Dear Reader,
Greetings from a wind-blown NYC!
March chose to break with tradition and left like a lion.
When I lived off of Riverside Drive, the strong gusts of wind off of the Hudson River swept up my block. They were so powerful I wondered how gravity kept small children from being blown away.
Last weekend, we took a road trip to Sunnyside, Queens to try Cardamom, an Indian restaurant specializing in food from the Portuguese influenced region of Goa.
Our friends give new meaning to the word adventurous when applied to food. Since their recommendations have never disappointed us, we said “yes”. And Cardamom lived up to its reputation.
Driving back my husband made our friends stop so he could get this beautiful night view of Manhattan’s Eastside.
Actionable Marketing Tip
- Build strong word of mouth to drive sales. Since we turn to our foodie friends for their recommendations, make sure your products and services delight.
Recommended Reading
Table of Contents
- Marketing Lesson of The Week – Why Your Audience Needs To Be Able To Find You
- Voice Talks – Grammys Sing With Joy
- Social Scene – Let’s Get Personal
- Content Communicates – Do You Take Advantage of Live Content?
- NYC Marketing Minute – Use Partnership Marketing To Increase Donations
- Marketing Reads – Seismic Marketing Shift
- Marketing Training
- Mark Your Calendar
Marketing Lesson of The Week
► Why Your Audience Needs To Be Able To Find You
While U2 may sing about a place “Where the streets have no name”, this doesn’t work if your business has a physical location. Since place, 1 of the 4 Ps of Marketing, really matters to your customers, purchase influencers, employees and end-users who want to find your retail outlet to look at your product and buy.
After dinner at Cardamom, our friends wanted to go to a suburban-size Stop & Shop grocery store nearby. And we readily agreed.
Why add grocery shopping to a night out with friends?
- Because grocery stores in Manhattan are small since real estate and other business costs are high. As a result, they have less stock and a few high priced specialities to lure shoppers in.
For us, a suburban supermarket means:
- More brand and size choices since many NYC stores are one-size-fits-all;
- Lower base prices because many suburban groceries offer lower prices to members and/or weekly specials; and, in this case,
- Door-to-door delivery so we could stock up on heavy items.
We figured that Google Maps would be able to direct us to the front of Stop & Shop since Queens is a borough of New York City large enough to rank as a city.
Google Maps directed us to the street-level entry of Stop & Shop. But when our friend took the next turn to enter what appeared to be the shore’s parking lot, we found ourselves in a dark back area. We had used the entry for massive trailer trucks whose drivers knew where they were going.
Instead, we drove in circles around the empty parking lot trying to find Stop & Shop’s parking area with only the car’s headlights to guide us. If we hadn’t been so motivated to shop, the store would have lost our business, possibly forever. This is a great 4Ps of Marketing example.
Actionable Marketing Lesson
- Make sure your retail location and related parking and other forms of transportation are findable via a variety of different platforms and devices. Remember in this age of voice-enabled devices, context matters, alot!
Actionable Marketing Tip
- Check your website, maps and “Near Me” searches across a variety of platforms and devices to ensure that they work since they may not alert you to updates.
Recommended Reading
► Why You Need To Optimize Your Customer Experience (CX)
In the US, most grocery stores and larger supermarkets are designed similarly.
- Specials highlighted in the front of the store;
- Produce and deli offerings are usually beyond the front door;
- Food products are arranged by categories along the aisles;
- Household products, if available are located in the furthest aisles;
- Frozen prepared foods, vegetables, desserts and ice cream occupy the last aisle; and
- Meat and dairy tend to be along the back wall or the wall furthest from the entry.
In addition, manufacturers often pay an extra fee to place their products at the end of certain aisles, known as endcaps, to aid their promotions.
The checkout area contains magazines and candy placed at kid’s eye level to encourage impulse high margin purchases.
Our friends chose this supermarket explicitly to buy difficult-to-find items for the holiday of Passover. The first aisle we tried due to the relevant end cap had limited product. When we asked a clerk for additional items, she didn’t know.
Instead, I took an aisle by aisle approach looking to stock up on difficult-to-find and physically heavy brand name products. In the process, I discovered the Passover products spread across 3 different, unrelated aisles!
Actionable Marketing Lesson
- Organize your physical location to aid visitors and shoppers to create a better customer experience regardless of your business.
Recommended Reading
► Why Pricing Matters To Your Customers
In an uncertain economic period, price your products and services with care. To this end, understand what motivates your core customers to purchase. Ideally, don’t compete on price since the only way is down.
During periods of inflation, get shoppers to lock in their purchases from you by offering better pricing on larger quantities. This allows you to sell more while minimizing the impact on your bottom line and keeping customers from buying elsewhere.
