A Marketing Lesson From Winnie The Pooh

January 18 is Winnie the Pooh Day!

The beloved cuddly bear 'all stuffed with fluff' is credited with some very astute observations on life, friendship, confidence and more. OK, it's actually Pooh's creator, A. A. Milne, who authored the Pearls of Wisdom, but Pooh gets credit for uttering them.



The gem that applies to marketing goes as follows: "You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes."

It's the polar opposite of "If you build it, they will come." Running your business should not be based on the fantasy of Field of Dreams, as alluring as the premise might be. It's imperative you 'go to them' - you must reach out to connect with your customers. How many trees are in your Forest (how many competitors do you have)? Do you stretch your limbs, striving for the sunshine so essential to your growth and vigor, to prevent being crowded out by other trees? Or do you sit in wait, hoping that some sunlight and nourishing rain will filter through?

You can go to them literally by attending networking events and making cold calls. You can also reach out with your marketing and advertising. Invite people to get to know you and your company. Tell them why your tree is the most desirable in the Forest. Then they will come to you.

Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays?

Merry Christmas!

Of course, it would be more politically correct to say "Season's Greetings" or "Happy Holidays". How about "Happy Whatever-You-Celebrate"?

If you're a Christmas kind of person, generic greetings just don't get your attention, do they?

So it is with advertising your business.

You cannot be all things to all people, so why not discover your niche and pursue it with gusto? If Christmas is your 'niche', resonate with your target audience by saying so. You'll waste precious time and resources trying to be generic enough to appeal to everyone, and you risk appealing to no one.

If you don't know who your ideal customer is, take time to find out. Otherwise, like trying to sell snow shovels in Florida, your marketing message will fall on deaf ears or consumers will perceive you to be clueless.

May your New Year be prosperous. That's a message we can all relate to!

Keep It Simple

Have you ever been listening to someone tell a story and found yourself growing impatient for them to get to the point? We're so busy multi-tasking, we don't have time to be bogged down with details. We're a society of short cuts, abbreviations, contractions and condensed versions. I once saw a question posed to Marilyn vos Savant, the Mensa brainiac who writes the Ask Marilyn column, inquiring if there wasn't some way to shorten the w-w-w abbreviation for the World Wide Web!
We want our information now, in short, sweet snippets. To borrow the immortal words of Sgt. Joe Friday on Dragnet, "Just the facts, ma'am." If we want details or embellishment, we'll let you know, or seek it out on our own.
The K.I.S.S. rule bears repeating. "Keep It Simple, Stupid." When you're composing advertising copy, get to the point. Marketing gurus say most ad copy should be on a second grade comprehension level. Any more complex and it becomes work to discern the real message. You deserve to be proud of your product or service, but the consumer public isn't nearly as emotionally attached. You must give them a compelling reason to do business with you, and , go figure, you must ask for their business.

Here are a few tips to help you zero in on the most relevant points to make:
1. If you don't have a 30-second elevator speech, create one.
2. Figure out a way to describe your business using no more than 10 words.
3. Identify your Unique Value Proposition - the reason consumers should buy from you and not
your competitor

Learning to be succinct can also save you money. You might be able to run a smaller print or online ad. Perhaps you can use 30-second radio spots instead of :60s. Brevity can be beautiful.

Need a little help with copywriting? E-mail Carole@TheMediaFairy