Marketing Strategies: From Best Practices to NEXT Practices

December

28th

Could the best practices in marketing be the snares suppressing your marketing success?

Is it time to ditch those ideas?

Maybe it is.

You decide as I assault 5 marketing strategy best practices with what I call the “next practices” that can have you blow past competitors and build a bigger and better business in 2008 and beyond.

So, here’s what’s OUT.

* Standing out to get your markets attention… OUT?
* (USP) Unique Selling Proposition… OUT?
* Communicating… OUT?
* Crafting messages to cut through clutter… OUT?

And the worst “first” question for 2008 is…

“What does my market want to buy?”

So if that’s all out, then what’s IN for 2008, and what’s a better question to be asking?

I’m glad you asked.

The answers are discussed in today’s DTAlpha TalkBack Session.

This 10 minute and 43 second session will unlock the NEXT practices for success while challenging the popular and outdated best practices.

Are these “next practices” better?
Are they just different?
Are they completely wrong?

You decided.

If you really want the RIGHT INFORMATION, RIGHT NOW. Then this is a MUST listen to DTAlpha TalkBack Session.

[audio:http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3?http://1dtalpha.s3.amazonaws.com/dta_122807.mp3]

Also, the number “1,440″ will become one of the most significant numbers to your business after listening to this 10 minute and 43 second DTAlpha TalkBack session.

Listen now and find out why.

Be sure to TalkBack to me while you’re here. I’m looking forward to your POV (Point of View). So go ahead, TalkBack… I’m listening!

Next Post: Free New Years Video Reveals The #1 Marketing Question For 2008

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Posted in Marketing Strategies

73 Responses to “Marketing Strategies: From Best Practices to NEXT Practices”

irina:

December 29, 2007 at 9:11 am

Whenever we reject, exclude somebody (like competition) we limit our LIVING space and resources while when we accept others we boost our own share in that “clutter”. That’s an old spiritual concept.
So timely of you, Stephen, to ACTIVATE it here and now!

Between us, the Chinese wise men (and not only them but also today’s physicists) would say that in reality the Earth is not round and the stars are not big because they don’t even exist in their full size due to the fact that our minds can materialize only what we can see, and nobody can see the whole Earth or a whole Star. What we see (like the round earth from space) is an optical illusion. Whatever each one of us sees constitutes one’s own universe and we’re alone in it. Others are just a reflection of us.

However, your comparison served its purpose.
You’re doing a great job, Stephen!

With deep gratitude,
Irina

[Reply]
Instinctive Response Marketing:

December 29, 2007 at 9:49 am

Stephen Pierce on ‘Conversation Value Proposition’ CVP…

Hi Stephen,
I agree USP is old hat, but still a good hat if you follow Jay Abraham’s interpretation of it. I just think what is developing, is a greater appreciation for the art of polite listening, and meaningful attention TO the customers situa…
Fired up Phil:

December 29, 2007 at 10:14 am

Stephen the against the grain approach had sooo much curiosity provoked I had to go listen to find out what you were talking about..great copy!. Well, unlike Dean Wankel, I’m not smoking peace pipes or hukas and trying to uncover the “pierce code”. …on a more serious note… I love how you never accept what is without challenging it. You’re never afraid to be different which as Dan Kennedy would say takes some brass balls.

But with that said i think your approach is still inline with the original marketing principles you sort of “dissed” in a fun way. That right there is “different” USP’ish (stand out’ish) so is your blog, etc thus in my opinion proving the age old marketing fundamentals to be IN for 08 not OUT. IN your defense, I think what you stated does have relevance in many ways and is great food for thought and a reminder to never “settle” and always stay in our creative genius.

Signing off,

FiredUpPhil.com

http://www.SuccessScoop.com

[Reply]
NoMoHype LLC - Dale Broste:

December 29, 2007 at 12:11 pm

Steven, again well done.

I like your CVP verses the old USP. We need to get to a point of Conversational selling, verses the OLD “hard Sell” and Trickery.

Your Questions are good… How does our Market live their lives. With that infromation we could more ealily understand how to best be of value to them.

The 1440 minutes, that is a good point, but we each do not have 1440 minutes. Some have more and some have less, and then there are “extenuating circumstances” that can radically reduce ones minutes. Good value for thought though.

NOW, How can if fit into my markets life style so that I can become a viable part of their 1440 minutes. This answer is in Conversational communications (weather in person, phone, or email). Be personalble, Interested, Helpful, become part of their weekly or at least monthly lives (like a brother who lives across the world somewhere) whom you only speak to occasionaly maybe monthly.

