Lessons from a Maui Marketing Campaign, Part II
Posted 01-27-2009 at 05:48 PM by jeromek
Earlier I shared what didn't and what did work in my recent marketing campaign for a health program on Maui. As I shared in Part I, what got us zero results was a website, flyers, business cards, ads, articles, radio PSA's, etc.
Two things worked, working in combination -- presenting information sessions about the program. Speaking before an audience. A woman sent all the people to the information sessions, by talking to them.
These worked -- people who showed up for the info sessions got there because the woman talked to them and urged them to be there. And people who signed up for the program all signed up at those info sessions. Speaking to people one-on-one, and speaking to an audience are powerful marketing tools.
A couple of other lessons, insights in this campaign.
I did a poster I thought was pretty eye-catching. I displayed it in a display that had brochures to take. Took this mini-billboard to a health-related lecture. I had my audience, people interested in health.
Put it on the table with a bunch of other health literature, and thought I'd really stand out, as other flyers and brochures were just lying there. Mine was better, it was a display.
Not one person took a brochure. Kind of crushing; and now it is funny, looking back. And so valuable.
Why not one person took a brochure has to do with having too many choices, and there were a lot of choices on this table. Display or not, my poster was one tree lost in a forest.
And that is true just about anywhere, regarding anything today. That timeless marketing question: how do you really stand out? Grab super-short attention spans? With flyers or websites or any other media?
Did the same display in another setting. With no competition from other literature. In a busy eating place, the display was there for many days. Want to guess? Not one brochure was taken.
It's tough out there.
A sidebar: had my phone number and website name very prominently displayed in these displays. These meant zero. When was the last time you took the time to jot down a phone number or website you saw on a display? Maybe never, right? That's true with me.
One more: one woman gave me some invaluable feedback and this example so underlines the mega importance of communication, it's everything. Just to hear this communication was eye-opening.
This woman was one of the people who had taken our program. I mailed her and other graduates, asking them to tell others of our upcoming program.
This woman reported back to me that people were afraid to come, that was the bottom line, and the people said so.
This came as Big News to me.
What she meant and what the fearful people meant was they were afraid not of our program so much, but of the unknown. What is this program? What it's all about? What if it makes me uncomfortable? What if they're religious zealots and they pounce on me once I'm in the room to check out this program?
Hey, we're nice folks, not religious zealots or any other kind of zealots. But it was sure great to get that kind of information. Our future marketing and other efforts must take it into consideration – we're not a movie or a music concert. People are suspicious of programs, of the unknown; they have a healthy fear of even showing up at a free presentation. Wow, it's great to know that.
A final thought: you learn a lot from misses, failures, the negative, the complete flops, from surprises, the unexpected, things you didn't know before. I sure have.
Two things worked, working in combination -- presenting information sessions about the program. Speaking before an audience. A woman sent all the people to the information sessions, by talking to them.
These worked -- people who showed up for the info sessions got there because the woman talked to them and urged them to be there. And people who signed up for the program all signed up at those info sessions. Speaking to people one-on-one, and speaking to an audience are powerful marketing tools.
A couple of other lessons, insights in this campaign.
I did a poster I thought was pretty eye-catching. I displayed it in a display that had brochures to take. Took this mini-billboard to a health-related lecture. I had my audience, people interested in health.
Put it on the table with a bunch of other health literature, and thought I'd really stand out, as other flyers and brochures were just lying there. Mine was better, it was a display.
Not one person took a brochure. Kind of crushing; and now it is funny, looking back. And so valuable.
Why not one person took a brochure has to do with having too many choices, and there were a lot of choices on this table. Display or not, my poster was one tree lost in a forest.
And that is true just about anywhere, regarding anything today. That timeless marketing question: how do you really stand out? Grab super-short attention spans? With flyers or websites or any other media?
Did the same display in another setting. With no competition from other literature. In a busy eating place, the display was there for many days. Want to guess? Not one brochure was taken.
It's tough out there.
A sidebar: had my phone number and website name very prominently displayed in these displays. These meant zero. When was the last time you took the time to jot down a phone number or website you saw on a display? Maybe never, right? That's true with me.
One more: one woman gave me some invaluable feedback and this example so underlines the mega importance of communication, it's everything. Just to hear this communication was eye-opening.
This woman was one of the people who had taken our program. I mailed her and other graduates, asking them to tell others of our upcoming program.
This woman reported back to me that people were afraid to come, that was the bottom line, and the people said so.
This came as Big News to me.
What she meant and what the fearful people meant was they were afraid not of our program so much, but of the unknown. What is this program? What it's all about? What if it makes me uncomfortable? What if they're religious zealots and they pounce on me once I'm in the room to check out this program?
Hey, we're nice folks, not religious zealots or any other kind of zealots. But it was sure great to get that kind of information. Our future marketing and other efforts must take it into consideration – we're not a movie or a music concert. People are suspicious of programs, of the unknown; they have a healthy fear of even showing up at a free presentation. Wow, it's great to know that.
A final thought: you learn a lot from misses, failures, the negative, the complete flops, from surprises, the unexpected, things you didn't know before. I sure have.
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