Posts Tagged ‘marketing planning’

Brave New World of Marketing Grain

By admin, May 30, 2012

ND crops marketing specialist advises growers to understand markets and contracts.

With new market opportunities opening up across the Canada/US border, producers face new challenges.

In a recent interview broadcast on CTV Saskatchewan’s Farmgate, Dr. Frayne Olson, Crops Economist/ Marketing Specialist, North Dakota State University Extension Service says that price volatility is causing the most frustration for growers globally.

Dr. Olson advises that farmers both in Canada and the United States “have to pay attention to what’s happening…to spend more time studying and understanding what the influences are that are impacting the markets and commodity prices. Pay attention to those on a regular basis.”

1352740_wheat_fieldKnowing the cost of production is something marketers have been emphasizing for years. However, it is even more critical when growers are trying to determine a good price and achieve the kinds of profits they expect.

Growers looking to forward contract their cereals need to be aware of exactly what the contract is for.

“I tell farmers to be very careful, to read and understand what the contract provisions are,” Olson says. That means asking a lot of questions to completely understand the expectations and terms of the contract. More information is available here.

Does the average grower understand the implications of marketing grain? Let us know what you think.

Ron Wall was born in Saskatchewan, lives in Missouri and writes from both sides of the border.

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Marketing Planning – The Customer Speaks First

By Colin N. Clarke, November 23, 2010

Customer Listening3I’ve had the good fortune of collaborating with the folks from Street Smart Strategic Planning recently. It’s provided a refreshing perspective on the value and raw power of the customer’s voice in marketing planning.

Many companies barge into their marketing efforts believing they know what the customer wants to hear and how s/he wants to be reached. Business people often LIVE in their industry category and know the business inside and out but overlook the fact that they are not the customer (although they might try to tell you they are).

Most businesses tend to zero in on tangible differentiation – features and benefits, as a means to try and convince customers to buy. But “bigger, better, faster and more” can only carry a business so far – it becomes too easy for competitors to match features or price. The challenge is to uncover a truer differentiation that will resonate more closely with the customer’s desires. And this is where the voice of the customer comes to life and demonstrates its power in marketing planning.

By undertaking the right kind of customer investigation, businesses can begin to discover more emotional routes to the customer. Look at how customers view themselves when they use the product: What image do they project or portray? Do they like what they see? Discovering what appeals to the customer beyond basic product specifications provides tremendous insight.Customer ListeningA

Another area to explore is a customer’s perceived utility or benefit of using a product. Too often marketers get so wrapped up in describing the product itself that customer benefit is overlooked. One basic means to begin discovery is to simply ask the customer: “What would your life be like if you no longer had access to product X?” Now we can begin to explore the deeper benefit to the customer.

The folks at Street Smart approach these three areas as MIND, HEART and SOUL. In general terms MIND refers to product attributes, HEART to emotional appeal, and SOUL to product use and utility. Many marketers forge ahead with their planning completely aiming at the rational MIND and wonder why campaigns fall flat in a short period of time. In order to find deeper success marketers must tap into the power of the customer’s voice, listen, and begin to understand what motivates purchase behavior. Only by listening to the customer first will a marketer begin to successfully integrate messages that appeal to the MIND, HEART and SOUL.

Ask the customer what’s important instead of guessing what you think they want to hear. What you discover will return huge benefits to your marketing planning process.

Dr. Colin N. Clarke is a senior strategist for AdFarm. Follow him on Twitter @colinnclarke or on Facebook at Facebook.com/cnclarke

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Beyond an Audience of ONE.

By Colin N. Clarke, May 5, 2010

salesbattle1-300x225When developing marketing communications plans and materials there is always the crucial “approval” phase where the decision is made to proceed. One significant challenge at this point is managing the personal subjectivity that tends to creep in. Time and time again, great communications concepts and ideas are tossed aside based on personal choices, at times undermining the potential impact of a tactic helping achieve a communications objective. Some of these may sound familiar:

  • I talked to a few people around the office and some didn’t like it.
  • I had my spouse look at it and s/he didn’t like this part of it.
  • I showed my Dad/Mom/Grandparent and they don’t understand it.
  • “I” just don’t like it.

