The Web Marketing PowerProgram

“Did You Say Something?”

About two years ago, a hearing test revealed my hearing was greatly diminished in the higher-pitched range, such as a young girl’s voice. “Ahh, that explains it,” I thought, since I could barely hear my high school daughter speak.

So I bought a hearing aid that can eavesdrop on bats in a distant cave, only to find out my daughter had quit talking to anyone fitting the definition of “her parents”.  The return policy on used hearing aids would not be considered lenient.

Here’s a typical afternoon conversation. “How was school?” I ask.

“Good”, she says.
“Any tests?”
“Nope,” this was clearly one question too many, so I decide to go out with a bang.
“Did you know there was a rabid platypus going through your purse?”
“Nope.”

And the one-word (or less) answers come, until I consider mild electrical shock as a conversation starter, and finally stop, exhausted.

Contrarily, she has phone service that includes ‘unlimited texting’, and I’m pretty sure she’s on the “Unlimited Text Watch List” for nearly reaching that number. She texts constantly. While she’s doing her nails, she can actually text with her teeth. It’s remarkable. And disturbing.

As a marketer, I see no slow-down in clutter, alternate communication and mild disdain for “advertisers” attempting to shoe horn messages where they don’t belong. DVR allows us to skip those awful advertisers (who pay for the programming by the way) and the chances of luring a frenetic facebooker in with a paid ‘traditional’ ad are as likely as a congressman clipping coupons. 

This behavior has affected all age groups. Your ability to effectively reach them has been grossly affected:

The ‘average’ texter sends or receives 180 per day. Average online user visits 40 websites a day. Checks email 45 times a day. (Not a typo.) This isn’t just “kids” either, since only 29% are 25-34; the fastest growth is in the 55+ age group, who are also the largest of all age groups.

And they’re all buyers. All potential customers of yours. The drop in lead generation is not your imagination.

The market has changed. It has moved. It buys differently. It communicates differently. And the ‘old way’ is not coming back. You’re either on the front edge making money or on the back edge playing catch up. Here are 4 Steps to Push You to the Front…

The economy and communication have drastically changed the rules of marketing. 4 Quick things you can do now:

• Lead Generation – this is the #1 most popular topic during coaching calls. Contractors wondering, “How do I generate more leads?” Fortunately, no message type has ever toppled Direct Response, but the method of communication has changed.  Your #1 priority now should be making sure you’re at the top of the Local Search pile. If you enter your <Trade> in <City> and you are not on Page 1, problems in your current and near future. Get listed. Coaching members heard as Graves Plumbing went from 0 leads to 567 leads in 90 days. You can do that too.
  
• Impact – This means a) be different b) be consistent. If your ads are blending in, you’re lost. Having a ‘different’ message done in a ‘different’ way has memorable impact in a world prone to forget the ordinary. This month’s coaching call highlighted an ad by Code Blue Plumbing with a postcard that depicts a very bald man that said, “Sure, I need your free plumbing inspection like I need a free comb.” This type message cuts through to the front of all the “other” ads and gets response. He used it to help add $123,421 in sales in short order.
  
• Network – You’ve got to find other “like minded” groups with similar customers. We’re slowly turning into ever smaller niche markets, so collecting other niches through networking adds up. There has never been a better time to do “cooperative” marketing with other tradespeople. Expand Home Show space into a larger booth instead of the ‘normal’ cramped one. Share a direct mail piece, print on each side of an insert, swap editorials and ‘how to’s’ in newsletters… each sharing and expanding your reach for no extra money. Just took my own medicine on this in putting on the Next Level Contractor event. As always, I don’t recommend you do anything I don’t, so there.
  
• Keep. My same sermon on keeping the customer you gain, but with a twist for the modern consumer: shorter reminders that are advisory and not “salesy” works better today. Encourage posts on Consumer Rating sites, social pages and more. Be available and known to all, but do not ‘force’ your way in nor resort to the spam tactics that put you into the gross-polluter category.

That little LINK method above works. We’ve used it for selected contractors (with a full strategy for each step), membership groups, distributors, manufacturers, and more. It’ll be the core strategy for my little portion of the Next Level Contractor Event on October 6. Register here if you haven’t already.

You can use this in your business as an easy to replicate model to jump ahead of competitors. The modern consumer wants a modern contractor… but they’ve got to hear you first. No hearing aids required; only good marketing to cut through the clutter.

 Adams Hudson

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