Nile Rodgers

“Any real record person knows that the number one most powerful marketing tool when it comes to music is repetition.” 
    – Nile Rodgers

My take: First, I think it’s awesome I get to use a Nile Rodgers quote and apply it to marketing. The guy is a studio guitar legend.

As Nile describes it above, think of all the hits and stars that have been made simply because a program director at a radio station simply decides to play the song every hour on the hour. Britney Spears, anyone? Think of all the songs you think are great simply because you’ve heard them enough to convince you that they are.

The repetition convinces us the song is valid. It’s popular, and therefore we should like it. We start learning the lyrics, and then can’t help but sing along. All positive experiences.

And all impossible without repetition.

The idea of repetition has been consuming me a bit lately. It’s always been an integral part of any marketing campaign. Nobody ever gets it the first time.

Which is why single marketing tactics are always a waste of time. One banner ad. One radio spot. One phone call. One Facebook post. One blog post.  The response to a single version of anything is the anomaly, not the rule. So as you’re planning your marketing communications efforts, plan for repetition. Don’t give up on your message too soon, and don’t share it in just one way, in just one place.

Spread it out, and keep playing it until you’re bored. Then play it a lot more.

Give people a chance to “sing along” with your message. Then you won’t have to sell them anything; they’ll be looking for reasons to buy.

Speaking of repetition, I just realized I pointed out this quote a couple years ago. How’s that for putting you’re own advice into practice (even if it’s an accident)?

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p.s. Like quotes like this? Check out the entire series on Marketing Quotes by Marketing Greats.

Image credit: http://www.clashmusic.com/files/imagecache/big_node_view/files/nile-rodgers-2.jpg

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Nothing.

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When things aren’t working the way you think they should, the easy thing to do is start fixing everything that’s wrong with your channels of communication.

The website sucks; fix it.

We aren’t tweeting enough; fix it.

Our slick isn’t slick enough; fix it.

My bet is your issue has more to do with what you’re communicating, regardless of the channel you’re using.

If the message ain’t right, the medium will never matter. If you can’t explain what it is or what it does in one simple sentence, then the problem is your message.

Fix it.

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Image credit: Etsy.com

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Having worked for a direct sales company heading up web stuff for most of the past eight years, it’s funny how familiar themes continue to crop up. There’s one that no doubt tops the list, though, and I’ll fill you in on that in a bit. If you don’t know, direct sales companies always have LOTS of stuff going on, all at once. There are product launches, and events, and contests, and recognition, and more events, and campaigns. And there’s business builders and product purchasers and members and prospects. And let’s not forget leadership, of course. The best example I can give is it’s like a church, with lots of activities and different people all liking and going to the church for different reasons.

In other words, there’s a lot going on for a lot of different segments.

So it’s inevitable for a guy like me to get lobbied by everyone in the building who has something they need to “promote.” People want rotating banners and starbursts and scrolling text and red font. Someone always pushes me too far and asks for a pop-up window. Don’t get me started ….

I then get to be the bad guy and tell them we have limited promotional space and their request hasn’t been deemed as the highest priority right now. (Which is often code for “your idea sucks, leave me alone”)

Without fail, the resolution proposed is that we need more promotional space. More banners, more flashy things, more pop-up windows.

You Don’t Need More Promo Space

Sound familiar? Standard practice for companies is to come up with promotions, prepare the promotion and then figure out how to communicate (or promote) the promotion. That’s when all parties meet head-on at an extremely busy intersection. That’s when people start cage-matching for priority status. That’s when some genius hops on the soapbox and starts preaching for more strategy.

Good companies have a lot of good things to talk about. Great companies know how to focus on the best stuff and not overwhelm their fans. They keep it simple, and they give their consumers a chance to consume their message.

Your problem is not a lack of promotional space. It’s an overabundance of messages.

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There are certain situations when a firehose makes sense. Like when a building is in flames. Or when a new inmate just needs the initiation of being blasted with prison water.

Of course, in those situations, you don’t worry too much about the collateral damages. Furniture gets drenched. Floors get flooded. Prisoners feel the stinging pain of pressurized water.

Marketing With a Firehose

You’ve heard the term “drinking from a firehose,” yes? It’s not a good idea. And yet it’s often the default choice of promotional communication we marketers take. Huge event launches. Super Bowl ads. Crazy Twitter campaigns. We focus a year’s worth of effort on a week’s worth of launch.

And then we just hope it sticks.

Maybe your marketing communication needs more dripping faucets. Constantly, consistently dripping.

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A handyman is coming to our house today to seal up our leaky shower. In preparation, he asked that I shower early and wipe down the shower so it’s dry, which will help with the sealing process. This morning, I told my wife to shower in our guest shower because the handyman was coming to work on the shower this morning.

Around 7:30, I heard her turning on the faucet for the shower I’d told her not to use. Frustrated, I asked her what she thought she was doing. She looked at me confused and said “The handyman’s not here yet.”

My wife thought the reason for showering in the guest shower was because the handyman would already be working on the main shower. I hadn’t told her we actually needed to keep the shower dry.

I had told her what to do without telling her why. That was the central issue at hand.

Since we humans aren’t mindless robots, we normally like to know why we’re doing something. I need to know why my muscles need to be sore for them to grow. I need to know why I’m supposed to tithe 10% of my income to the church. I need to know why narrowing my target audience is smarter than widening it.

Granted, there are groups that work just fine only communicating what they want done. The military comes to mind. Its whole system relies on everyone following the chain of command, doing what they are told.

For the rest of us, we usually need a reason. When we know why, then we usually buy in. When you get buy-in from a customer, it makes a huge difference.

What examples and experiences do you have with communicating why and what?

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Blogger Steve Woodruff unloaded an extremely powerful explanation of how communication actually works. This is must-read/must-respond material for the modern, relevant communicator. The conversation in the comments is great – check it out and dive in.

Here’s the basis of his theory. Be sure to read his post for the explanation behind each filter.

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After reading back through this post, I see just how horribly I communicated my point. Here’s another shot at it:

When it comes to communication, marketers often default to clear, concise and compelling statements. But maybe we need to give “cool” a more influential role.

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Who said effective design needs to be high design?

Watch this video (PR Web in Plain English), and try to tell me its simplicity doesn’t actually communicate better than a slicker version they could’ve done.

When you care more about the listener than you do the speaker, communication gets better.

p.s. Anybody got any tips on using PR Web before I jump in headfirst?

Similar posts on Brett’s Blog:

1. “Coming Soon” = Not Our Specialty
2. The 10 Most “Robust” Words in Marketing

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I stumbled across this New Jersey marketing company’s website as I was surfing tonight. I think it is a pretty informative site that explains the company well until I clicked on this link about PR.

In case you didn’t click it, it just says “coming soon.”

Every other menu item contains a full description on the area of marketing expertise the company provides. Market research. Strategic Planning. Even Commercial Printing.

But not Public Relations.

So, do you hesitate at all in trusting these guys with your PR needs? I do. If anything, the “coming soon” tells me that PR is what they are the weakest at. In fact, my guess is they’ve just thrown it in there because it rounds out their services; it’s expected of a “full-service” marketing company.

My advice: Write something about how you approach PR fast (I mean, isn’t this kind of a PR opportunity for your company?) or don’t build the webpage.

Better advice: Just drop it altogether. If it’s not your area of expertise, let it go. My impression is you’re really good at the other stuff, so leave it at that. Find someone to refer your clients to. It will actually make you more valuable to them, not less. Providing services that you’re not an expert in is what lowers your value.

Related posts on Brett’s Blog

1. Getting Away From Your Bread and Butter
2. Battle of the Grocery Store Websites

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