Kohls, CVS and Marketing Programs that could be Better

Marketing is supposed to deepen customer relationships. Unfortunately, much marketing fails because it is not truly helpful to customers - the lifeblood of any business or organization.

When marketing is grounded in customer service, good things happen.

Do your customer service and operations policies support customer service? They should. And if they don't, they're undermining your marketing message.

Bad Examples: The Brands I Love to Hate

I know quite a few customers who have love-hate relationships with Kohl's and CVS because of those companies' preferred shopper programs. Both companies severely discount products to the point that they decrease value; the unintentional message they send is that customers should never pay the "full" price for anything in the store.

CVS's constant couponing is not only sending the wrong message to customers, it's got to be annoying the heck out of CVS associates. 

The employee - ever cheerful! at least at my local stores -  has to scan the shopper's loyalty card, scan any paper coupons, access coupons online, and then sort it all out. 

In the process, sometimes the line at CVS feels a little like the waning minutes of a garage sale or closing time at the farmer's market stand. As the cashier sorts through various discounts, and associated rules (no, this is on sale so you can't use the coupon...this is the wrong size...you only got one...),  customers sometimes try to negotiate. And who wins? 

This probably sounds familiar to Kohl's shoppers, who know that Kohl's Cash can be used for anything in the store (but those expiration dates are set in stone) (unless the manager says otherwise) while the (constant stream of) 10, 20, and 30% off offers cannot be used on certain brands (Nike, UnderArmor, and about anything I might be shopping for on any given day.).

In other words, it's a game. It's a game to get shoppers to return to the store at least monthly  - and it works. But, I say it doesn't develop customers who are loyal to either brand. Both programs train shoppers to frequent stores and try to best the system...get the lowest price...quite often ending up in a negotiation (or outright argument) with store personnel.

Who really wins that game?

Not the customer.
Not the store employee.
And ultimately, not the brand or the company.

Imagine a company that rewards customers for doing business by being helpful, easy to work with, and offering good customer service and a fair value?

Crazy, right?

If that's how you'd like to build your business, get in touch here or contact Nurture Marketing & Communications. 

Video Marketing May or May Not Be What Your Business Needs

Video is everywhere, and there are dozens of tools to help you do it well and inexpensively. The cost to hire an expert video firm is dropping, too, thanks to competition.

But before you say, "hey, maybe it's time we invest in video," here's another idea:

Ask yourself if you really need it. Ask yourself if your prospects and customers want it. Ask yourself if you're committed to making it worthwhile.

Because if the answer to any of those questions is less than an enthusiastic yes, you need to go back to the Content Drawing Board, also known as Marketing Plan 101.

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Yes, I'm a copywriter, content manager, marketing communications professional and all-around lover of words. But, I don't believe in content for content's sake. Want to talk about how content can help you attract the right kind of prospects and turn them into customers you'll love doing business with? 

Let's get together. 

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<< This is a good example of smart video marketing. Why?
1. The right tool for the right audience - college students and interns are eating up video.
2. What's better than a testimonial? a testimonial on video!
3. The live event will live as relevant marketing collateral for at least the rest of the summer, probably well into the fall, or even spring semester.

New to video? Periscope is Twitter's video tool; Facebook Live threatened to eclipse it in 2016. Instagram has its own (stories). It's important to note that you don't need to use social media to use video (and vice-versa) - and the tools to create video are getting better, cheaper, and easier to use every day. 

So while it's easy to get overwhelmed (or excited) about the tools, the important thing to remember is that, unless you're in the movie-making business, video is about marketing. 

The tools change constantly; the principles remain pretty much the same. File under "Common Sense Marketing." If you like the sound of that, get in touch. 

Marketing, Customer Service, Operations, and Why United Airlines Might Want to Call Me

I'll spare you a review of last week's United Airlines debacle. I'll even go out on a limb and say that I understand and agree with the policy that required (yes, required) the passenger to lose his seat on that plane. But I haven't written about regulatory policy in a couple of years, so I'm not going to focus on that.

Here's the most important take-away from the whole fiasco: MARKETING, OPERATIONS, AND CUSTOMER SERVICE MUST WORK TOGETHER - OR THEY WON'T WORK.

Here's a link to follow in case you live under a rock and missed the United Airlines customer bump brouhaha.

Here's another, in case you'd like to work with a marketing content manager who understands business, operations, and customer service.

Let's all try to straighten up and fly right this week, eh?