"Nowism" Have You Heard About the Latest Marketing Trend?

Even if you haven’t heard of it, chances are you’ve experienced it. The instant-gratification consumer. You know, the guy or girl who wants what he wants when he wants it. Not yesterday, not tomorrow, not five minutes from now. NOW! They want real-time services, features and products provided to them. There are such a growing number of consumers requesting these real-time services that we now have what is known as the “Nowism” movement.

People are feeling more of a pinch than ever on their time and want a better life-work balance, so anything to help them achieve this is going to be successful. Surveys have shown that people are willing to spend more if it saves them time. What can you do? Here are a few things to help:

• Be prepared to provide instant attention to a client. Even if they just “pop” in, don’t put them on the back burner and take a day or two to get back to them. If a clients calls, emails or texts just as you are preparing to go into a meeting, answer them. You don’t have to go into an in-depth conversation. Take a few seconds to let them know you are there, they are important and find out what their call is in reference to so you can be prepared when you call them back (saving time).

• Twitter. As you may have guessed, Twitter has been called the “Poster Child” of the Nowism phenomenon. If you aren’t on Twitter, you are missing an easy way of becoming a part of this trend. You are also missing an opportunity to reach Nowism consumers. Even Google founder Larry Page stated that "Twitter has done a great job of real-time search. I think we’ve done a relatively poor job of... things that work on a per-second basis. I’ve been telling our search teams for some time, you need results for every second. They laugh at me. I don’t think they understand this. I think we will do a better job of some of these things now". (Source: Wired, August 2009.)

• Instant advertising. Think about Krispy Kreme donuts. Okay, stop drooling now and focus. They were on top of the “Nowism” trend. They have a bright neon sign in their window and as soon as the donuts are hot and fresh from the oven, the neon sign turns even brighter with the words “Hot Now.” How many times have people pulled into pick up a nice, warm, soft, donut because they’ve seen that sign turned on? It’s okay, you can admit it, we’ve all been there. If you are a restaurant, think about doing something along those same lines with email or Twitter. Around noon, send out a tweet or email describing your delicious, warm special soup of the day (especially if it’s cold). Or in the middle of August, let people know what that new tasty ice cream flavor is that you just got in. Offer a discount to people when they come in and tell you they received your Tweet or email so you can track the effectiveness.

• Go mobile. Who hasn’t heard someone say, “Hey, I have an app for that!” Thanks to the Blackberry, IPhone, etc., just about everyone is online almost all the time. Familiarize yourself with these portable devices and have a presence. Make sure you are listed in real-time search engines, alerting services, etc. Check out the Top 50 Real Time Web Companies for a more complete list.

There is so much more to the “Nowism” trend, but being that we are all pressed for time in today’s world, send me a tweet at CWIMarketing, drop me an email or give me a call 540-295-5139, I’d be happy to discuss the topic with you further and help you get on board the “Nowism” train.

Don't Be the Itsy-Bitsy Spider

So, I’m wearing my marketing hat again. I know what you’re thinking; what does the itsy-bitsy spider have to do with marketing? Glad you asked. I was thinking about this children’s song yesterday when I found a frozen spider on my deck. No kidding, he was frozen solid inside of his web. This spider didn’t make it back up the water spout. I’m sure you all know the song about a very small spider that climbs up the water spout, until the rain comes. The rain washed the spider away, but when the sun came back out, so did the spider. Great, the spider was persistent, but only persistent when it was comfortable for him. He was only persistent when the conditions were perfect.Let’s pretend the rain is our current economic times and the water spout is your company’s marketing. Don’t wait until the rain (current economic times) ends to start back up that water spout (marketing your company)! Studies have shown that once you cut your marketing budget, it takes an enormous effort to get your marketing back up to snuff and your branding back on track. Branding yourself is like tending to a garden. If you consistently take care of it, it will provide you with sustenance. This sustenance will save you money, since you won’t need to go to they grocery store to buy it. But, if you stop watering your garden (especially during a drought), it won’t produce. Now you are stuck spending more money in the long run and getting produce from the grocery store that may not be as good as if you had continued taking care of the garden, even during the dry spell.Don’t be the itsy-bitsy spider. Don’t wait until the weather is better to climb back up that water spout. Be consistent with your marketing, even during these economic times so you don’t lose all the hard work you have already put into branding your company.

