Marketing to Today's "Distracted" Consumer

The average consumer today is exposed to a deluge of 1,700 marketing
messages during a single 24-hour period according to recent
advertising industry numbers. Look around you, we marketers have
pasted, injected and/or overlaid marketing messages (read
advertising) in any possible place imaginable! Case in point, NBC
will start to digitally insert commercial "billboards" into
advertising content to be broadcast during the winter Olympics - in
essence a commercial within a commercial.

Core Marketing Materials

Marketing messages and processes must be condensed, hard-hitting and
presented in formats that are easy to understand and digest - not MBA-
speak or techno-jargon. Long mission statements with flowery prose
simply don't cut it in today's "distracted economy" -
customers/clients/partners want to understand what products and
services your selling, at what price and how they are supported.

A one-page company Facts sheet is an essential component of any
marketing campaign - it provides a snapshot of essentials about your
company including markets addressed, contact points, core technology,
products or services sold and business partners. A well-written Fact
sheet should be one page and provide just baseline information,
without any hyperbole.

Power Point presentations by their very nature force you to distill
your information down into bullets and short sentences. Enabling you
to make a presentation in a meeting, or have content ready for
viewing on a 24/7 basis via your web site. You can create several
iterations of the presentation which can be tailored for customers,
partners, investors, etc. - mixing and matching your core 8-12 slides
with others that "speak" to different audiences.

Web-enabled Marketing

I've written several articles on web-enabled marketing and the need
for simplicity when designing a web site, with content that is
tailored for the online community. Many companies are wasting
resources on web sites that don't work as an information resource -
most of these sites function more as a testament to the designer's
ability to use cutting edge software graphics tools.

Many web sites still utilize text that is just pulled from other
marcom materials, ignoring "rules of the road" for content on the
web - the online community wants information presented in short
paragraphs comprised of 2-3 sentences, with lots of white space.

A good web site should act solely as an appetizer for a four-course
meal - whetting the appetites of the viewers and motivating them to
take some action that moves them forward in the marketing process
such as contacting the company or registering via the web site for
more information.

Speaking of web site registration - this too should be optimized for
today's "information overloaded" customer. Only basic requirements
should be requested (name, contact points, interest level) with a
Privacy Statement linked via the registration page clearly stating
your marketing policy; which by the way, you should adhere to without
any deviation, or risk the wrath of your customers.

Opt-in E-Mail

Opt-in e-mail has now become today's marketing methodology du jour -
it works and it's cost effective. Approximately 50% of opt-in e-mail
content is done in HTML (graphics inserted) format and the other 50%
in text format. We strongly recommend text format to most of our B2B
(business to business) clients - and we utilize a standard format
that has generated 8-25% response rates from numerous campaigns we've
created.

We structure the e-mail message so it is in three short paragraphs,
with customer referenceability built in to the message and we utilize
at least 10% of the media buy to test 2-3 different messages. The
subject line is one of the most critical elements - it has to get the
recipient's attention and cut through the clutter of hundreds
(typically) of other messages they will be receiving during a 24-hour
period.

Executive Summary

So, the executive summary for this entire article can be summarized
in a few words "finely hone your marketing and remember less is
more " - if you repeat this mantra as you move forward through your
marketing processes you should be able to reach today's "distracted
customer" in a timely and cost effective manner.