Stop & Shop missed the memo on pricing, an important member of the 4Ps of Marketing, The large size of Nutella contained less than twice the quantity but cost more than twice as much. This shows an important 4Ps of Marketing example.
Actionable Marketing Tip
- Price consistently across brands and products regardless of where they’re located in your store. In the US, most shoppers look at the unit price and expect the larger size to be the cheapest.
Recommended Reading
Voice Talks
► Grammys Sing With Joy
Music is at the heart of voice marketing and businesses use music to expand their branding.
Bandleader, pianist and composer, Jon Batiste received 11 Grammy nominations across a range of categories, He won 5 Grammys including Album of the Year, for We Are. Batiste proves you can cross social and cultural divides to be inclusive.
Watch video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YHVC1DcHmo
The Grammys recognized the atrocities in Ukraine. Telecast via video, President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke before John Legend performed “Free.”
“The war. What is more opposite to music? The silence of ruined cities and killed people. … We are fighting Russia, which brings horrible silence with its bombs. … Fill the silence with your music. Fill it today to tell our story. Tell the truth about the war on your social networks, on TV. Support us in any way you can. Any — but not silence. And then peace will come. …Free like you on the Grammy
stage.” [Source: New York Times]
Watch via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLQiy6HELQQ
Actionable Voice Marketing Tip
- Use music to carry your brand message and make it memorable.
Recommended Reading
Content Communicates
► Do You Take Advantage Of Live Content?
When it comes to content, most marketers think text first. But they miss an important opportunity to increase the value of their products and services.
For my husband’s birthday last week, I treated him to the 5 course tasting menu at the Michelin-starred Gramercy Tavern. While dinner may take a bite out of your bank account, it’s worth every savory morsel.
Gramercy Tavern’s Dining Room provides a premium 4Ps of Marketing example of how to position your high-end product or service.
Recommended Reading
The tasting menu is practically bare. On the left page, it lists the 5 courses with the name of the dish on one line and spare food ingredients on the next line. The opposite page lists the wine paired for each course. In addition, guests are given a large leather bound wine and drink listing.
While I can hear Ann Handley, content marketer par excellence, clapping at the strategic use of white space, you may be scratching your head at the wasted marketing opportunity.
But you’d be mistaken.
As a diner, either you have faith in the Michelin-rated chefs or your waiter delivers an amazing description of each dish with the skill of a well-trained actor. This is live content at its best, the waitstaff’s performance.
Before each dish is presented, your table is cleared, new cutlery is set up, and water is replenished.
Until your waiter explains each element of the dish in detail, you can’t dive into each culinary work of art that awakens all 5 of your senses
Actionable Content Marketing Tips
- Consider how to create a unique customer experience with your content marketing and product so people pay a premium to experience it.
- Make your product Instagram-ready. It’s no surprise that Gramercy Tavern has over 100k followers on the picture-focused platform.
Recommended Reading
New York City Marketing Minute:
► Use Partnership Marketing To Increase Donations
“To unlock the potential of Ukraine,” Razom, a Not-For-Profit organization, used co-marketing to create an event to raise significant donations.
Razom worked with Gotham, a Zagat’s Top 50 New York restaurant, to create a “must-attend” event. Political power couple, Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough headlined the program to attract people. This partnership event provides a 4Ps of Marketing example for an NFP.
Working with well-recognized and connected people shows the power of influencers to attract donations from a wider audience and to donate large sums of money.
Recommended Reading
In addition, Razom’s partnership marketing with Gotham allowed them to host their event on a Sunday, a time when the restaurant is usually closed. So, the restaurant didn’t lose its regular revenue stream beyond the cost of staff and ingredients.
In return, the event introduced Gotham to new potential customers without additional marketing cost.
To persuade donors to give more generously, Razom suggested donations of at least $1,000 to attend the event. More importantly, they translated the donations into tangible items Ukrainians needed by level. As a result, they could ask for up to $20,000 to resettle families.
Actionable Co-Marketing Lesson
- Use co-marketing to reach a larger audience. This works best when the partners’ audiences don’t overlap very much.
Recommended Reading
► How To Expand Your Offering: What One Restaurant Did
Gotham took advantage of their co-marketing to re-introduce and expand their offering product offering giving you another 4Ps of Marketing example. They did one emailing to the broader audience. (Or, so I assume since I’m not on their email list.) They used the Subject Line: “The New Power Lunch”.
They broke the email into 3 sections; each spotlighted a different offering.
- Your Midday Repast, enticing wording that’s sure to lure you from eating lunch at your desk, has revolving photos of mouth-watering dishes. The CTA makes it simple for the reader to make a reservation.
