Show me a Little Love!

Every marketer—whether working in a for-profit or not-for-profit—has one goal: Get customers, clients and donors to “Show Me the Love.” You want them to sign in, sign up, and send money.

In the dark days of yore, your options to reach these folks were limited. Direct mail; print, radio and TV advertising (or PSAs); public relations (like press releases); telephone solicitations; special events, and of course, word-of-mouth. You recognize it: It’s Marketing 101 stuff.

But today is a Brave New World, gentle people. Statistics show that each one of us is bombarded with 5,000+ advertising messages per day. That’s more than our great grandparents saw in their entire lifetimes!

Email, social media, PURLs, and text messaging has added opportunity, but has made it harder to get your message to stand out from the crowd. Figuring out where you get your donations or sales from is affecting marketers in all industries.

We are all adrift in a sea of uncertainty. Some of us simply have better life jackets than others.

So many options. So few facts.

Before you develop that fatal deer-in-the-headlight stare, consider the age of your target market. Younger folk have a variety of paths from which they get information, and no single channel predominates. Muddying the picture further, the X and Y crowd don’t seem to have developed the brand loyalty of older generations, so their allegiance is up for grabs until a clear pattern emerges. Older folks tend to stay with what they know and are comfortable with.

Here is what’s working (or not!) for a variety of marketers:

Retail. 100% of us buy retail. Just ask Safeway. But just over half of us say they have made contributions at the grocery or retail store. Most of the contributors are younger, as older folk still prefer to receive their information through direct mail, and younger people tend to spend and give more spontaneously (ie “Would you like fries with that?” “Of course!”)

Internet. Despite lingering privacy issues, most of us shop on-line today. Retailers are making great headway on the web. Non-profits are benefiting as well. 35% of the Gen Xers have gone on a charity’s web site to contribute as have 29% of the Gen Yers. But here’s the bad news: What had gotten them to that website in the first place is still TBD.

Social Media. Social Media is still largely a young person’s game. Nearly 100% of individuals under 30 use social media, with that percentage decreasing as age increases. While many of the younger users look to friends for recommendations, older users don’t. 36% of those under 30 years old have talked about a charity with friends in the past month and 29% have posted that information on their Facebook page; oldsters, not so much.

Text messaging. With near 100% cell phone market penetration, you’d think that text messaging would be huge. For instance, 77% of the public had heard about contributing to Haiti earthquake relief via their cell phones and 36% indicated willingness to contribute this way. But there is a huge generational divide. While 13-14% of the X and Yers contribute by phone, only 4% of Boomers do.

Social Events. Younger people tend to prefer social events such as 5K runs and galas. Older individuals who participate in galas tend to be gala goers, not long term prospects for donations (“I want to be seen with the right people.”) Younger people tend to give/buy spontaneously without much forethought. By comparison, older donors like to do research before they invest (think Consumer Reports and charity watchdogs), hence social events provide a bit of peer pressure to get more from younger audiences.

Direct Mail. Direct Mail is still one of the best channels for reaching people. DM earned attention—and money—from almost 100% of the Boomers, 43% of the Xers and 26% of the Yers in the last year. The age divide continues: Individuals born before 1965 voiced a strong preference for direct mail; people born after 1965 preferred web sites.

It goes on and on. Today’s multi-channel environment demands that marketers find new ways to determine response rates and ROI. We’ve figured that much out.

We haven’t figured out how to compute the value of internet vs DM (direct mail) vs WoM (word of mouth) vs text messaging vs Social Media vs special events, etc.

So many options. So few facts.

Like so many things, it used to be simpler.

Give me a hug. I need one.

It’s all about ME! LoL

Gen-Xers famously seem to think that everything is all about them. Their needs. Their wants. Their expectations.

But you know, fellow marketers, they’re right! Maybe it’s not media-hyped self-centeredness at all. Just maybe it’s simple self-awareness.

Think about it. The Gen-Xers have figured it out: They’re consumers of the products/services you and I—old fogies that we are—have to offer. They can choose to buy into our pitch, or opt out of it entirely. Yes indeed, they are in the proverbial driver’s seat.

These guys grew up with remote controls in their hands. They got their first cell phone in the sixth grade; text messaging is their native language. They listen to music pulsing through those cute white wires in their ears. They don’t read newspapers; they download.

Jon Stewart is their go-to guy. They have best-buddy lists that reach out electronically to thousands of people. They are hooked in and tuned on. We’re the foreigners in this strange land, not them.

They are smart, educated and tech-savvy. They know what they want, and if you’re selling the hot technology and gizmos, good for you! On the other hand, what’s in today is out tomorrow. So you’ve got to stay on top of your game just to stay in the game.

However, if you’re selling retirement plans, your job is a lot tougher. These 20-somethings live in the here-and-now. Tomorrow is a long way away for them. 40 years hence is almost incomprehensible.

Making it worse, the economic downturn has left many of them who never knew anything but the good old go-go days reeling with justified fear. Social Security? Probably not a reality for them and they know it.

Selling big-ticket items like real estate? Hmmm. The Gen-Xers get “hooked up” later (they don’t trust the institution of marriage the way their now-divorced parents did) and have fewer children. Maybe they don’t need the McMansions you’re hocking. And they certainly don’t want the high mortgages that go with them.

This generation will be inheriting an earth that is noisy, dirty and overheating. Going green is more than a slogan for them. Their efforts to live green may be what makes the earth inhabitable for their children. And they know that, too.

While they have cash—lots of it—to spend, theirs may be the first generation of Americans that has lower expectations than their parents. And marketers have to come to terms with that.

If we want to address them successfully…if we want to earn their trust and their business…then we have to realize that it is all about them.

How can we as marketers become their new BFFs?

Chose a marketing media that is appropriate, like direct mail. This tech-wise generation loves “old fashioned” direct mail catalogs which they keep as reference books and use to make informed buying decisions later.

The Facebook generation loves the privacy of direct mail; and because so many of their “human interfaces” are electronic, they still get a genuine thrill when they get a letter in the mail.

Use marketing media that speak to them, like email. OK, email is so 1990s, but it’s still a very effective tool with the right message to the right list. Email lists, while still more expensive than DM lists, are coming down in price, and the ability to segment to reach the exact group you need is quite good. Best yet: you get almost instantaneous feedback.

Use new marketing media like PURLs and SMS text messaging. These new cross-platform media proved enormously successful in Obama’s run for the Presidency. They “galvanized the base” (read: they energized the very people we’re writing about here!) and can help you get your message out too. Read the next article about PURLs to learn more about these newest marketing technologies.

But it’s not just how you say it, it’s what you say. Forget the fluff. Hold the hype. Give them real, valuable content. It’s what they want and what they expect.

They are bombarded with information every day. They can—with a few keystrokes—find almost anything they need to make a buying decision. And yes, they want information from you, too, but they want it on their own terms. If they think you’re “selling” them, they’ll turn you off in a hot minute. However, if you’re providing honest content, they’ll give you their time and attention.

The content has to be relevant. It has to arm them with facts about your company, your industry, solutions to problems, approaches they can take, and the best practices that lead to successful relationships. Give them answers to their questions, and you give them the ability to make up their mind about you.

They can choose to listen in or tune out. They can decide if you are relevant, or not. Thumbs up or thumbs down.

Is it all about them? You bet it is!

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