Have you ever sat across the desk from someone, given them direction and asked them to repeat it back, only to wonder: Are we even on the same planet?! When Lonny made this comment during a recent SAM 6® presentation to the South Florida Interactive Marketing Association (SFIMA), I saw a lot of nodding heads in the audience.
Even though those of us in the room were all at different stages in our marketing careers, the constant struggle for clear communication resonated with everyone.
Lonny was invited to present a workshop to SFIMA on “The SAM 6® Process: Six Steps to More Leads, Higher Sales and a Stronger Brand.” SFIMA’s members are primarily digital marketers, and their speakers are generally more technical. The SFIMA Board wanted Lonny to provide its members with a broader understanding of marketing. So Lonny discussed SAM 6, the process outlined in Lonny’s best-selling, award-winning book, “The CEO’s Guide to Marketing; the book every marketer should read before their boss does.”
What he said made a lot of sense.
A quick show of hands at the beginning of the workshop revealed that about half of the attendees had degrees in communications or marketing, the other half did not. There was a wide range of ages and skills, from ad agency employees to graphic designers and copywriters. Some were between jobs and looking to improve their hireability, some were self-employed and others were with major corporations.
“This is what makes me feel good about SAM 6: It’s a fit for everyone,” Lonny later remarked. “I got the sense that these attendees may not have thought about the marketing backdrop in a while. When I brought up the product mix … code sheets … brand playbook … and the control template – and how the SAM 6 process results in clearer communication – I think it made a lot of sense to them.”
I can verify that everyone seemed to be paying attention. No one was looking at their phones. Afterward, people were taking home extra worksheets. And Lonny got a lot of nice compliments.
There’s data, then there’s persuasion. And sometimes you also need to light a fire.
At Media Relations, we use digital data as a useful marketing tool. But as Lonny commented after his presentation, “It’s easy to lose perspective. If we’re too zeroed in on search engine marketing, for example, we are focused on getting more views and more clicks, and less on the big picture: the fact that audiences don’t want us around. People don’t want to be marketed to. They are actively trying to avoid us. How do we teach a group like that, especially if we have a new product?”
Marketing has always been about being persuasive. We recently bought a uniquely designed table and chairs for our dock. It wasn’t something we never envisioned buying. Even if the manufacturer had a lot of data on us, they would never have known that we were the right people for this specific table and chairs. We had to be told that the set was available and why we should have it. A lot of times, people who spend their time looking at the data may forget about the persuasion part.
Lonny likes to quote advertising industry legend David Ogilvy who once said, “We don’t sell fire extinguishers. We build fires under people’s chairs.” You’ve got to tell people what they need, and make them desire it more than their money. SAM 6 enables creative teams to stay on point with their messaging and deliver the right information to the right audiences through the right channels. No matter where you are in your career, having this clear process makes good sense.
If you’re curious about how the SAM 6 process might improve your leads and sales, and unify your marketing team, invite Lonny to speak at your company or organization. His presentations are always interesting, and you will walk away with tips and ideas that you’ll be able to implement immediately.
