of the money — pay your bills on time. Odds are we jumped through hoops to hit your deadlines, and now it’s your turn. Don’t put your agency in the position of being your bank. Remember, they’ve incurred costs on your behalf, so don’t hang them out to dry. Everyone hits a tough spot and when that happens, talk to us about it. But don’t leave us in the dark. Connect with us: We all want to work with people we like. Don’t hide your humanity. Show us your vacation pictures. Tell us your funny weekend story. Reminisce about the old job or the old boss. We don’t have to be best buddies (although it’s nice when that happens) but it’s human nature to work harder for someone you like. So let us get to know you on a personal level. Celebrate with us: Marketing is usually a a winding road of obstacles and last minute adjustments, done at breakneck speed and involves a bit of risk. When it all comes together, it’s magical. Take time to celebrate with the entire team. Give kudos to the people who often don’t get the lead the team or enjoy the glory. Rewarding everyone with a special dinner or even a bagel break will fire up the team for the next challenge. The lion’s share of agency owners and employees chose the profession because they love to use their creativity to help clients. Letting them know you appreciate their efforts and actually helping them help you means you both get more of what will make you happy and successful. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Agency Life, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Advertising Agency, clients, marketing firm, partner, working together Leave a Reply Marketing automation — evil or misunderstood? July 16, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment marketing automationWhen the subject of marketing automation comes up, many purists shake their head and talk about how robotic and impersonal it is. Well — if you do it badly, that’s very true. In that case — you really do make your potential customers feel like they’re just a number to you and that you treat everyone the same, with little regard to their specific needs. But when you build the system with your customer in mind — it can be a wonderful experience for them and for you. It all depends on if you build it once and put it on auto pilot or if you use it as a tool to serve up exactly what each visitor is looking for. Automation allows you to create a user experience that puts the user in the driver’s seat. They can access the exact information they want, when they want it — and how they want it. The key is to realize that different people are going to have different needs and you need to anticipate that as you build out the options. Even more important — once you start getting visitors, you need to learn from where they go and don’t want to go. It’s a given that every potential customer probably isn’t going to want exactly the same information. As you watch and learn — you can create new paths and test the results. At the end of the day, thanks to automation, you can create multiple paths, so each person can have a different experience, based on their own needs and interests. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Recently, the folks at Marketo asked me to comment on the question “can big data lead to big love?” Check out the article and my comments. If you’re using marketing automation to make it easy for you and only you, then it probably isn’t going to work so well. But if you use it as a tool to serve your customers better — it can indeed lead to big love. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Your best customers are pure gold July 19, 2014 by Drew McLellan 1 Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 28 best customersYou’ve heard it before — the top 20% of your customers, your very best customers, account for 80% of your profitability and referrals. We intellectually know that and yet our behavior sure doesn’t show it. We spend all kinds of dollars, time, energy and worry chasing after new customers and after someone starts to buy, the typical business sort of forgets all about them. Much like people’s dating patterns — there’s a lot of wooing that goes on before the wedding but after the “I do’s” get said, the florist goes broke. Our poor best customers get the same treatment from us and that needs to stop. We need to shift a portion of our marketing focus away from prospects and invest even more in our best customers — the ones who have already proven that they’ll sing our praises, buy more and more and bring their friends along for the ride. Fortunately, my friend Stan Phelps has written a book to help us all do just that. This book, What’s Your Golden Goldfish, is the third book in a trilogy of marketing books that are all built around over 2,200 crowdsourced examples of real life marketing smarts. This particular book shares over 100 examples of what leading brands like Starbucks, Doubletree, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Virgin Atlantic are doing differently to cater to their best customers and earn even more of their business and loyalty. The book showcases nine different ways to let your best customers (and employees) know how much you value them. By doing those little extras, you will make your company even stronger. You will differentiate yourself even more from your competitors, you’ll keep both your best customers and employees longer so they contribute to your success and with every little extra, you will create more word of mouth buzz. The entire series of books is all built around the idea of lagniappe which is a creole word for “a little something extra.” In this edition — Stan helps his readers explore how organizations large and small can do a little something extra for their most loyal customers and employees. You’ll love the storytelling but make sure you have a pen and paper handy because this book is going to spark so many ideas that you’ll never remember them all. And as you implement them — your best customers will reward you with even more buzz, money and referrals. Sounds like it is going to work out well for everyone, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in Stan’s entire series, here’s how you can get them from Amazon. If your an Amazon Unlimited customer, you can read the electronic version for free. If you want the paperbacks, click on the links below: Third book — What’s Your Golden Goldfish: The Vital Few Second book — What’s your Green Goldfish: 15 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement and Reinforce Culture First book — What’s your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth Note: If you click on one of the Amazon links, I get a few cents. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Books, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Best Customers, Golden Goldfish, Goldfish series, referrals, Stan Phelps, Word of mouth The Freelance Studio Denver, Co.User Experience Agency We only care about you if it’s really about us October 28, 2014 by Drew McLellan 9 Comments Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 19 I Love MeWe recently bought an ad for a client and the ad rep suggested we make a big deal out of the fact that our client has been in business for 130 years. I politely told her that we definitely were not going to do that. Instead, we were going to talk about something their readers and our prospects might actually care about. My conversation with her is what prompted this blog post. We’ve all seen the ads or sales that are somehow tied to a businesses 25th anniversary or the “we’ve been in business for a century” sale announcements. The reality is – no one cares. While that may be a laudable accomplishment – to have hung in there that long, from your consumer’s point of view – it’s fluff or a gimmick (we’ve been around for 50 years so everything is 50% off!). Is a business going to offer me a better product after they’ve been around for 100 years? Was the stuff they sold in their ninety-fifth year just junk? Of course not. Is someone who just turned 60 a better advisor than when she was 59? Nope. You make that the focus of your ad or your sale when you don’t have anything better to say. And if you can’t come up with something more customer-centric than that to say – you’re lucky to still be in business. It’s actually a symptom of an age-old marketing problem. Businesses talk about themselves rather than talking about what the customer cares about. Here’s how to fix two of the most common “it’s all about me” types of marketing statements and make them customer centric and customer valued communications instead. #1 — We’re old and you should care All about us: We’re 100 years old. Come enjoy some birthday cake and celebrate with us as we cross the century mark. All about them: Over the many years we’ve been in business, we’ve learned that our customers value three things. They value incredible customer service (click here to speak live with one of our teammates), fair pricing (click here to read about our fair price every time program) and they want quality they can count on (watch a short video about our factory’s 100% right or 100% wrong policy). You’re saying the same thing – we’ve been in business long enough to be stable, to have earned our customer’s trust and no one has to worry about you being a fly by night operation. But when you push beyond focusing on yourself, you can outline exactly why your longevity is of value to the prospect that is considering doing business with you. #2 – The difference is our people (perhaps the most trite sentence uttered in marketing today) All about us: Our people really care. You’re not just a number to us. All about them: Hi Mr. McLellan – we see that you’re going to be staying at our hotel XYZ in Big City. We’re glad to have you staying with us and want to make sure we do everything in our power to make your stay an awesome one. As the manager of the hotel, I want you to have my direct line (123-456-7890) and email (manager@BigHotel.com) so you can get a hold of me if there’s anything you need. Don’t tell me that your people care. Show me. It sounds like hype when you brag about it. It feels remarkable when I experience it for myself. The truth is…most businesses say it but few actually deliver on it. Why not just shut up and show it? If you’re going to expend the effort to talk to your customers and prospects, stop talking about yourself and talk about what they care about — what’s in it for me. