The Peedabo Blog

In these difficult times being informed is not just an option or a good idea. You need to know, Marketing can be tricky, and buying the right media is not always as easy as it looks. Small businesses need not advertise like the national accounts. Okay so I have been doing a bit of research (Googling) and learned some very interesting things; there have been about 9 recessions in the US, every company that chose to advertise in a recession grew. Grew by 230% on average I know, I am like sign me up.

Then why do so many companies (this is business 101) not advertise. It’s not the proof okay maybe for a few it’s the proof, most companies see marketing as a drain, as an expense that does not produce. With the right analytics you can know where your customers are coming from. One of the best analytics is this “How did you find us?’  I know so simple it hurts. Knowing what works for you is simple and it’s not only important but smart. This is something you can add to the POS system, Your staff can in a conversational manner ascertain how the customer got here, example I  think of is Radio Shack, they asks for your email or phone number. The process, the logistics are not too difficult to implement.Knowing what advertising campaign is working and what is not is priceless.

What I find is that in a recession you have so much you can get for such a discounted price, everything is on sale. So in being smart and choosing the right media type what is next? It’s the customer, knowing the customer, marketing in Pittsburgh or anywhere for that matter is not always easy. Advertising is necessary in any business; you cannot grow without advertising. So you have made the choice to advertise and in Pittsburgh the options are pretty standard.TV, Newspaper, Radio, Indoor billboards, but it’s not about what media you use, nope it has more to do with whom. Each media has its pros and cons. The who in the equation is the biggest factor.

Pittsburgh economy is strong and steady, very few outlandish purchases, modest in our approach to consumer spending. And we love our beer and football; we love our football so much that we made the other teams black and gold. Advertising to Pittsburgh means you have to understand that we have grandmas that are die-hard Steelers fans and the young crowd 18-35 drink Yuengling. In discovering all that Pittsburgh has the people make it very unique a true one of a kind place. Who is Pittsburgh well they pay bills on time, respect their elders (there’s a lot of them here) Yell at the TV (Football or Hockey) Have no real idea what traffic is.

ruffed grouse PA State Bird

Orange Cone the Second Pittsburgh State Bird

We have 2 state birds the Orange Cone and Ruffed Grouse. Who is Pittsburgh how do you market to them honest true with respect, understand we will buy local if we can and Wal-Mart second. Property taxes make us mad, and if you tax our beer we will get pissed. If you’re  going to be marketing to Pittsburgh ,So how to make the most of it well TV can be the beginning, you produce a high quality commercial use stills from it to create billboards and print, the audio to create a radio spots, if you’re doing it right you can have the consistency you need in all mediums maybe a different approach in each media but a consistent message Ultimately, it comes down to creating a call to action (not commercials) that are based on groups and their behavior, defining a purpose a reason beyond themselves for the brand, allows people to  interact with the brand, and in so doing, makes the brand something that is bigger than the business it  becomes an emotional experiences. Being able to plan and create for experiences (functional and emotional ones alike) is the key business to be in.  I know it sounds complicated and it can be hard, but it’s not complicated. It’s about creating more than a commercial it’s about the experience you bring to the customer.

What is the purpose of a website?

First let us start off with a few answers to the question. To sell something, some kind of offer, provide information, have a conversation, find new customers, interact with customers, to share your thoughts, have a web presence, out do your competition. To do any of those things we have to get found. So in needing to be found we have search engines by which I mean Google. To do a search you ask it a question, look at Ask.com it has that in its name.

So what is it that a website does, it answers a question that has been asked, better it answers a very specific question and is easily found by Google. So if you have a website you need to be thinking what questions are asked by my customers? And do I have those answers, are they easily found?

Look at successful websites, a practical example, Facebook. What questions are asked?  Where are you? Let me tell you who I am! And how fat is the prom queen now? Those are the questions and look at all those answers, over 200 million and 100 million keep updating the answer. When we are selling something and we use a website to do that selling, we need to be thinking what the questions the customer is asking. If we are providing information we need to have that question in order to provide the most relevant answer.  “What is the closet pizza shop?” When we have the answer to those questions you can deliver.

Let’s make another practical example something a little more easier said than done. A photography business, (I have no idea how to run a photography business just saying) what are the questions customers asking? How much does it cost? Are you first-class at what you do? How long have you been doing this? What should I look for in a good photographer? Who does the senior pictures in my area? So on and so forth.

So looking at the questions from the customer’s perspective we now have a great place to start. A website with content that’s geared towards answering the questions will be the most successful.

What is the question?

So what is the answer your website gives to the question?

This principal works with or without a website, just made much clearer on the web. What question are you answering, and do not answer too many questions, Give the best answer to a few questions and your company will be the answer to that question most often.