The issue with placing credence in the above objections is often times your “audience of one” is not a true representative sample of the target audience the communications is seeking to reach. Many factors are considered in plan, campaign and tactic development including demographics, interests, product use patterns and more. In order to get the best possible evaluation on your marketing communications concepts and ideas you’ll want feedback from a solid segment of your target audience.

Focus on your audience first. Here are some points to help guide you:

  • Don’t assume that your target audience uses communications tools the same way you do. For example, you may not use RSS feeds and feel the need to crush a concept using RSS, but your audience may find great value in it.
  • Sit on the other side of the table when evaluating. Try not to think of the concepts and ideas from a company standpoint. Think of the concepts from your audience member standpoint. Remember, in most cases you are not the target audience.
  • Stay away from people’s opinions other than your target audience. Unless your co-worker, parent, spouse or friend is solidly a part of your target audience, don’t seek their opinion as you will simply get a subjective, reactive response.
  • Find means to engage your audience in the approval process. Focus groups, panels, test markets and other means are available to find out the true response of your audience to certain concepts. And new digital tools are making this easier and faster than ever before.

Bottom-line: You may be close to the work and close to the market, but don’t assume that you will react the same way as your target audience. They are often more astute, connected and discriminatory than you might give them credit for. Make the most of your marketing communications by reaching out to your customers for involvement and approval early. The impact at launch time will be well worth the effort.

Have you ever been surprised by a customer unexpectedly liking something you didn’t? If so, please share. It’s always great to learn from others.

Colin is a strategist for AdFarm who appreciates the common sense and no B.S. attitude of farmers and ranchers alike. Follow him on Twitter @colinnclarke or on Facebook at Facebook.com/cnclarke.

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Don't Let Your Marketing Fall Down…in the Last Four Feet

By colin n. clarke, February 22, 2010

Marketing communications, in simplest terms, helps put a customer or prospect in the right frame of mind to buy. It can educate, inform, advise, recommend, encourage, scare and influence a prospect, but it cannot make them buy. At some point someone or something (e-commerce for example) has to close the sale. A recent presentation by Datacore Marketing describes this as “The Last Four Feet.”

The Last Four Feet represents the final steps that a customer takes as they approach the sales counter (or online checkout). Without question this is the most important part of the process. Can you close the sale?avoidance300

Marketers place great emphasis on campaigns to the end-user or customer. Significant, sometimes huge budgets are invested to help put the target audience in the right frame of mind to buy. But too often, after marketing communications has done its job with the customer, the process falls down at the sales counter.

Picture a customer who receives direct communications on your product, investigates online, reads the reviews, talks to their friends and decides “I want to buy.” They enter the “store” to purchase, approach the checkout, and the salesperson (or process) says, “Have you seen the features on alternative product #2 over here?” At that point, in the last four feet, all of your marketing communications efforts are shot down by one missed communication.

So how do you avoid losing your customer at the sales counter? Here are four sure-fire steps that will help with “the last four feet.”

1)      Educate your sales channel first – before any external customer communications begin. Be sure products and processes are easily understood (this applies to e-commerce too).

2)      Let the channel in on the process early, ask for feedback and implement suggestions that will strengthen the relationship with the channel. If using e-commerce, be sure to test the checkout process to make sure it is intuitive and without distraction.

3)       Involve the channel in the product or campaign  roll out. Give the channel an active stake in the process that encourages their engagement. A kickoff event, an incentive, an interesting (but not burdensome) program.

4)      Reinforce the sales process within your marketing communications. Suggest to the customer in your messaging the easiest route to purchase while reinforcing the same “easy route” to the channel audience.

Marketing communications can put the customer in the right frame of mind, but it can’t ring the till by itself. Include a solid channel strategy to make sure your marketing investment isn’t lost at the sales counter.

Have you ever dropped out of a sale at the counter? If so, what could the marketer have done differently?

Colin is a senior strategist for AdFarm who enjoys the deep dive into marketing strategy. Follow him on Twitter @colinnclarke or on Facebook at Facebook.com/cnclarke.

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