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Strategy Tagged With: marketing, messaging Building a website your users will love July 14, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 24 website your users will loveIt seems like a “duh,” doesn’t it? Of course you want to build a website your users will love. But remember, not that long ago, many businesses were wondering whether or not they even needed a website. It seemed so far-fetched that any of their customers would ever do anything but show up at their store or pick up the phone to place an order. How quickly times change. Now, a business isn’t considered legitimate until they have a web presence. No matter what it is you sell, odds are your prospects are going to visit your website to decide if you’re even in the running. I’m hard pressed to think of an industry or business category that doesn’t rely on their website as the main workhorse in their marketing arsenal. It used to be that you had an opportunity to make the sale when someone walked into your retail location, your salesperson called on the buyer or you answered your phone. But today, a good portion of the sales process has nothing to do with you actively engaging with the potential buyer. They’re doing a great deal of their due diligence tire kicking without you being in the room at all. It’s happening on your website, within social networks and with the help of a Google search. Which makes what you put out on the web absolutely vital to your business’ success. You must build a website your users will love. All of that being said – most websites stink. They’re badly designed, built for the business’ ego rather than the customer’s utility and they’re out of date. Why? I think most businesses think of their website like an ever expanding junk drawer. They just keep tossing more stuff in there and hope that when someone rummages through it – they can find what they need. If you’d like your website to be the effective workhorse you need it to be, consider these best practices: It should be an experience: Keep in mind that many people will decide whether or not to do business with you based on their web visit. So you want them to have a memorable and enjoyable experience. Get them interacting with you – give them a quiz, help them find answers to their specific questions or offer them something they might want to share with others. In addition: Let your company’s personality be a part of the site — both in design and voice Simple navigation matters – make it intuitive Remember eye flow – give them plenty of white space and eye rest Don’t talk about yourself: Talk about their world and how you can improve it. Everything should be presented from their perspective, not yours. You might need an outside perspective to help you identify what truly matters to your audience. In addition: Don’t over share – think hors’ oeuvres, not a six course meal Start at the 101 level — not every visitor will already be an expert Leave them wanting more so they call or send an email Keep the content fresh – stale content does not sell Cascade your content – start with a little and then let them choose to drill down for more if they want it Make it easy, no matter the device: Don’t assume everyone is using a 15-inch screen. Within the next couple years, the majority of web searches will be conducted on a mobile phone. Check your site on desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones because if there’s one thing your users will love is being able to access your content no matter where they are. In addition: Pay attention to page placement — your most important content should be above the fold Give them more than one way to navigate Use landing pages to help diverse audiences get where they want to go Don’t let a mediocre website discourage prospects from becoming customers before they even shake your hand. If you haven’t already done it — start tomorrow. Build a website your users will love and share and best of all — buy from. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Marketing, Web/Tech How to be a good agency client July 1, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 23 How to be a good agency clientI’ve been working in advertising agencies for almost 30 years now and I’ve had the incredible good fortune to work with some amazing clients over the years. Early in my career, before I had the deciding vote on who we’d serve, I also worked with some real jerks. For most of us in the marketing world, we serve clients (could be an internal department or external, paying clients) and in most cases, we are also someone else’s client (vendor, strategic partner, agency if you’re client side, etc.) as well. I thought I’d reflect on my life with clients (and being a client) …and share the best practices so we can all be a better client on the next go around. Have you ever wondered how to be a good agency client? Talk to us about budget: It’s ridiculous how some clients make their agency jump through hoops to guess at the budget. We can’t help you spend your money in the wisest, most effective way possible if we don’t know the boundaries. If you don’t trust us enough to tell us – fire us. Say thank you in your own way: One of my all-time favorite clients came over one Christmas week and serenaded us with one of her holiday favorites. What an incredible gift – to share something so personal with such affection and heart. I’ll never forget the experience. Invite us to the party: We can be so much more helpful if you bring us inside. Let us interact with your c-suite, sales team, and customer service reps and be a part of the very early strategy sessions. We bring a very unique and valuable perspective – we’re informed outsiders. We can see with more clarity and less bias but we also know enough to ask the hard but insightful questions. Trust us: Our job is to make you a rock star. To help you achieve and surpass your company’s goals. We’re on your side. In theory, you selected us to be your partner because you believe we’re good at our work. So trust us. Don’t let your personal bias or preferences lead you in the wrong direction – when we disagree with you, let us explain, from our experience and expertise, why we disagree and be mindful of your mindset. In the end, it’s your money and we’ll do as you ask, but don’t shortchange our desire to being your best ally. Pay your bills on time: On the other end of the money — pay your bills on time. Odds are we jumped through hoops to hit your deadlines, and now it’s your turn. Don’t put your agency in the position of being your bank. Remember, they’ve incurred costs on your behalf, so don’t hang them out to dry. Everyone hits a tough spot and when that happens, talk to us about it. But don’t leave us in the dark. Connect with us: We all want to work with people we like. Don’t hide your humanity. Show us your vacation pictures. Tell us your funny weekend story. Reminisce about the old job or the old boss. We don’t have to be best buddies (although it’s nice when that happens) but it’s human nature to work harder for someone you like. So let us get to know you on a personal level. Celebrate with us: Marketing is usually a a winding road of obstacles and last minute adjustments, done at breakneck speed and involves a bit of risk. When it all comes together, it’s magical. Take time to celebrate with the entire team. Give kudos to the people who often don’t get the lead the team or enjoy the glory. Rewarding everyone with a special dinner or even a bagel break will fire up the team for the next challenge. The lion’s share of agency owners and employees chose the profession because they love to use their creativity to help clients. Letting them know you appreciate their efforts and actually helping them help you means you both get more of what will make you happy and successful. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Agency Life, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Advertising Agency, clients, marketing firm, partner, working together Leave a Reply Marketing automation — evil or misunderstood? July 16, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment marketing automationWhen the subject of marketing automation comes up, many purists shake their head and talk about how robotic and impersonal it is. Well — if you do it badly, that’s very true. In that case — you really do make your potential customers feel like they’re just a number to you and that you treat everyone the same, with little regard to their specific needs. But when you build the system with your customer in mind — it can be a wonderful experience for them and for you. It all depends on if you build it once and put it on auto pilot or if you use it as a tool to serve up exactly what each visitor is looking for. Automation allows you to create a user experience that puts the user in the driver’s seat. They can access the exact information they want, when they want it — and how they want it. The key is to realize that different people are going to have different needs and you need to anticipate that as you build out the options. Even more important — once you start getting visitors, you need to learn from where they go and don’t want to go. It’s a given that every potential customer probably isn’t going to want exactly the same information. As you watch and learn — you can create new paths and test the results. At the end of the day, thanks to automation, you can create multiple paths, so each person can have a different experience, based on their own needs and interests. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Recently, the folks at Marketo asked me to comment on the question “can big data lead to big love?” Check out the article and my comments. If you’re using marketing automation to make it easy for you and only you, then it probably isn’t going to work so well. But if you use it as a tool to serve your customers better — it can indeed lead to big love. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Your best customers are pure gold July 19, 2014 by Drew McLellan 1 Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 28 best customersYou’ve heard it before — the top 20% of your customers, your very best customers, account for 80% of your profitability and referrals. We intellectually know that and yet our behavior sure doesn’t show it. We spend all kinds of dollars, time, energy and worry chasing after new customers and after someone starts to buy, the typical business sort of forgets all about them. Much like people’s dating patterns — there’s a lot of wooing that goes on before the wedding but after the “I do’s” get said, the florist goes broke. Our poor best customers get the same treatment from us and that needs to stop. We need to shift a portion of our marketing focus away from prospects and invest even more in our best customers — the ones who have already proven that they’ll sing our praises, buy more and more and bring their friends along for the ride. Fortunately, my friend Stan Phelps has written a book to help us all do just that. This book, What’s Your Golden Goldfish, is the third book in a trilogy of marketing books that are all built around over 2,200 crowdsourced examples of real life marketing smarts. This particular book shares over 100 examples of what leading brands like Starbucks, Doubletree, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Virgin Atlantic are doing differently to cater to their best customers and earn even more of their business and loyalty. The book showcases nine different ways to let your best customers (and employees) know how much you value them. By doing those little extras, you will make your company even stronger. You will differentiate yourself even more from your competitors, you’ll keep both your best customers and employees longer so they contribute to your success and with every little extra, you will create more word of mouth buzz. The entire series of books is all built around the idea of lagniappe which is a creole word for “a little something extra.” In this edition — Stan helps his readers explore how organizations large and small can do a little something extra for their most loyal customers and employees. You’ll love the storytelling but make sure you have a pen and paper handy because this book is going to spark so many ideas that you’ll never remember them all. And as you implement them — your best customers will reward you with even more buzz, money and referrals. Sounds like it is going to work out well for everyone, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in Stan’s entire series, here’s how you can get them from Amazon. If your an Amazon Unlimited customer, you can read the electronic version for free. If you want the paperbacks, click on the links below: Third book — What’s Your Golden Goldfish: The Vital Few Second book — What’s your Green Goldfish: 15 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement and Reinforce Culture First book — What’s your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth Note: If you click on one of the Amazon links, I get a few cents. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Books, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Best Customers, Golden Goldfish, Goldfish series, referrals, Stan Phelps, Word of mouth The Freelance Studio Denver, Co.User Experience Agency We only care about you if it’s really about us October 28, 2014 by Drew McLellan 9 Comments Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 19 I Love MeWe recently bought an ad for a client and the ad rep suggested we make a big deal out of the fact that our client has been in business for 130 years. I politely told her that we definitely were not going to do that. Instead, we were going to talk about something their readers and our prospects might actually care about. My conversation with her is what prompted this blog post. We’ve all seen the ads or sales that are somehow tied to a businesses 25th anniversary or the “we’ve been in business for a century” sale announcements. The reality is – no one cares. While that may be a laudable accomplishment – to have hung in there that long, from your consumer’s point of view – it’s fluff or a gimmick (we’ve been around for 50 years so everything is 50% off!). Is a business going to offer me a better product after they’ve been around for 100 years? Was the stuff they sold in their ninety-fifth year just junk? Of course not. Is someone who just turned 60 a better advisor than when she was 59? Nope. You make that the focus of your ad or your sale when you don’t have anything better to say. And if you can’t come up with something more customer-centric than that to say – you’re lucky to still be in business. It’s actually a symptom of an age-old marketing problem. Businesses talk about themselves rather than talking about what the customer cares about. Here’s how to fix two of the most common “it’s all about me” types of marketing statements and make them customer centric and customer valued communications instead. #1 — We’re old and you should care All about us: We’re 100 years old. Come enjoy some birthday cake and celebrate with us as we cross the century mark. All about them: Over the many years we’ve been in business, we’ve learned that our customers value three things. They value incredible customer service (click here to speak live with one of our teammates), fair pricing (click here to read about our fair price every time program) and they want quality they can count on (watch a short video about our factory’s 100% right or 100% wrong policy). You’re saying the same thing – we’ve been in business long enough to be stable, to have earned our customer’s trust and no one has to worry about you being a fly by night operation. But when you push beyond focusing on yourself, you can outline exactly why your longevity is of value to the prospect that is considering doing business with you. #2 – The difference is our people (perhaps the most trite sentence uttered in marketing today) All about us: Our people really care. You’re not just a number to us. All about them: Hi Mr. McLellan – we see that you’re going to be staying at our hotel XYZ in Big City. We’re glad to have you staying with us and want to make sure we do everything in our power to make your stay an awesome one. As the manager of the hotel, I want you to have my direct line (123-456-7890) and email (manager@BigHotel.com) so you can get a hold of me if there’s anything you need. Don’t tell me that your people care. Show me. It sounds like hype when you brag about it. It feels remarkable when I experience it for myself. The truth is…most businesses say it but few actually deliver on it. Why not just shut up and show it? If you’re going to expend the effort to talk to your customers and prospects, stop talking about yourself and talk about what they care about — what’s in it for me. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Strategy Tagged With: marketing, messaging Building a website your users will love July 14, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 24 website your users will loveIt seems like a “duh,” doesn’t it? Of course you want to build a website your users will love. But remember, not that long ago, many businesses were wondering whether or not they even needed a website. It seemed so far-fetched that any of their customers would ever do anything but show up at their store or pick up the phone to place an order. How quickly times change. Now, a business isn’t considered legitimate until they have a web presence. No matter what it is you sell, odds are your prospects are going to visit your website to decide if you’re even in the running. I’m hard pressed to think of an industry or business category that doesn’t rely on their website as the main workhorse in their marketing arsenal. It used to be that you had an opportunity to make the sale when someone walked into your retail location, your salesperson called on the buyer or you answered your phone. But today, a good portion of the sales process has nothing to do with you actively engaging with the potential buyer. They’re doing a great deal of their due diligence tire kicking without you being in the room at all. It’s happening on your website, within social networks and with the help of a Google search. Which makes what you put out on the web absolutely vital to your business’ success. You must build a website your users will love. All of that being said – most websites stink. They’re badly designed, built for the business’ ego rather than the customer’s utility and they’re out of date. Why? I think most businesses think of their website like an ever expanding junk drawer. They just keep tossing more stuff in there and hope that when someone rummages