I went to the mailbox yesterday and realized that the world has changed – dramatically!
The stack of direct mail, catalogs, post cards and the like was very slim. And credit card applications have been conspicuously absent for quite some time now. That one’s pretty easy to understand.
Everywhere I look, the marketing and advertising noise level has subsided significantly.
TV ads are cheaper. Google says AdWords revenues are down big-time. SNL Kagan (media and communications analysts) is forecasting 10 to 7 percent revenue declines for radio and TV in 2009, respectively. The group expects these to continue their drop by 15 percent in the coming year.
Many companies are flocking to YouTube and Twitter, in fact, driving conversations, home-spun creativity and offers.
Now, a lot of you might say, “Whew, finally some respite from the 21st century messaging onslaught!”
I see something different – O-P-P-O-R-T-U-N-I-T-Y
If you view the marketing world in terms of “signal to noise” ratios, as Seth Godin does, you know what I’m talking about.
Nowadays, the noise clutter has been reduced in a big way. The economy has punched a lot of companies in the gut, and they’re taking their balls home, scaling back advertising budgets and turning off their bull-horns.
That certainly spells opportunity for many who still have valuable, money-saving, time-saving, life-simplifying, sex-appeal, delicious, economical, humble, benefit-driven products to sell. As the noise level comes down, so do the barriers to entry. It’s cheaper to advertise in virtually every medium. Web designers, marketing experts and widget programmers are working at lower rates. Heck, you can hire someone in India to post your blog entries to Twitter for just a few bucks an hour. How’s that for super-low budget marketing!
The simple reality is this: As your competitors (and other tangential noise generators) back off of their marketing activities, you have a chance to shine and grab the attention of your audience.
There are some things to keep in mind when you set out to grab at this opportunity, however.
Back to the signal analogy. Signals don’t get through the clutter of noise out there for several reasons:
- The signal is not targeted or directed to a specific group of people or ears/eyes
- Competing signals are superior in quality
- Competing signals are superior in volume/quantity/loudness
- The broadcasting equipment is flawed or inappropriate for the goals of the signal (think of distribution channels like Facebook, Twitter, blogs, landing pages, AdWords campaigns and the like)
- The signal structure does not resonate with the targeted audience (for example, don’t write elaborate prose and expect the illiterate to hop on to your messaging train – use video, audio or something else more accessible)
- The signal itself is garbage (comment spam comes to mind)
Keep these points in mind when generating your next marketing push. But do it quick. As the economy recovers and businesses adapt to the new marketing trends, your opportunity to shine will diminish.