Time Changes Everything - Even Marketing

I was just thinking about how much time changes things. We all know the effects time has on us in everyday life. Be it your memory, that extra little ache you may feel in the morning that you didn’t feel a few years ago, or that (gasp!) gray hair that has seemed to pop up overnight.
Time doesn’t just effect how we feel or look. It also has effects on how we think and get things accomplished. Take the phone book, for example. Ten years ago, if I needed anything from a plumber to a doctor to someone to bring me a hot meal, I’d go right to the phone book. Today, I looked under my phone table and found two phone books from the last two years that are still in their plastic wrap and have never even been opened. At first I started thinking about what a waste of paper. Think about all the poor trees that were cut down so that my phone books could collect dust (which made me realize that ten years ago, I never would have thought that much about the environment, either). Then I realized that, like me, phone books are suffering the effects of time. I wonder how long it will be until they no longer exist in paper format? Most people today just look things up on their computer or cell phone. I know I do. I hope that everyone who has an ad in the phone book has also invested advertising in other mediums. If you haven’t, I can just about guarantee you are not getting the most from your advertising dollars. I’m not saying don’t advertise in the phone book, I’m saying make sure you advertise in several different places in order to get the most bang for your buck. By just sticking to print, you are missing all of those who do research online and vice-versa. Another advertising medium that has suffered the effects of time is newspaper advertising. In today’s online and environmentally friendly world, most forms of print advertising are on the decline. Again, if you only do print advertising, you are missing a large number of potential clients. Review your marketing, make sure you are keeping up with the times and spread your marketing out among several different mediums such as the web, television and radio. Just think, 10 or so years ago many small businesses and professionals couldn’t have imagined the importance of having a web site or blog and now they couldn’t imagine going without it. Stay on top of the trends, only time will tell what the best advertising medium will be for you 10 years from now.

Without Direction, We'd All Get Lost - Especially in Marketing

Can you imagine getting ready to take a several-day long road trip and not taking along a map or GPS? You may eventually get there, but without direction, the trip is going to take much longer and you may never even reach your destination.Now imagine you are going to buy a house. You find a real estate agent and tell them you want to buy a three bedroom house, but that’s it. Without giving the agent further direction (i.e. location, lot size, type of home, etc.), the agent is going to have a hard time finding what you are looking for (if they will be able to at all) and it will take much longer. Most people understand this and wouldn’t send an agent out without giving them direction.The same principle applies when creating marketing materials, graphic design projects and web sites. The project can take several days, even weeks, but without direction from the client; the project will take much longer and may not end up being exactly what the client had envisioned. Just as directions are important when you are traveling, important to give to your real estate agent and important to give to any other person you hire to assist you in your personal life or business, directions are vital when hiring someone to assist you with your marketing projects. Directions save you time and money.It’s not realistic to tell your graphic or web designer, “I sell cookies, please make me a cookie logo and a web site about cookies.” Then expect to have a fabulous logo and web site three days later. To get exactly what you are looking for, you’ll need to supply some direction. For example, how many pages do you need your web site to be? Will you need hosting? Are you planning to sell your cookies from your web site? Do you want your logo to have a more contemporary look or something more traditional? Are there any colors you want to use or avoid using?No matter how talented or qualified your marketing professional is, no one can create your perfect marketing materials without a little direction from you. Try to have an idea of what you want to accomplish with your marketing project, what you like or don’t like, what your budget is, etc. prior to hiring someone. It will definitely save you time and money in the long run!