through it – they can find what they need. If you’d like your website to be the effective workhorse you need it to be, consider these best practices: It should be an experience: Keep in mind that many people will decide whether or not to do business with you based on their web visit. So you want them to have a memorable and enjoyable experience. Get them interacting with you – give them a quiz, help them find answers to their specific questions or offer them something they might want to share with others. In addition: Let your company’s personality be a part of the site — both in design and voice Simple navigation matters – make it intuitive Remember eye flow – give them plenty of white space and eye rest Don’t talk about yourself: Talk about their world and how you can improve it. Everything should be presented from their perspective, not yours. You might need an outside perspective to help you identify what truly matters to your audience. In addition: Don’t over share – think hors’ oeuvres, not a six course meal Start at the 101 level — not every visitor will already be an expert Leave them wanting more so they call or send an email Keep the content fresh – stale content does not sell Cascade your content – start with a little and then let them choose to drill down for more if they want it Make it easy, no matter the device: Don’t assume everyone is using a 15-inch screen. Within the next couple years, the majority of web searches will be conducted on a mobile phone. Check your site on desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones because if there’s one thing your users will love is being able to access your content no matter where they are. In addition: Pay attention to page placement — your most important content should be above the fold Give them more than one way to navigate Use landing pages to help diverse audiences get where they want to go Don’t let a mediocre website discourage prospects from becoming customers before they even shake your hand. If you haven’t already done it — start tomorrow. Build a website your users will love and share and best of all — buy from. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Marketing, Web/Tech How to be a good agency client July 1, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 23 How to be a good agency clientI’ve been working in advertising agencies for almost 30 years now and I’ve had the incredible good fortune to work with some amazing clients over the years. Early in my career, before I had the deciding vote on who we’d serve, I also worked with some real jerks. For most of us in the marketing world, we serve clients (could be an internal department or external, paying clients) and in most cases, we are also someone else’s client (vendor, strategic partner, agency if you’re client side, etc.) as well. I thought I’d reflect on my life with clients (and being a client) …and share the best practices so we can all be a better client on the next go around. Have you ever wondered how to be a good agency client? Talk to us about budget: It’s ridiculous how some clients make their agency jump through hoops to guess at the budget. We can’t help you spend your money in the wisest, most effective way possible if we don’t know the boundaries. If you don’t trust us enough to tell us – fire us. Say thank you in your own way: One of my all-time favorite clients came over one Christmas week and serenaded us with one of her holiday favorites. What an incredible gift – to share something so personal with such affection and heart. I’ll never forget the experience. Invite us to the party: We can be so much more helpful if you bring us inside. Let us interact with your c-suite, sales team, and customer service reps and be a part of the very early strategy sessions. We bring a very unique and valuable perspective – we’re informed outsiders. We can see with more clarity and less bias but we also know enough to ask the hard but insightful questions. Trust us: Our job is to make you a rock star. To help you achieve and surpass your company’s goals. We’re on your side. In theory, you selected us to be your partner because you believe we’re good at our work. So trust us. Don’t let your personal bias or preferences lead you in the wrong direction – when we disagree with you, let us explain, from our experience and expertise, why we disagree and be mindful of your mindset. In the end, it’s your money and we’ll do as you ask, but don’t shortchange our desire to being your best ally. Pay your bills on time: On the other end of the money — pay your bills on time. Odds are we jumped through hoops to hit your deadlines, and now it’s your turn. Don’t put your agency in the position of being your bank. Remember, they’ve incurred costs on your behalf, so don’t hang them out to dry. Everyone hits a tough spot and when that happens, talk to us about it. But don’t leave us in the dark. Connect with us: We all want to work with people we like. Don’t hide your humanity. Show us your vacation pictures. Tell us your funny weekend story. Reminisce about the old job or the old boss. We don’t have to be best buddies (although it’s nice when that happens) but it’s human nature to work harder for someone you like. So let us get to know you on a personal level. Celebrate with us: Marketing is usually a a winding road of obstacles and last minute adjustments, done at breakneck speed and involves a bit of risk. When it all comes together, it’s magical. Take time to celebrate with the entire team. Give kudos to the people who often don’t get the lead the team or enjoy the glory. Rewarding everyone with a special dinner or even a bagel break will fire up the team for the next challenge. The lion’s share of agency owners and employees chose the profession because they love to use their creativity to help clients. Letting them know you appreciate their efforts and actually helping them help you means you both get more of what will make you happy and successful. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Agency Life, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Advertising Agency, clients, marketing firm, partner, working together Leave a Reply Marketing automation — evil or misunderstood? July 16, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment marketing automationWhen the subject of marketing automation comes up, many purists shake their head and talk about how robotic and impersonal it is. Well — if you do it badly, that’s very true. In that case — you really do make your potential customers feel like they’re just a number to you and that you treat everyone the same, with little regard to their specific needs. But when you build the system with your customer in mind — it can be a wonderful experience for them and for you. It all depends on if you build it once and put it on auto pilot or if you use it as a tool to serve up exactly what each visitor is looking for. Automation allows you to create a user experience that puts the user in the driver’s seat. They can access the exact information they want, when they want it — and how they want it. The key is to realize that different people are going to have different needs and you need to anticipate that as you build out the options. Even more important — once you start getting visitors, you need to learn from where they go and don’t want to go. It’s a given that every potential customer probably isn’t going to want exactly the same information. As you watch and learn — you can create new paths and test the results. At the end of the day, thanks to automation, you can create multiple paths, so each person can have a different experience, based on their own needs and interests. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Recently, the folks at Marketo asked me to comment on the question “can big data lead to big love?” Check out the article and my comments. If you’re using marketing automation to make it easy for you and only you, then it probably isn’t going to work so well. But if you use it as a tool to serve your customers better — it can indeed lead to big love. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Your best customers are pure gold July 19, 2014 by Drew McLellan 1 Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 28 best customersYou’ve heard it before — the top 20% of your customers, your very best customers, account for 80% of your profitability and referrals. We intellectually know that and yet our behavior sure doesn’t show it. We spend all kinds of dollars, time, energy and worry chasing after new customers and after someone starts to buy, the typical business sort of forgets all about them. Much like people’s dating patterns — there’s a lot of wooing that goes on before the wedding but after the “I do’s” get said, the florist goes broke. Our poor best customers get the same treatment from us and that needs to stop. We need to shift a portion of our marketing focus away from prospects and invest even more in our best customers — the ones who have already proven that they’ll sing our praises, buy more and more and bring their friends along for the ride. Fortunately, my friend Stan Phelps has written a book to help us all do just that. This book, What’s Your Golden Goldfish, is the third book in a trilogy of marketing books that are all built around over 2,200 crowdsourced examples of real life marketing smarts. This particular book shares over 100 examples of what leading brands like Starbucks, Doubletree, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Virgin Atlantic are doing differently to cater to their best customers and earn even more of their business and loyalty. The book showcases nine different ways to let your best customers (and employees) know how much you value them. By