Thursday, 24 June 2010 - When is a Club not a Club? Four steps to making money from your members.
Many commercial organisations imagine that they will be able to make their customers more loyal by calling them members, and re-packaging some of their services as Benefits of Membership. They soon discover that consumers are a wily bunch, and can tell a real members’ club from a marketing inspired commercial proposition without any difficulty. Membership clubs must take lessons from the most sophisticated marketers in the world: UK supermarkets.
1. Ask your members what they really want from their organisation, and where they are in terms of their career or life stage.
2. Segment your membership base. This gives you greater insight into their motivation for belonging, how much it is worth to them in financial terms, and, importantly, how much they are likely to use your services.
3. Work out how much they are worth to you, taking account of their progress through the grades of membership, use of membership benefits, purchase of additional services and number of years they remain a member.
4. And finally, use this information, to offer tailored benefits, to invest where you’ll get greatest return, and to price competitively.
The fact that supermarkets continue to talk in terms of Club Cards and loyalty points indicates the undeniable appeal of belonging to something. Measuring membership retention is only the beginning; understanding life time value is the real objective. And that is what the supermarkets understand so well, and most membership organisations fail to achieve.
Thursday, 24 June 2010 - Five steps to a great marketing plan
Clients often ask what makes a great marketing plan, and there are as many right answers as there are individual businesses.
A recent survey put some interesting ideas into the pot:
1. Passion. If you aren’t passionate about your business, it shows, and your marketing is likely to be lacklustre and unappealing.
2. Clarity. Know what you want to achieve and who your target audience is. The tactics will follow naturally.
3. Return on Investment. Every activity, large or small, must deliver benefits. Some won’t be measurable, but many will, so evaluate everything you do.
4. Visibility. Keep the marketing plan on your desk, not on the shelf. Review it regularly and adapt it as the market changes around you.
5. Common sense. Share the plan with your team and seek their views. If it doesn’t make sense within the business, then you’ve probably over-complicated it.
What do you think? Let me know.
Monday, 21 June 2010 - When is a Club not a Club? Four steps to making money from your members.
Many commercial organisations imagine that they will be able to make their
customers more loyal by calling them members, and re-packaging some of their
services as Benefits of Membership. They soon discover that consumers are a
wily bunch, and can tell a real members' club from a marketing inspired
commercial proposition without any difficulty. Membership clubs must take
lessons from the most sophisticated marketers in the world: UK supermarkets.
they are in terms of their career or life stage.
2. Segment your membership base. This gives you greater insight into their
motivation for belonging, how much it is worth to them in financial terms,
and, importantly, how much they are likely to use your services.
3. Work out how much they are worth to you, taking account of their progress
through the grades of membership, use of membership benefits, purchase of
additional services and number of years they remain a member. 4. And finally, use this information, to offer tailored benefits, to invest
where you'll get greatest return, and to price competitively. The fact that supermarkets continue to talk in terms of Club Cards and
loyalty points indicates the undeniable appeal of belonging to something.
Measuring membership retention is only the beginning; understanding life
time value is the real objective. And that is what the supermarkets
understand so well, and most membership organisations fail to achieve.
Monday, 24 May 2010 - What makes a great marketing plan?
Clients often ask what makes a great marketing plan, and there are as many right answers as there are individual businesses.
A recent discussion on LinkedIn put some interesting ideas into the pot:
Passion. If you aren’t passionate about your business, it shows, and your marketing is likely to be lacklustre and unappealing.
Clarity. Know what you want to achieve and who your target audience is. The tactics will follow naturally.
Return on Investment. Every activity, large or small, must deliver benefits. Some won’t be measurable, but many will, so evaluate everything you do.
Visibility. Keep the marketing plan on your desk, not on the shelf. Review it regularly and adapt it as the market changes around you.
Common sense. Share the plan with your team and seek their views. If it doesn’t make sense within the business, then you’ve probably over-complicated it.
What do you think? Let me know.
Monday, 26 April 2010 - Winners and losers as the ash settles
As stranded travellers make their way home, and bring their tales of woe back to their friends and work colleagues, it is worth reflecting on which organisations have emerged as winners, and how they have succeeded when others have failed.
It is a classic Crisis Management case study. How should businesses have planned for this scenario, and what made the difference between a happy outcome for the customer, and a PR disaster for the organisation?
Competing stakeholders
Most of the bad news stories came down to money, and the un-generous spirit demonstrated by insurance companies, airlines and travel companies as consumers struggled to patch together alternative travel plans. Keeping an eye on costs, and delivering value to shareholders is essential in normal times, but many organisations forgot that they depend on the goodwill of their staff and their customers and took an extraordinarily unhelpful stance to enquiries.
Communication is the key
It has been entertaining to see which celebrity travellers have made their way home with the help of, or despite, some of our well known travel brands. Some have struck it lucky, and provided great service to highly influential travellers, such as Simon Calder, little knowing how effective his endorsement would be. Others have made it very clear how little they understand about customer service.
Segmentation
But perhaps most stress has been caused by the assumption that everyone needs the same solution to their problem. Rushing people to far flung airports, with hardly any notice, only to cancel the flight once they get there, shows little understanding of segmentation. Many would have been happy to stay put for a little longer, whilst others really needed to get home.
Spotting opportunities
But the smartest move in marketing terms comes from the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, who sent their new ship to pick up customers of Thomas Cook and Tui Travel, stranded in Bilbao. The cost to them was low; the ship should have been hosting a travel trade launch event, but the delegates couldn’t get there. The good publicity reached the national press, and their captive audience experienced all the facilities of the new cruise ship, ensuring bookings got off to a flying start. A winning outcome for all involved.
And the winners are…
The winners, as usual, are the organisations who treat their customers as individuals, communicate well and take personal responsibility for them. And the lessons learnt? Ask your customers what they want, be generous in a crisis and be ready to act boldly when the right moment comes.
And enjoy your extended holiday if you have the chance!