- Easter Brunch Returns! If you’re like me, you never like cooking large holiday meals! After families and friends have been separated and cooking at home for over 2 years, a prix fixe holiday meal sounds like manna from heaven.Even better, a set menu translates to higher profitability since you can charge more and buy materials to order.
- Gotham Chocolates spotlights the full variety of their hand-crafted chocolates. Click through to their product page to find a broad array of unusual candies. While chocolate bars start at $10 each, the high end of their candy offering is priced at an eye-popping $175!
What’s missing from this emailing?
A subscribe button to build their housefile!
Recommended Reading
Actionable Marketing Tips
- Continually look for new products and services aligned with your business to add to your offering.
- Assess your pricing to maximize profitability.
Recommended Reading
Marketing Reads
► Seismic Shift Marketing: What You Need To Do Now
Did you realize that your marketing has changed?
It’s due to the seismic shift in the global environment massively affecting business, political and social factors.
In the process, your audience, including your customers, employees, local community and broader society, have adapted to these dynamics and realities.
Find out how these factors create new challenges for your business and brand
Recommended Reading
► Content Marketing Plan: How To Create A Strategy That Will Make You Stand
Out
Now that we’ve completed 1Q2022, it’s a good time to reassess your content marketing plan to ensure that it is on track to succeed this year.
At the same time, it’s useful to re-examine your editorial calendar.
Recommended Reading
► Woot! Heidi Cohen was featured in Boomcycle’s post, Top 50 Content Marketing Influencers You Need To Know
Marketing Training
► How To Be A Content Entrepreneur?
Learn from leading content entrepreneur, Joe Pulizzi, and his team at The Tilt.
New Course: Exploring Web 3.0
Use code: heidi25 for $25 off
[Affiliate Offer]
Recommended Reading:
► Personal Branding Masterclass
Create your powerful personal brand with expert Mark W. Schaefer
August 2nd through August 18th, 2022
Recommended Reading:
Plan Ahead: Mark Your Calendar
► VoiceLunch US – Friday, April 8, 1pm ET
VoiceLunch is a global, free-wheeling, online community exploring the use of voice. Sign up for the newsletter to get the full schedule of VoiceLunches.
► Project Voice – April 25–28th, Chattanooga, TN
The #1, in-person event for voice tech and conversational AI in America returns. Register Now!
► The 2022 Creator Economy Expo (aka: CEX) – May 2–4th, Phoenix, AZ
By Creators for Creators: Join 500+ fellow creators to explore the latest strategies, tactics, and tools — plus make valuable connections — for achieving big success as a new breed of content entrepreneur.
♦ ♦ Special AMG reader discount: Get $150 off — Use code: AMGCEX ♦ ♦
[Affiliate Offer]
► Content Strategy Collective Live – June 8-9th.
Organized by MarketMuse, it will explore the strategies that content marketers and SEOs use to succeed.
► Omnichannel X 2022 Conference – June 13-16th, (Virtual).
♦ ♦ Save 25% when you use code: SPK2225 ♦ ♦
► MAICON 2022 – August 3-5th, 2022 in Cleveland, OH
The Marketing Artificial Intelligence Conference (MAICON), returns to an in-person event this year.
♦ ♦ Special AMG reader discount: Get $150 off — Use code: AMG150 ♦ ♦
Check out MAICON’s schedule of upcoming webinars.
Welcome New Subscribers: Rich, Daniel, Terreece, Chitharanjan and Ravi.
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Happy Marketing,
Heidi
P.S.: Want Heidi Cohen to contribute a quote or other commentary to your next article, presentation, video, research and/or book? Then hit reply to this email and ask.
P.P.S: Did you miss last week’s AMG Newsletter? Previous newsletters can be found in the AMG Newsletter Archive.
The fine print
Social Scene
As a pre-birthday celebration, I took my husband to Periyali, a restaurant he’s frequented since it opened 20+ years ago.
Beyond its glowing reviews for the best Greek food in New York City from The Wall Street Journal, we like Periyali since the staff know us. When we visit, we get treated like family and get to catch up on the latest neighborhood gossip.
We prefer to sit at the bar so we can talk to everyone including patrons eating alongside us.
What makes Periyali stand out (beyond its excellent food and great service) is that the Maitre’D Philip knows everyone and stops to chat at every table with the diners.
For example, when we were there last week, two men walked in and before they could say anything, Philip greeted them by name and said, “I have your table and we have branzino tonight.”
It seemed like a strange comment. Philip later confided that if Periyali didn’t have branzino, they would leave. Talk about knowing your clients!
As a result of personalized service like this, Periyali has weathered the pandemic. Having built relationships over time as they’ve done with us, Periyali has endured while other restaurants have shuttered.
Actionable Social Media Marketing Lesson
Recommended Reading