Sincerely,

Dale

[Reply]
Mike:

December 29, 2007 at 3:59 pm

Hi Stephen,

You have a way of nailing trends that seem to elude most marketers. Get into the customer’s picture rather than have them get into yours has got to be the name of the game now. Everyone needs to figure this out. After all, how many pictures can a person look at in a day, let alone explore. Magic insights as always. Can’t wait to find out what you have up your sleeve for 2008.

[Reply]
Dean Clarke:

December 29, 2007 at 4:37 pm

Hi, Stephen

My Goodness…

More cogs set turning again with this latest audio. For now I just have a couple o’ questions on what you covered.

1) Are you argueing for some flexibility in our perspectives on marketing by seemingly “calling out” a few heart-held principles?

2) Regards to CVP & Fitting In (as relating to USP), is the question from potential customers now:

“What’s the reason(s) I should buy your product/service AS WELL AS other similar/complimenting stuff I’m using?”

– more than,say —

“What’s the reason(s) I should buy from you rather than someone else?”

If it’s true that there’s really “Nothing new Under The Sun” (have you challenged that one too?), what are the chances of each of the hundreds/thousands/millions of business owners in a market to approach it in a totally “unique” way?

Talking about Uniqueness, is there also a presumption in the marketing world that, for example, the oodles of businesses on Pages 2-to-Crazy-Number on a Google search (paraphrasing Armand Morin here)…or those amounts listed in Yellow Pages & other directories, month-in, month-out are not making much or any money at all?

Especially for those people starting out wondering how to be unique for the 1st Impression-Building Trust etc., I wonder Stephen what your thoughts and experiences are regarding those above questions.

Looking forward to you breaking down the methods of finding out how people in your target market spend their 1,440 minutes.

With thanks,

Dean

[Reply]
Stephen Pierce:

December 29, 2007 at 5:40 pm

Lots of great shares here.

Thank you all for sharing your POV (Points of View).

Kelly (#23), thank you for your feedback and great share. In response to your real life examples. “Sales assistants… just sitting around waiting…and waiting for closing time! Where’s the sale? Where’s the profit?”

The question is: Where’s the CONVERSATION to bring people into the store.

People talking about the iPhone and Halo 3 is in large part what created the lines outside the stores on the release date.

No conversation = no conversions in traffic (offline/online) or sales. While that may not be 100% as of yet, we are rapidly approaching that point. The point where “community IS the marketing department.”

Think Oprah. Oprah is an EXPERT in having conversations. And so is Larry King and other great show host. And because of that, Oprah can mention (not sell) a book her Book Club is reading and it rocket’s to #1.

Rachel Ray is a great cook (some would argue that of course, but I wouldn’t). However her show “30 Minute Meals” isn’t really about cooking. It’s about a conversation around food Rachel is having with the camera in such a way that the viewer feels it’s a one-on-one conversation.

And that’s allows Rachel to sell tons of cooking tools with her brand on it, create best selling cookbooks and has led to her on talk show (more conversations) her own magazine (written conversations) and more.

Pamela (#26), great share and excellent questions. And those questions will be answer in an upcoming DTAlpha TalkBack. I don’t want to spoil the moment by stating them here.

SalesMan (#27) great share from inside the younger crowd.

Hot Alpha Female (#31), great share on the law of attraction. However, if LOA brought you both into the same place it was still your internal recognition system that help you to identify them by face, height, smell, etc. And great point on your website traffic.

George, (#32), thanks for sharing. I’m not sure it’s so much as being “different” as it is being “relevant.” Relevance comes first in my point of view. If being relevant makes you different, then so be it. However, being different for the sake of “not being the same as others” has never really been a way to win.

Paul (#36), great observation. “Friends are filters.” They help us to better evaluate what to do and what not to do. Even if that friend is a paid advisor.

Thomas (#38), I like the “cause and effect” point of view you shared.

WomenDoingIt (#41), that’s great because “connecting and joining (fitting) in” can put you at the top.

Rhett (#43), thanks for sharing. I’m not sure we are talking quality of production or the finished product. While most would argue the movie was horrible, the dvd still sells according to http://www.The-Numbers.com (Ranked #84 in Home DVD Sales) and while the sales are not impressive numbers by a long shot. I think we would be missing the point to look at “was it a good or bad movie.”

What we are looking at is the “translation” and “transition” of all the attention getting and awareness building they did in their campaign to produce some great online activity around the release.