doing those little extras, you will make your company even stronger. You will differentiate yourself even more from your competitors, you’ll keep both your best customers and employees longer so they contribute to your success and with every little extra, you will create more word of mouth buzz. The entire series of books is all built around the idea of lagniappe which is a creole word for “a little something extra.” In this edition — Stan helps his readers explore how organizations large and small can do a little something extra for their most loyal customers and employees. You’ll love the storytelling but make sure you have a pen and paper handy because this book is going to spark so many ideas that you’ll never remember them all. And as you implement them — your best customers will reward you with even more buzz, money and referrals. Sounds like it is going to work out well for everyone, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in Stan’s entire series, here’s how you can get them from Amazon. If your an Amazon Unlimited customer, you can read the electronic version for free. If you want the paperbacks, click on the links below: Third book — What’s Your Golden Goldfish: The Vital Few Second book — What’s your Green Goldfish: 15 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement and Reinforce Culture First book — What’s your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth Note: If you click on one of the Amazon links, I get a few cents. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Books, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Best Customers, Golden Goldfish, Goldfish series, referrals, Stan Phelps, Word of mouth The Freelance Studio Denver, Co.User Experience Agency We only care about you if it’s really about us October 28, 2014 by Drew McLellan 9 Comments Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 19 I Love MeWe recently bought an ad for a client and the ad rep suggested we make a big deal out of the fact that our client has been in business for 130 years. I politely told her that we definitely were not going to do that. Instead, we were going to talk about something their readers and our prospects might actually care about. My conversation with her is what prompted this blog post. We’ve all seen the ads or sales that are somehow tied to a businesses 25th anniversary or the “we’ve been in business for a century” sale announcements. The reality is – no one cares. While that may be a laudable accomplishment – to have hung in there that long, from your consumer’s point of view – it’s fluff or a gimmick (we’ve been around for 50 years so everything is 50% off!). Is a business going to offer me a better product after they’ve been around for 100 years? Was the stuff they sold in their ninety-fifth year just junk? Of course not. Is someone who just turned 60 a better advisor than when she was 59? Nope. You make that the focus of your ad or your sale when you don’t have anything better to say. And if you can’t come up with something more customer-centric than that to say – you’re lucky to still be in business. It’s actually a symptom of an age-old marketing problem. Businesses talk about themselves rather than talking about what the customer cares about. Here’s how to fix two of the most common “it’s all about me” types of marketing statements and make them customer centric and customer valued communications instead. #1 — We’re old and you should care All about us: We’re 100 years old. Come enjoy some birthday cake and celebrate with us as we cross the century mark. All about them: Over the many years we’ve been in business, we’ve learned that our customers value three things. They value incredible customer service (click here to speak live with one of our teammates), fair pricing (click here to read about our fair price every time program) and they want quality they can count on (watch a short video about our factory’s 100% right or 100% wrong policy). You’re saying the same thing – we’ve been in business long enough to be stable, to have earned our customer’s trust and no one has to worry about you being a fly by night operation. But when you push beyond focusing on yourself, you can outline exactly why your longevity is of value to the prospect that is considering doing business with you. #2 – The difference is our people (perhaps the most trite sentence uttered in marketing today) All about us: Our people really care. You’re not just a number to us. All about them: Hi Mr. McLellan – we see that you’re going to be staying at our hotel XYZ in Big City. We’re glad to have you staying with us and want to make sure we do everything in our power to make your stay an awesome one. As the manager of the hotel, I want you to have my direct line (123-456-7890) and email (manager@BigHotel.com) so you can get a hold of me if there’s anything you need. Don’t tell me that your people care. Show me. It sounds like hype when you brag about it. It feels remarkable when I experience it for myself. The truth is…most businesses say it but few actually deliver on it. Why not just shut up and show it? If you’re going to expend the effort to talk to your customers and prospects, stop talking about yourself and talk about what they care about — what’s in it for me. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Strategy Tagged With: marketing, messaging Building a website your users will love July 14, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 24 website your users will loveIt seems like a “duh,” doesn’t it? Of course you want to build a website your users will love. But remember, not that long ago, many businesses were wondering whether or not they even needed a website. It seemed so far-fetched that any of their customers would ever do anything but show up at their store or pick up the phone to place an order. How quickly times change. Now, a business isn’t considered legitimate until they have a web presence. No matter what it is you sell, odds are your prospects are going to visit your website to decide if you’re even in the running. I’m hard pressed to think of an industry or business category that doesn’t rely on their website as the main workhorse in their marketing arsenal. It used to be that you had an opportunity to make the sale when someone walked into your retail location, your salesperson called on the buyer or you answered your phone. But today, a good portion of the sales process has nothing to do with you actively engaging with the potential buyer. They’re doing a great deal of their due diligence tire kicking without you being in the room at all. It’s happening on your website, within social networks and with the help of a Google search. Which makes what you put out on the web absolutely vital to your business’ success. You must build a website your users will love. All of that being said – most websites stink. They’re badly designed, built for the business’ ego rather than the customer’s utility and they’re out of date. Why? I think most businesses think of their website like an ever expanding junk drawer. They just keep tossing more stuff in there and hope that when someone rummages through it – they can find what they need. If you’d like your website to be the effective workhorse you need it to be, consider these best practices: It should be an experience: Keep in mind that many people will decide whether or not to do business with you based on their web visit. So you want them to have a memorable and enjoyable experience. Get them interacting with you – give them a quiz, help them find answers to their specific questions or offer them something they might want to share with others. In addition: Let your company’s personality be a part of the site — both in design and voice Simple navigation matters – make it intuitive Remember eye flow – give them plenty of white space and eye rest Don’t talk about yourself: Talk about their world and how you can improve it. Everything should be presented from their perspective, not yours. You might need an outside perspective to help you identify what truly matters to your audience. In addition: Don’t over share – think hors’ oeuvres, not a six course meal Start at the 101 level — not every visitor will already be an expert Leave them wanting more so they call or send an email Keep the content fresh – stale content does not sell Cascade your content – start with a little and then let them choose to drill down for more if they want it Make it easy, no matter the device: Don’t assume everyone is using a 15-inch screen. Within the next couple years, the majority of web searches will be conducted on a mobile phone. Check your site on desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones because if there’s one thing your users will love is being able to access your content no matter where they are. In addition: Pay attention to page placement — your most important content should be above the fold Give them more than one way to navigate Use landing pages to help diverse audiences get where they want to go Don’t let a mediocre website discourage prospects from becoming customers before they even shake your hand. If you haven’t already done it — start tomorrow. Build a website your users will love and share and best of all — buy from. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Marketing, Web/Tech How to be a good agency client July 1, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 23 How to be a good agency clientI’ve been working in advertising agencies for almost 30 years now and I’ve had the incredible good fortune to work with some amazing clients over the years. Early in my career, before I had the deciding vote on who we’d serve, I also worked with some real jerks. For most of us in the marketing world, we serve clients (could be an internal department or external, paying clients) and in most cases, we are also someone else’s client (vendor, strategic partner, agency if you’re client side, etc.) as well. I thought I’d reflect on my life with clients (and being a client) …and share the best practices so we can all be a better client on the next go around. Have you ever wondered how to be a good agency client? Talk to us about budget: It’s ridiculous how some clients make their agency jump through hoops to guess at the budget. We can’t help you spend your money in the wisest, most effective way possible if we don’t know the boundaries. If you don’t trust us enough to tell us – fire us. Say thank you in your own way: One of my all-time favorite clients came over one Christmas week and serenaded us with one of her holiday favorites. What an incredible gift – to share something so personal with such affection and heart. I’ll never forget the experience. Invite us to the party: We can be so much more helpful if you bring us inside. Let us interact with your c-suite, sales team, and customer service reps and be a part of the very early strategy sessions. We bring a very unique and valuable perspective – we’re informed outsiders. We can see with more clarity and less bias but we also know enough to ask the hard but insightful questions. Trust us: Our job is to make you a rock star. To help you achieve and surpass your company’s goals. We’re on your side. In theory, you selected us to be your partner because you believe we’re good at our work. So trust us. Don’t let your personal bias or preferences lead you in the wrong direction – when we disagree with you, let us explain, from our experience and expertise, why we disagree and be mindful of your mindset. In the end, it’s your money and we’ll do as you ask, but don’t shortchange our desire to being your best ally. Pay your bills on time: On the other end of the money — pay your bills on time. Odds are we jumped through hoops to hit your deadlines, and now it’s your turn. Don’t put your agency in the position of being your bank. Remember, they’ve incurred costs on your behalf, so don’t hang them out to dry. Everyone hits a tough spot and when that happens, talk to us about it. But don’t leave us in the dark. Connect with us: We all want to work with people we like. Don’t hide your humanity. Show us your vacation pictures. Tell us your funny weekend story. Reminisce about the old job or the old boss. We don’t have to be best buddies (although it’s nice when that happens) but it’s human nature to work harder for someone you like. So let us get to know you on a personal level. Celebrate with us: Marketing is usually a a winding road of obstacles and last minute adjustments, done at breakneck speed and involves a bit of risk. When it all comes together, it’s magical. Take time to celebrate with the entire team. Give kudos to the people who often don’t get the lead the team or enjoy the glory. Rewarding everyone with a special dinner or even a bagel break will fire up the team for the next challenge. The lion’s share of agency owners and employees chose the profession because they love to use their creativity to help clients. Letting them know you appreciate their efforts and actually helping them help you means you both get more of what will make you happy and successful. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Agency Life, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Advertising Agency, clients, marketing firm, partner, working together Leave a Reply Marketing automation — evil or misunderstood? July 16, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment marketing automationWhen the subject of marketing automation comes up, many purists shake their head and talk about how robotic and impersonal it is. Well — if you do it badly, that’s very true. In that case — you really do make your potential customers feel like they’re just a number to you and that you treat everyone the same, with little regard to their specific needs. But when you build the system with your customer in mind — it can be a wonderful experience for them and for you. It all depends on if you build it once and put it on auto pilot or if you use it as a tool to serve up exactly what each visitor is looking for. Automation allows you to create a user experience that puts the user in the driver’s seat. They can access the exact information they want, when they want it — and how they want it. The key is to realize that different people are going to have different needs and you need to anticipate that as you build out the options. Even more important — once you start getting visitors, you need to learn from where they go and don’t want to go. It’s a given that every potential customer probably isn’t going to want exactly the same information. As you watch and learn — you can create new paths and test the results. At the end of the day, thanks to automation, you can create multiple paths, so each person can have a different experience, based on their own needs and interests. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Recently, the folks at Marketo asked me to comment on the question “can big data lead to big love?” Check out the article and my comments. If you’re using marketing automation to make it easy for you and only you, then it probably isn’t going to work so well. But if you use it as a tool to serve your customers better — it can indeed lead to big love. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Your best customers are pure gold July 19, 2014 by Drew McLellan 1 Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 28 best customersYou’ve heard it before — the top 20% of your customers, your very best customers, account for 80% of your profitability and referrals. We intellectually know that and yet our behavior sure doesn’t show it. We spend all kinds of dollars, time, energy and worry chasing after new customers and after someone starts to buy, the typical business sort of forgets all about them. Much like people’s dating patterns — there’s a lot of wooing that goes on before the wedding but after the “I do’s” get said, the florist goes broke. Our poor best customers get the same treatment from us and that needs to stop. We need to shift a portion of our marketing focus away from prospects and invest even more in our best customers — the ones who have already proven that they’ll sing our praises, buy more and more and bring their friends along for the ride. Fortunately, my friend Stan Phelps has written a book to help us all do just that. This book, What’s Your Golden Goldfish, is the third book in a trilogy of marketing books that are all built around over 2,200 crowdsourced examples of real life marketing smarts. This particular book shares over 100 examples of what leading brands like Starbucks, Doubletree, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Virgin Atlantic are doing differently to cater to their best customers and earn even more of their business and loyalty. The book showcases nine different ways to let your best customers (and employees) know how much you value them. By doing those little extras, you will make your company even stronger. You will differentiate yourself even more from your competitors, you’ll keep both your best customers and employees longer so they contribute to your success and with every little extra, you will create more word of mouth buzz. The entire series of books is all built around the idea of lagniappe which is a creole word for “a little something extra.” In this edition — Stan helps his readers explore how organizations large and small can do a little something extra for their most loyal customers and employees. You’ll love the storytelling but make sure you have a pen and paper handy because this book is going to spark so many ideas that you’ll never remember them all. And as you implement them — your best customers will reward you with even more buzz, money and referrals. Sounds like it is going to work out well for everyone, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in Stan’s entire series, here’s how you can get them from Amazon. If your an Amazon Unlimited customer, you can read the electronic version for free. If you want the paperbacks, click on the links below: Third book — What’s Your Golden Goldfish: The Vital Few Second book — What’s your Green Goldfish: 15 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement and Reinforce Culture First book — What’s your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth Note: If you click on one of the Amazon links, I get a few cents. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Books, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Best Customers, Golden Goldfish, Goldfish series, referrals, Stan Phelps, Word of mouth The Freelance Studio Denver, Co.User Experience Agency We only care about you if it’s really about us October 28, 2014 by Drew McLellan 9 Comments Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 19 I Love MeWe recently bought an ad for a client and the ad rep suggested we make a big deal out of the fact that our client has been in business for 130 years. I politely told her that we definitely were not going to do that. Instead, we were going to talk about something their readers and our prospects might actually care about. My conversation with her is what prompted this blog post. We’ve all seen the ads or sales that are somehow tied to a businesses 25th anniversary or the “we’ve been in business for a century” sale announcements. The reality is – no one cares. While that may be a laudable accomplishment – to have hung in there that long, from your consumer’s point of view – it’s fluff or a gimmick (we’ve been around for 50 years so everything is 50% off!). Is a business going to offer me a better product after they’ve been around for 100 years? Was the stuff they sold in their ninety-fifth year just junk? Of course not. Is someone who just turned 60 a better advisor than when she was 59? Nope. You make that the focus of your ad or your sale when you don’t have anything better to say. And if you can’t come up with something more customer-centric than that to say – you’re lucky to still be in business. It’s actually a symptom of an age-old marketing problem. Businesses talk about themselves rather than talking about what the customer cares about. Here’s how to fix two of the most common “it’s all about me” types of marketing statements and make them customer centric and customer valued communications instead. #1 — We’re old and you should care All about us: We’re 100 years old. Come enjoy some birthday cake and celebrate with us as we cross the century mark. All about them: Over the many years we’ve been in business, we’ve learned that our customers value three things. They value incredible customer service (click here to speak live with one of our teammates), fair pricing (click here to read about our fair price every time program) and they want quality they can count on (watch a short video about our factory’s 100% right or 100% wrong policy). You’re saying the same thing – we’ve been in business long enough to be stable, to have earned our customer’s trust and no one has to worry about you being a fly by night operation. But when you push beyond focusing on yourself, you can outline exactly why your longevity is of value to the prospect that is considering doing business with you. #2 – The difference is our people (perhaps the most trite sentence uttered in marketing today) All about us: Our people really care. You’re not just a number to us. All about them: Hi Mr. McLellan – we see that you’re going to be staying at our hotel XYZ in Big City. We’re glad to have you staying with us and want to make sure we do everything in our power to make your stay an awesome one. As the manager of the hotel, I want you to have my direct line (123-456-7890) and email (manager@BigHotel.com) so you can get a hold of me if there’s anything you need. Don’t tell me that your people care. Show me. It sounds like hype when you brag about it. It feels remarkable when I experience it for myself. The truth is…most businesses say it but few actually deliver on it. Why not just shut up and show it? If you’re going to expend the effort to talk to your customers and prospects, stop talking about yourself and talk about what they care about — what’s in it for me. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Strategy Tagged With: marketing, messaging Building a website your users will love July 14, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 24 website your users will loveIt seems like a “duh,” doesn’t it? Of course you want to build a website your users will love. But remember, not that long ago, many businesses were wondering whether or not they even needed a website. It seemed so far-fetched that any of their customers would ever do anything but show up at their store or pick up the phone to place an order. How quickly times change. Now, a business isn’t considered legitimate until they have a web presence. No matter what it is you sell, odds are your prospects are going to visit your website to decide if you’re even in the running. I’m hard pressed to think of an industry or business category that doesn’t rely on their website as the main workhorse in their marketing arsenal. It used to be that you had an opportunity to make the sale when someone walked into your retail location, your salesperson called on the buyer or you answered your phone. But today, a good portion of the sales process has nothing to do with you actively engaging with the potential buyer. They’re doing a great deal of their due diligence tire kicking without you being in the room at all. It’s happening on your website, within social networks and with the help of a Google search. Which makes what you put out on the web absolutely vital to your business’ success. You must build a website your users will love. All of that being said – most websites stink. They’re badly designed, built for the business’ ego rather than the customer’s utility and they’re out of date. Why? I think most businesses think of their website like an ever expanding junk drawer. They just keep tossing more stuff in there and hope that when someone rummages through it – they can find what they need. If you’d like your website to be the effective workhorse you need it to be, consider these best practices: It should be an experience: Keep in mind that many people will decide whether or not to do business with you based on their web visit. So you want them to have a memorable and enjoyable experience. Get them interacting with you – give them a quiz, help them find answers to their specific questions or offer them something they might want to share with others. In addition: Let your company’s personality be a part of the site — both in design and voice Simple navigation matters – make it intuitive Remember eye flow – give them plenty of white space and eye rest Don’t talk about yourself: Talk about their world and how you can improve it. Everything should be presented from their perspective, not yours. You might need an outside perspective to help you identify what truly matters to your audience. In addition: Don’t over share – think hors’ oeuvres, not a six course meal Start at the 101 level — not every visitor will already be an expert Leave them wanting more so they call or send an email Keep the content fresh – stale content does not sell Cascade your content – start with a little and then let them choose to drill down for more if they want it Make it easy, no matter the device: Don’t assume everyone is using a 15-inch screen. Within the next couple years, the majority of web searches will be conducted on a mobile phone. Check your site on desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones because if there’s one thing your users will love is being able to access your content no matter where they are. In addition: Pay attention to page placement — your most important content should be above the fold Give them more than one way to navigate Use landing pages to help diverse audiences get where they want to go Don’t let a mediocre website discourage prospects from becoming customers before they even shake your hand. If you haven’t already done it — start tomorrow. Build a website your users will love and share and best of all — buy from. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Customers/Clients, Marketing, Web/Tech How to be a good agency client July 1, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 23 How to be a good agency clientI’ve been working in advertising agencies for almost 30 years now and I’ve had the incredible good fortune to work with some amazing clients over the years. Early in my career, before I had the deciding vote on who we’d serve, I also worked with some real jerks. For most of us in the marketing world, we serve clients (could be an internal department or external, paying clients) and in most cases, we are also someone else’s client (vendor, strategic partner, agency if you’re client side, etc.) as well. I thought I’d reflect on my life with clients (and being a client) …and share the best practices so we can all be a better client on the next go around. Have you ever wondered how to be a good agency client? Talk to us about budget: It’s ridiculous how some clients make their agency jump through hoops to guess at the budget. We can’t help you spend your money in the wisest, most effective way possible if we don’t know the boundaries. If you don’t trust us enough to tell us – fire us. Say thank you in your own way: One of my all-time favorite clients came over one Christmas week and serenaded us with one of her holiday favorites. What an incredible gift – to share something so personal with such affection and heart. I’ll never forget the experience. Invite us to the party: We can be so much more helpful if you bring us inside. Let us interact with your c-suite, sales team, and customer service reps and be a part of the very early strategy sessions. We bring a very unique and valuable perspective – we’re informed outsiders. We can see with more clarity and less bias but we also know enough to ask the hard but insightful questions. Trust us: Our job is to make you a rock star. To help you achieve and surpass your company’s goals. We’re on your side. In theory, you selected us to be your partner because you believe we’re good at our work. So trust us. Don’t let your personal bias or preferences lead you in the wrong direction – when we disagree with you, let us explain, from our experience and expertise, why we disagree and be mindful of your mindset. In the end, it’s your money and we’ll do as you ask, but don’t shortchange our desire to being your best ally. Pay your bills on time: On the other end of the money — pay your bills on time. Odds are we jumped through hoops to hit your deadlines, and now it’s your turn. Don’t put your agency in the position of being your bank. Remember, they’ve incurred costs on your behalf, so don’t hang them out to dry. Everyone hits a tough spot and when that happens, talk to us about it. But don’t leave us in the dark. Connect with us: We all want to work with people we like. Don’t hide your humanity. Show us your vacation pictures. Tell us your funny weekend story. Reminisce about the old job or the old boss. We don’t have to be best buddies (although it’s nice when that happens) but it’s human nature to work harder for someone you like. So let us get to know you on a personal level. Celebrate with us: Marketing is usually a a winding road of obstacles and last minute adjustments, done at breakneck speed and involves a bit of risk. When it all comes together, it’s magical. Take time to celebrate with the entire team. Give kudos to the people who often don’t get the lead the team or enjoy the glory. Rewarding everyone with a special dinner or even a bagel break will fire up the team for the next challenge. The lion’s share of agency owners and employees chose the profession because they love to use their creativity to help clients. Letting them know you appreciate their efforts and actually helping them help you means you both get more of what will make you happy and successful. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Agency Life, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Advertising Agency, clients, marketing firm, partner, working together Leave a Reply Marketing automation — evil or misunderstood? July 16, 2014 by Drew McLellan Leave a Comment marketing automationWhen the subject of marketing automation comes up, many purists shake their head and talk about how robotic and impersonal it is. Well — if you do it badly, that’s very true. In that case — you really do make your potential customers feel like they’re just a number to you and that you treat everyone the same, with little regard to their specific needs. But when you build the system with your customer in mind — it can be a wonderful experience for them and for you. It all depends on if you build it once and put it on auto pilot or if you use it as a tool to serve up exactly what each visitor is looking for. Automation allows you to create a user experience that puts the user in the driver’s seat. They can access the exact information they want, when they want it — and how they want it. The key is to realize that different people are going to have different needs and you need to anticipate that as you build out the options. Even more important — once you start getting visitors, you need to learn from where they go and don’t want to go. It’s a given that every potential customer probably isn’t going to want exactly the same information. As you watch and learn — you can create new paths and test the results. At the end of the day, thanks to automation, you can create multiple paths, so each person can have a different experience, based on their own needs and interests. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Recently, the folks at Marketo asked me to comment on the question “can big data lead to big love?” Check out the article and my comments. If you’re using marketing automation to make it easy for you and only you, then it probably isn’t going to work so well. But if you use it as a tool to serve your customers better — it can indeed lead to big love. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Your best customers are pure gold July 19, 2014 by Drew McLellan 1 Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 28 best customersYou’ve heard it before — the top 20% of your customers, your very best customers, account for 80% of your profitability and referrals. We intellectually know that and yet our behavior sure doesn’t show it. We spend all kinds of dollars, time, energy and worry chasing after new customers and after someone starts to buy, the typical business sort of forgets all about them. Much like people’s dating patterns — there’s a lot of wooing that goes on before the wedding but after the “I do’s” get said, the florist goes broke. Our poor best customers get the same treatment from us and that needs to stop. We need to shift a portion of our marketing focus away from prospects and invest even more in our best customers — the ones who have already proven that they’ll sing our praises, buy more and more and bring their friends along for the ride. Fortunately, my friend Stan Phelps has written a book to help us all do just that. This book, What’s Your Golden Goldfish, is the third book in a trilogy of marketing books that are all built around over 2,200 crowdsourced examples of real life marketing smarts. This particular book shares over 100 examples of what leading brands like Starbucks, Doubletree, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Virgin Atlantic are doing differently to cater to their best customers and earn even more of their business and loyalty. The book showcases nine different ways to let your best customers (and employees) know how much you value them. By doing those little extras, you will make your company even stronger. You will differentiate yourself even more from your competitors, you’ll keep both your best customers and employees longer so they contribute to your success and with every little extra, you will create more word of mouth buzz. The entire series of books is all built around the idea of lagniappe which is a creole word for “a little something extra.” In this edition — Stan helps his readers explore how organizations large and small can do a little something extra for their most loyal customers and employees. You’ll love the storytelling but make sure you have a pen and paper handy because this book is going to spark so many ideas that you’ll never remember them all. And as you implement them — your best customers will reward you with even more buzz, money and referrals. Sounds like it is going to work out well for everyone, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in Stan’s entire series, here’s how you can get them from Amazon. If your an Amazon Unlimited customer, you can read the electronic version for free. If you want the paperbacks, click on the links below: Third book — What’s Your Golden Goldfish: The Vital Few Second book — What’s your Green Goldfish: 15 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement and Reinforce Culture First book — What’s your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth Note: If you click on one of the Amazon links, I get a few cents. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Books, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Best Customers, Golden Goldfish, Goldfish series, referrals, Stan Phelps, Word of mouthDes Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Your best customers are pure gold July 19, 2014 by Drew McLellan 1 Comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on google_plusone_shareShare on linkedinShare on stumbleuponMore Sharing Services 28 best customersYou’ve heard it before — the top 20% of your customers, your very best customers, account for 80% of your profitability and referrals. We intellectually know that and yet our behavior sure doesn’t show it. We spend all kinds of dollars, time, energy and worry chasing after new customers and after someone starts to buy, the typical business sort of forgets all about them. Much like people’s dating patterns — there’s a lot of wooing that goes on before the wedding but after the “I do’s” get said, the florist goes broke. Our poor best customers get the same treatment from us and that needs to stop. We need to shift a portion of our marketing focus away from prospects and invest even more in our best customers — the ones who have already proven that they’ll sing our praises, buy more and more and bring their friends along for the ride. Fortunately, my friend Stan Phelps has written a book to help us all do just that. This book, What’s Your Golden Goldfish, is the third book in a trilogy of marketing books that are all built around over 2,200 crowdsourced examples of real life marketing smarts. This particular book shares over 100 examples of what leading brands like Starbucks, Doubletree, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Virgin Atlantic are doing differently to cater to their best customers and earn even more of their business and loyalty. The book showcases nine different ways to let your best customers (and employees) know how much you value them. By doing those little extras, you will make your company even stronger. You will differentiate yourself even more from your competitors, you’ll keep both your best customers and employees longer so they contribute to your success and with every little extra, you will create more word of mouth buzz. The entire series of books is all built around the idea of lagniappe which is a creole word for “a little something extra.” In this edition — Stan helps his readers explore how organizations large and small can do a little something extra for their most loyal customers and employees. You’ll love the storytelling but make sure you have a pen and paper handy because this book is going to spark so many ideas that you’ll never remember them all. And as you implement them — your best customers will reward you with even more buzz, money and referrals. Sounds like it is going to work out well for everyone, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in Stan’s entire series, here’s how you can get them from Amazon. If your an Amazon Unlimited customer, you can read the electronic version for free. If you want the paperbacks, click on the links below: Third book — What’s Your Golden Goldfish: The Vital Few Second book — What’s your Green Goldfish: 15 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement and Reinforce Culture First book — What’s your Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth Note: If you click on one of the Amazon links, I get a few cents. McLellan Marketing Group is an advertising | marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA, and serving clients all over the US. How might we help you? Filed Under: Books, Customers/Clients Tagged With: Best Customers, Golden Goldfish, Goldfish series, referrals, Stan Phelps, Word of mouth