Do you remember the 1989 movie “Field of Dreams” where the character played by Kevin Costner keeps hearing the whisper “If you build it, they will come”?
After ignoring the message for a time, he finally did build a baseball field in his cornfield in Iowa, and many ghosts of past professional baseball players showed up to play ball again.
So listening to that message, and finally acting on it, worked out well for him in the end.
In business, however, “If you build it, they will come,” is not a good marketing strategy.
You have to tell people what you built, what problem it will solve for them, and then invite them to take action.
The template is something like, “Hey you! Come to my place of business because when you do, our business has a product/service that will solve a problem/frustration you are experiencing in this particular area of your life.”
That invitation is the essence of MARKETING.
But Marketing Costs Money!
But just like when you send invitations to people to come to a party at your house, in business, you have to send invitations to your existing and prospective customers to get them to come do business with you.
Otherwise, they won’t come.
Returning to the story of the meeting I recently had with the leadership of a Pregnancy Help Center, as we discussed the dollars needed to execute an effective marketing program, one of the board members said something to the effect of “It’s so expensive. If possible, I would rather use that money to buy more things to give for free to the women coming to our center.”
To be fair, it is not uncommon, at all, to hear this type of “marketing is so expensive” statement by leaders of non-profits, and believe it or not, by leaders of some for-profits as well.
The view is that marketing is a “cost,” and not an “investment.”
So back to the example of having a party at your house. Think about having $1,000 left in your party budget.
You already have all the basics you need to make sure your guests have a good time at the party.
But at this point, the guests you want to come to your party are just “prospective” guests, because they don’t yet know that you’re having a party.
Therefore, it seems logical that you should “invest” your remaining $1,000 to send out invitations that contain a very attractive message so that your prospective guests think, “No way am I going to miss that party!”
That $1,000 is an investment because if you don’t send invitations, no one will come to your party, and the “return” (outcomes, impact, results, etc.) on your party will be ZERO.
If instead of sending invitations to prospective guests, you decide to spend that $1,000 on even fancier food and drink so that your party will be even more awesome, what will happen?
If They Don’t Visit You, What Can You Give Them?
You will end up having a party with a lot nice food and drink, and no one there to consume it.
As the party time arrives, and you stand there all alone, surveying your exquisitely prepared party environment, that no one is there to enjoy, you may think to yourself, “Man, look at this great party! Those people don’t know what they’re missing!”
You’re probably right about the great party part, but those people won’t be “missing” it, emotionally at least, because they don’t even know about it.
You’ve just fallen into the trap that most PHCs fall into: treating marketing as an expense instead of an investment.
Tomorrow, we’ll consider a related issue that was brought up during the lunch meeting – the issue of SALES.
Regards,
Brett