Sure, the quality of the movie impacts others seeing it, because “people talk,” “reviewers… well, they review” etc. (I’m sure they thought they had a great unique movie on their hands and based on the online activity, they probably felt the movie would be a hit. And well it was a hit… just not the kind of hit they wanted… IT HIT THE FLOOR… not the roof.

However the direct translation of building the “buzz”, “awareness”, and “attention” for the movie online which they did well, didn’t equal consumption at the theaters.

As for your question “Why can’t you fit in to a customers life…?”

You can, however having a “standing out” perspective has us focused on competitors and what we can do to outshine them, which often times can lead to very little customer value.

The perspective of “fitting in” FIRST has us focused on the lifestyle of our customer with the understanding that if I properly fit in with value and relevance, then you will STAND OUT as an automatic benefit… of fitting it.

The idea here is to shift the focus and know that most companies are so self-absorbed, self-center and excited about their new wingding and they allow so much of what they “think they hear” from the market be clouded by their own rules, laws and paradigms that for you to take an authentic unfiltered look at the 1,440 minutes of HOW your customers live and what they REALLY DO so you can see PRECISELY how you can fit in… YOU WILL STAND OUT.

It’s like having a conversation with someone. Most people are so busy thinking about what they are going to say next, that they really are NOT LISTENING to you… they are just HEARING you. However, you KNOW when someone is really LISTENING to you and the answer they give is not based on some pre-organized rapid verbal come back.. but based on what you have just said. And they may even ask questions for clarity or feedback on what you said to make sure they fully understand.

Tim (#45) thanks for sharing. Please see the above response to Rhett (#43)

Gaj (#46), yes we will be sharing some specific ways to do this in upcoming TalkBack Sessions. Actually they will be delivered via the free DTAlpha software we will be making available.

Ron (#49), thanks for your feedback. I like your sequence. However if I may suggest. I would say the #1 starting point is asking and answering the question “How does my market live their life?” “What do they do?” “How do they spend your daily 1,440 minutes?” As stated to Gaj above, we will be providing a large framework for accomplishing this via your free DTAlpha software we will be releasing in early January.

Instinctive (#52), great share there. I read your entire write up and I like the different dimensions you provide. Yes, it is about 360 degrees of value we provide. The interesting thing is however, most people don’t get a chance to demonstrate or provide the other degrees of value… because they can’t get into the door. From my point of view, I think the way into the door is with a strong CVP. What’s your point of view of entry point to provide full value?

Dean (#56) Thanks for your questions.

Answer to Q1: Yes. Flexibility is our perspective on marketing is not really an option. It’s a requirement and a must for success in business. Most of them time there’s no one there to challenge the perspective… however there are more people than you can count stumbling over each other to regurgitate the same stuff and never question it. Questioning it is about checking in on it’s current validity.

Answer to Q2: I apologize by you kind of lost me here and I’m not sure which one is the question for me. So I’ll answer the question of “Have I challenged the idea that there’s nothing new under the sun.”

While I haven’t directly challenged that here. I’ve always challenged it.

Cellphones were once new.
Automobiles were once new
Airplanes were once new.
The internet was once new.
There are new drugs being created each year.
There are new businesses being started.
There is always something new.

While this could bring up an entirely different TalkBack. I have a list of all paradigms where people once thought everything that would be created was already created… and that was in the early 1800′s.

Perhaps we can have a TalkBack conversation about that.

My summary point of view on that is simple. “People who feel there’s nothing new under the sun are expressing frustration with their own personal creativity processes.”

Again, that’s my POV.

[Reply]
John Spark:

December 29, 2007 at 8:28 pm

Morning Stephen,
You keep doing it man!
So thought provoking, insightful and exciting.
dtalpha.com is just what I have been waiting for
What a way to start my Sunday listening to your call then reading all these posts. And lets not forget your responses. Do you sleep?
You own at least 30 mins of my 1440 and it’s growing what a lesson to us all.
Thank you and bring it on I say!

John C Spark
http://www.jetsetalbany,com

[Reply]
Yogesh Sood:

December 29, 2007 at 11:01 pm

Dear Stephen

Your POV on information…. observation…… conclusion…. is really touching as if information is defficient all conclusions are going to be a mess.

After hearing a lot on USP, CVP as taught by you really makes more sense and should be realy helpful in our success in near future.

Knowing the market place and fitting in still requires more to practice, practice and practicewhat all is said in this alphatalkback session.

Regards and Wish you and Alicia a VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR 2008.

Yogesh Sood, Chandigarh, India.

