Measuring performance — it’s really about you

This week, I saw a rerun of The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos. I’m a big fan of the show (and George) — always interesting people and great interviews. This particular show featured Gene Simmons. Now, I can’t say that I’ve ever been a big fan of KISS, but I must admit that Gene Simmons is an interesting character.

During the interview, Gene said something that I quite liked. It was: “There is no such thing as winning; there is only trying to be better than you were before.”

You can spin this comment a number of different ways, but I want to look at it from a business perspective. In some industries, there are benchmarks you can use to evaluate your products against those of other companies. A good example is the automotive industry, which uses such factors as gas mileage, acceleration rate, etc. to compare the performance of different cars. Financial benchmarks are a common way to compare the performance of different companies.

But what about marketing — how do you measure performance and how do you know that you are successful?

Certainly, there are established benchmarks for a variety of activities, such as email open rates, direct mail response rates, etc. When you first try a particular tactic, it may be unreasonable to expect that you will initially achieve that standard. Or if you are trying something completely different, there may not be an established benchmark.

To start, it is important to consider what you to measure — what metrics are important to you? What metrics will help you understand whether you are successful? What metrics can you measure?

Before you start making changes, you need to establish a baseline for the metrics you choose so that you can see the impact of your actions. Once you have a starting point, you will also have a better idea of what goals are appropriate.

Having metrics that are easy to capture is also important so that you can continuously take measurements without too much difficulty. For example, knowing the number of people who enter a store on a daily basis would a good metric for understanding variations in store traffic, but manually counting visitors might be impossible. Therefore, having a mechanical or automated means to capture this information would be necessary in order for the metric to provide valid data.

Measurement doesn’t have to be complicated — a few key metrics can provide useful data — but it does need to be consistent over a period of time. Measuring the same metric over multiple intervals will enable you to see how different actions have an effect.

After establishing a baseline and a few goals, you can test your marketing tactics or messages to see what works best with your audience. It is important not to try doing too many things at the same time, as it will be difficult to know what tactic contributed to any resulting variations. By testing one or two different approaches — such as different offers or call to actions in a direct mail piece — you may discover some valuable insight into what resonates with your customers.

It is also important not to give up too quickly. Keep testing — try different messages, different marketing tactics and different audiences — to see if you can discover the strategy that works best. Making wholesale changes won’t provide you with the answers you need and they could confuse your customer.

While it is good to know what the key benchmarks are, you may find that comparing your results to someone else’s may not provide the most useful information. Rather, having a solid understanding of your own results — and what drives them — may help you find the best way to grow your business.

Reinvention

This weekend, I saw the GM reinvention ad for the first time. I’m not sure how long it’s been out, but they seemed to be running it everywhere, as I saw both US and Canadian versions on several channels. I wasn’t able to detect much in the way of differences but I expect at least the wording was adjusted for the different markets. At the very least, different URLs were shown at the end of the ad.

My first impression was “Wow, they are actually admitting that they made a mistake. That’s brave.” The images used were dramatic and emotive — some current, some historical — and the language was conciliatory. It began with “Let’s be completely honest, there was a time when…” which certainly sets the tone for acknowledging that things are different today. Overall, they did a good job of picking the right tone and the right words and images to communicate their message.

I hadn’t thought much more than that until I read today’s paper. Terry O’Reilly, host of CBC’s The Age of Persuasion, wrote an editorial in the Arguments section. He makes the connection between an image of boxer Joe Louis and the comeback of GM. It was an interesting commentary. And it illustrates that an audience can infer a great deal about your organization from a single image — a good argument for thinking strategically about how you market.

All a-twitter

On Thursday, I attended an excellent presentation on social media at Zone5ive, a local technology marketing forum. The panel discussion, called 50 Ideas on Using Twitter and LinkedIn for Business, was excellent.

Moderated by Andrew Milne (bv02 inc.), the panelists included Kelly Rusk (MediaMiser Ltd.), Scott Lake (ThinkSM and SWIX) and Luc Levesque (TravelPod.com). They covered a lot of ground, sharing their experience with both twitter and LinkedIn, as well as offering suggestions for using both technologies as a way to connect to like-minded individuals.

At the moment, I am not on twitter — and my exposure to it has been rather limited. The presentation gave me some hope that twitter was more than just an ongoing stream of consciousness, that there was interesting and informative information out there. It may have been convinced me to jump on the twitter bandwagon.

The panelists presented some great ideas on how to manage the overwhelming amount of information — so that it can be useful — and organize your time to get the most out of twitter. A fun feature of the presentation was a big screen feed of tweets tagged with #zone5ive so that the audience could ask questions and add commentary.

A video of the discussion, along with the presentation, links and additional information, can be found on the bv02 website.

Ironically, in this morning’s paper, the Non Sequitor comic strip reflects what I used to think about twitter:

One size NEVER fits all

Clothing manufacturers sometimes resort to offering their wares in “one size fits all”. While this approach does reduce inventory challenges, it is a disservice to the customers. What are the chances that a woman who is 5’1” and 110 lbs will fit into the same size as a woman who is 5’8” and 155 lbs? Even if they were both willing to wear it, odds are that neither would be truly satisfied.