[Reply]
Charles:

December 30, 2007 at 12:17 am

WOW!!!!! What a perspective….this is so thought provoking…. thank you for your great contributions to building success…..2008 is shaping up to be a super great year……..Charles

[Reply]
Jean-Marc Laurillard:

December 30, 2007 at 1:38 am

Dear Stephen

If I look at my personal live, my employer owns most of my 1440 each day because he provide me with a living. So the best way to own the maximum amount of theses 1440 is to provide my customer with a living maker system otherwise my share of theses 1440 will only be a small part of it, the biggest part being “making a living”.

By knowing how our markets live their lives, we can provide them with benefits or systems that could help them to unleash there own potential.
So by knowing where they are standing and where they want to go to, or imagine a better place for them to be, we will perfectly fit into their live and we will become a critical aspect of their well being (Standing out big time).

The only way to do it is to have conversation with them on a regular basis in order to discover their way of living. Then CVP will just flow between me and my customer and the whole selling process would be resumed as two friends trying to help each others out.
Therefore my customer will listen because he is interested in the value I can provide and he will reward me.
It all makes sense and I like the idea of challenging existing believes or ways of doing thinks to go further because It give you the lead in the mean time

But to own the maximum of theirs 1440, it will take a lot of my 1440, so it has to be fun….
Do you have in your Xmas hat a guide or an ebook about “conversation” like?

“Mistake to avoid while establishing communication with your market place”
“10 games to have fun communicating with your market place”

Thanks

Happy New Year 2008

JM

[Reply]
Dave:

December 30, 2007 at 3:59 am

I enjoyed your point of view and I believe from the material that I have read that with the millions all trying to capture a slice of the market, you have to differentiate yourself.

Trying to break away from what we are all led to believe is the difficult part. It’s a case of doing something that works for you, but its trying to find that magic formula is the real secret.

Why am I different? What do I offer that is different from my competitors?
Difficult to be different, but I feel the ease with which to shop is important. A shopping experience which is as real to life is important. I offer this (drag and drop) which none of my competitors offer.

I am also offering more choice (products)

I am sorry that I have not replied before as I have been so busy optimizing my site (for google) in order to drive targeted traffic to my site thinking that with an easier way to shop and offering more choice, this would not give anyone, any real reason not to leave without making a purchase.

Needless to say I have gone down the route of a ppc with no results (google analytics)

I am now in the process of putting something together for the New Year Resolutions. Get fitter, lose body fat etc!

I am doing this business because I have been in the fitness side and feel very passionate about this. I am not a trainer, but someone whose life changed (for the good) 27 years ago and the only thing I have done with any consistency is trained, but I also know taking supplements has a huge impact.

Thank you very much for your time and I do look forward to hearing from you.
Take care
Dave

[Reply]
Poh Tin:

December 30, 2007 at 9:35 am

Hi Stephen,

U have certainly earned a place in my 24X60mins day with your blogs!
while currently my business is entirely non net related,
I find your ideas interesting and probably relevant to increasing my “value” and “fit” in my clients’ lives.
Is it okay for me to forward your emails to my non smcc friends for them to learn from u too?

God bless

tan poh tin
Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

[Reply]
Adam:

December 30, 2007 at 11:43 am

Hi Stephen,

Your 1440 philosophy is very profound. It’s something I think I’ve known intuitively for as long as I’ve been in business, but just hearing it from you has brought it to my conscious attention. I already feel very optimistic about 2008, and this just made that feeling stronger.

You’ll be getting more of my 1440 minutes from now on!

[Reply]
PJ Wade:

December 30, 2007 at 2:52 pm

When we stop believing there is a better way, we stop striving for improvement and believing in continued growth. Cheers, Stephen for proving that a fresh point of view does refresh on so many levels.

Regards
PJ

PJ Wade, The Catalyst
“Challenging The Best to become even better.”

[Reply]
Lars Wennlid:

December 30, 2007 at 3:35 pm

You never stops to amaze me Stephen.
You have another approach than most other people that we meet on the Internet Market-Place.
It seems that you are testing another/new angles to see how the market response and that gives great results.

That makes this forum alive and very interesting to come back to over and over again.

This time you focus a lot on Conversation and that is my weakest point, I’m very good technical and practical but when coming in deep on being like sales-people a lot off talk and being very social that is not my strong part..BUT hey.. it’s never to late to practise little more on that part also.
We all have our different strong/weak parts.

Have a great day,
Lars

[Reply]
Vince:

December 30, 2007 at 5:38 pm

Hi Stephen
I gave this reply a little more thought. Picking up from previous talk backs the idea of marketing strategies in principle there is nothing new under the sun. While products may and have changed the strategies are all old tried and tested ones. The methods and tools used to implement them may have a new look or dressed up differently but what is underneath has never changed.

Like a lot of other trends that come and go, what is used that works now may not work in 6 months time but may well work in 4 years time. Trends tend to go in cycles the big thing that you are doing here is getting people to think for themselves again by stirring the imaginations. Most people these days just never think,they do things on auto-pilot, get up go to work come home watch tv go to bed and do that most of their lives.
It’s strange too that some people can’t understand that we all do have the same amount of time each day 1440 minutes. It is how we use that time that makes the big difference and of course we must be balance in it’s use to make it beneficial.

Thanks again and best wishes
Vince
Twitter: vince_mullo

[Reply]
Susanne P:

December 31, 2007 at 2:01 am

I really should have learned by now, that coming here to TalkBack after midnight is a bad idea. Once again I’m walking away from here with my head spinning w. questions and ideas. I’m going to have trouble getting to sleep again tonight
Thanks Stephen for another great session.

[Reply]
Scott Tousignant:

December 31, 2007 at 4:15 pm

Well Stephen, DTAlpha Talkback is proof of the importance of todays lesson.

Several times each week you have a captive audience eager to listen to your latest lesson. You get dozens of us to interact in great discussion.

Hearing your voice several times each week makes me feel comfortable with you and although I have only met you twice I feel like we’ve know each other for a very long time.

Seeing your responses to the comments also helps with the trust building. I see that you take our comments seriously and let us know when we are on the right track.

Because of the DTAlpha Talkback experience your emails are the first that I open and I am willing to give you whatever time is necessary in order to get your message across and for me to make the time to comment and interact with everyone here.

To put things into perspective… I delete the majority of my emails every day without reading them and many of them are from the top internet marketers. Yet I immediately open yours.

I have been applying these methods for a few months now and my business has skyrocketed. I have not sent out a promotional email to my list during the past few months yet my affiliate commissions have grown enormously compared to when I was regularly hitting them with promos.

I mostly use my blogs to interact with my list and offer intriguing questions which have produced some wonderful answers. I also reward them for their comments as well.

Just this past week I asked my readers how I could best serve them in 2008. In addition to some very positive feedback for the work that I’m already doing, they basically gave me a blueprint to follow for what I will be delivering to them this year.

They love that I interact with them though the blog comments, articles, podcasts, and videos. They also love that I keep it real and share my own challenges and setbacks. Most of all, they love that I get my family involved.

Thanks Stephen for another brilliant talkback session.

Scott Tousignant
http://www.UnstoppableFatLoss.com
Twitter: FatLossQuickie

[Reply]
Stephen Pierce:

December 31, 2007 at 6:08 pm

Lot’s of great shares here.

Thank you all the conversation and education.

Love it.

And thank you Scott (#69), appreciate that share.

[Reply]
Mark Collard:

January 8, 2008 at 8:47 pm

Yeah, i’m enjoying the comments too, and of course Stephen’s chats. Can’t disagree with what Stephen has said today, it’s just packaged a little awkwardly for me?

I believe that the Best Practices are as critical as the Next Practices Stephen speaks of. For exmaple:

1. You can’t fit into anybody’s life / day / work / play until you have stood out. Nothing in our lives “fits in” until it has stood out, got out attention, and then we integrated into our lives. Nothing.

2. Sure, the rise of starting conversations is great, but unless you are “effective”, you can forget it. Conversations are communications too. And remember, that communication is all about “communing” with another. Don’t get that right, I don’t care whether you call it a starting conversation or not, it won’t work.

3. Surely crafting messages to cut through the clutter is all about communicating effectively? When you do it well, it’s not clutter. Simple as that.

Anyways, that’s my spin on it.

Thanx for the stimulus Stephen, and all of my DTAlpha friends…

Mark

how to win lotto frequently

[Reply]
KhaazRa:

January 16, 2008 at 11:07 pm

Great way to peak my interest, yet nothing solid for me to go on. Nothing solid at all.

Also, great challenge on the whole “attention age” point of view, yet nothing solid to go on still.

KhaazRa

[Reply]
Mike:

April 17, 2008 at 4:38 am

Hello Stephen!

I didn’t know anything about it before.I had to learn a same subject when I was an university student but I never thought it can be easier or intelligible.
Thans for your help.

[Reply]