The same concept applies to marketing. Your chances for success are much higher if you segment your audience and focus your marketing on specific targets with messages that are tailored to address their interests and concerns. Simply consider the following different audiences:

• the youth market vs. the boomers
• single people vs. families
• French-speaking Canadians vs. people living in Paris, France

Even if the same product was targeting each of these groups, the way in which you approach them — through message, language, channel, etc. — should be different in order to achieve the best response to your marketing efforts.

Recently, I received unaddressed admail from Reno Depot. For those of you who don’t know, Reno Depot operates home renovation stores in 16 cities in Quebec. So what is wrong with this picture? While their store is less than 10 miles from where I live, it is in another province. Another problem — the DM piece was entirely in French.

Now, it could be that they were trying to build their customer base in Ontario. Ottawa is a fairly bilingual city, but the majority of residents speak English, so it is likely that many people who received the piece would not be able to read it.

What they did get right? As a home owner, I am part of their target market. I live in an area of older homes without many rental units. But with limited French, I was unable to take away anything from the copy that would pique my interest.

Sadly, this is mostly an example of what not to do. What should they have done?

• Some sort of enticement to visit the store — there is a Home Depot only a few miles away from me and crossing the river is a bit of a psychological barrier.
• Map to store location — it’s not in my neighbourhood so I might not know how to get there.
• Bilingual copy — I will need to understand what you’re saying in order to respond to it.

It’s hard to say what Reno Depot was trying to accomplish, perhaps it was just shotgun approach to the entire Ottawa-Gatineau area. With the availability of targeting DM down to a postal carrier route, it is a shame that Reno Depot didn’t take a more direct approach by segmenting their market and using more specific messaging and language to reach their audience.

Talking WITH customers

There is a key difference between talking to customers and talking with customers. When you talk TO someone, you may find you are having a one-way conversation and you are not necessarily connecting WITH them.

Connecting WITH customers is a key component of business success. Build a relationship with your customers and prospects — by engaging in relevant and personal two-way conversation — and you will increase your chances for an ongoing business relationship.

How to begin
The conversation starts with a common interest. From there, build the relationship with relevant and personal two-way interaction. It is important you there is give and take on both sides; the conversation can’t simply be about selling product.

For example, if your company sells hiking boots, start by talking about hiking. Then ask about their favorite hiking trails. Build the conversation further by soliciting for their input, such as asking their feedback on boot features that they like or don’t like. The key to the interaction is to build trust by talking about a subject they care about.

The goal is to get them to know who you are, but at the same time, you want to learn more about them. With a better understanding of your customers, you will be able to serve them better.

Know your product; know your customer
In addition to understanding how and why your product fits your customers’ needs and/or wants, it is important to know how to connect with customers. The language you use is as important as is how you deliver your message.

Finding the right words does not just mean using the latest buzzwords, but using them in a way that catches the eye or ear of your audience. Key words are important, but context can make or break the effectiveness of the communication. Your success will be influenced by how well you understand the culture of who you are doing business with — whether they are in a different demographic or different country than you.

It has been a decade since Seth Godin’s ground-breaking book Permission Marketing was published. So much of what he said then is still relevant today, particularly the simple concept offered in the book’s sub-title: “Turning strangers into friends and friends into customers”.

Creating a mutually beneficial relationship with your target market with help you connect WITH customers —to the benefit of your business.

A different way of doing business

As I reflect on my time in Egypt, I have been thinking about how people do business in different countries. Two years ago, I traveled to India with a client. Our goal was to gain a better understanding of the market opportunity there in preparation for targeting one of the world’s largest markets.

Before we left, we spent some time learning about business customs and getting an understanding of the people we planned to meet. Even with our preparation, it was not until we were in the country actually meeting with potential clients that we truly started to understand the market. Talking to people first hand provided more insight and data than we ever could have accomplished remotely. And the trip built relationships that led to significant business for my client.

Even though I was in Egypt to travel, rather than do business, I found it interesting to see get a glimpse of how business was being conducted. Most of what I witnessed focused on the tourist trade, but I believe some of it would translate to typical business situations.

Conducting business in Egypt seems quite different from how we do it in North America. The pace is generally slower, there is a great deal of haggling over price and a key component is the concept of hospitality. While it is unlikely we will adopt the Egyptian style of doing business, there are lessons to be learned from their approach.

The concept of hospitality is one that is worth exploring. In Egypt, it is common — even in the smallest retail shops — to offer visitors a beverage such as tea or soft drinks. This is typically a prelude to a conversation about the items you are interested in buying. A casual browser should keep moving, but if you are interested in buying something, it can signal the start of the deal. Often, concluding the deal can take some time as significant price negotiation usually takes place.

The key to business successful is having a solid understanding your customer — regardless of their language, culture or location. When you are doing business in a country or culture that is different from your own, it pays to know their style of conducting business. Being able to adapt will help you build a relationship that could increase your chances for success.

One thing I enjoy about travel is meeting people in other parts of the world and gaining a better understanding of how they live and work. With the globalization of business today, an appreciation for different ways of doing things will go a long way in closing the gap.

Home again!

I arrived home late last night from an amazing trip to Egypt. I am still a little jet lagged after our 24 hours of traveling home, but it was well worth it. My good friend Kim and I had a blast, and I expect to share some stories from our journey.

Please stay turned.