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Category: Marketing

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Entrepreneurship Leadership Marketing Personal Development

Use Podcasting to Share Your Story

These days, you can’t run a successful business and be in a position of leadership without being connected to the online world. However, getting your business started online isn’t always easy. Just knowing where to start can be a challenge. It can be overwhelming and confusing, but you don’t have to do this alone. Podcasting is a great way to get your name out there and share your story, services, and even your products online. There are a lot of podcasts that cater to women in leadership and entrepreneurs. I know, this may sound a bit challenging for someone who’s not sure how to even get themselves started online, but don’t worry you’re in the right place. Here are 5 steps that will help you get booked on a podcast so you can share your story with listeners.

  • Identifying The Podcast That’s Right for You
    • The first thing you have to do is identify the podcast that will be right for you. Knowing which podcast is right for you is probably a lot simpler than you think. All you have to do is figure out what your demographic is. For example; If you are in a c-suite position, you should find a podcast that caters to people in high level positions like yours. If you’re an entrepreneur striving towards leadership and success, you’ll want to find a pod cast that focuses on entrepreneurs.
  • Make Sure You Do Research
    • After you have found a podcast that suits your agenda, make sure you do some research. Find out how many listeners the podcast has on average, listen to a few of the podcasts to make sure it’s a right fit, and make sure you are dealing with professionals. If you’re booked by a podcast that has unprofessional hosts with no experience, you will not be helping your business or cause at all. In fact, it can even do damage to your credibility.
    • You should also see what kind of topics the podcasts that you research covers. Up or Out with Connie is a podcast on the C-suite network that often covers topics surrounding both entrepreneurs and people that work in high level C-suit positions. It’s perfect for someone that is looking to go from C-Suite, to successful entrepreneur.
  • Devise A Plan
    • Before you can approach a podcast about sharing your story you’ll have to devise a plan. Think of what you would like to talk about on the podcast, and how you would like everything you say to come across to listeners. Figure out what your key points are as well. After you have done that, work on putting your plan on paper. You should also plan how you’re going to approach the podcast about sharing your story. Believe it or not, you may even be able to get some good advice about this listening to Up or Out with Connie. She’s all about lifting up women in leadership, and helping them to grow.
  • Reach Out
    • Now that you have done some research, devised a plan, and found the podcast that’s right for you, it’s time to reach out. Contact the podcast that you believe would be a good platform to tell your story. You can send them an e-mail or message with your plan attached. Remember, it’s not a marriage. You don’t have to stick to one podcast – so don’t get discouraged if someone turns you down. It’s always good to have a few prospects.
  • Crush It
    • Don’t underestimate the benefits of telling your story on the right podcast. If you don’t practice and don’t have everything together it can damage your bottom line. So make sure you study your plan, have some things memorized (especially your key points), and speak clearly. Don’t be shy either. If you show up with confidence it will show strong leadership skills, and you are guaranteed to get your point across to their listeners.

 

Be Unstoppable Together!

 

Do you have questions or comments about the issues in today’s post? Want to know how to apply them, or how to help others with them? If so, contact me at connie@pheiffgroup.com or CLICK HERE to schedule a 20-minute discovery call to discuss with you personally.

Categories
Best Practices Health and Wellness Human Resources Management Marketing Skills Women In Business

How to Avoid Conflict – Part 1

At some point or other, we all have to have important conversations that have the potential to get ugly and uncomfortable. When in doubt, I say do your best to avoid the conflict.

I’m not talking about avoiding people in the hallways, refusing to answer the phone or saying “yes” to everyone – whether or not you mean it – so that you don’t have to say “no.”

There will always be disagreements and necessary discussions about difficult or unpleasant topics. But these conversations do not need to degenerate into round after round of browbeating to try to get your point across.

Ideally, the goal is to address the issue in a way that gets to the heart of the matter, and reaches a mutually agreeable resolution quickly and efficiently without raising voices or blood pressure. There is one intuitive – and yet commonly overlooked – key that can keep most disagreements in the realm of civil, productive discussion.

The key is consciously listening to understand. This is where most people fall woefully short in both their efforts and their outcomes. Listening to understand is critical to avoiding real argument for one crucial reason: most people continue to argue a point because they feel like they have not truly been heard or understood.

Most people think that they listen, but the short answer is that they don’t do it right. Let’s look at the difference and key strategies for listening in a way that gets to a peaceful, positive, and productive result.

 

Listening “wrong”

In disagreements, most people “listen” in order to find an opportunity to interrupt, contradict, or defend. This isn’t sincere listening; it’s more like scanning the horizon for the best time to retaliate.

When both parties are simultaneously focused proving why they are correct and the other is wrong, what they are both (rightfully) saying is, “You’re not listening to me!”

This quickly leads to an impasse with one of two outcomes: The first is that both sides leave feeling frustrated, with no resolution to the issue at hand. In the second, one side “wins” by forcing the other side to concede, i.e. lose. This leaves the winner with a bitter-sweet “victory,” and the loser feeling resentful, a combination that will have a variety of negative repercussions down the line in the form of morale, work quality, and office politics just to name a few.

The irony is that when people are able to voice their concerns, and truly feel like they have been heard and understood, they are often willing to accept “no” for an answer. So how does that work?

 

Listening “right”

When you listen to understand, you start by erasing any presuppositions and assumptions that you already know what they’re going to say and why. Instead, you enter the conversation from the perspective that there’s a missing piece, something you don’t yet know or understand about their position, priorities, interests or concerns. Be curious.

Invite the other person to share first. A good strategy is to take notes as you listen, which serves several purposes. First, you can record any key points so that you don’t forget them, which serves as a good future reference resource.

Second, you can jot down any questions or other thoughts you want to share. Don’t get me wrong – the idea is not to list all the points you disagree on just so you can launch into a point-counterpoint debate when it’s your turn to speak. That feels litigious, not collaborative or respectful.

Writing down your ideas as you listen has a variety of benefits. First and foremost, it keeps you from interrupting. When people aren’t interrupted, they feel more respected and less stressed or frustrated, which helps to keep the peace. But it also gives you a chance to reflect and organize your thoughts before you do finally speak, which can streamline the process, avoid clumsy and emotionally-charged knee-jerk responses, and help you prioritize issues to address.

 

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In part 2 we’ll address Talking from Listening: once you’ve heard them out, what do you say to keep things moving in the right direction?

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Do you have questions or comments about the issues in today’s post, want to know how to apply them, or how to help others with them? If so, contact me at laura@vocalimpactproductions.com or click here to schedule a 20-minute focus call to discuss them with me personally!

Categories
Best Practices Health and Wellness Human Resources Management Marketing Skills Women In Business

How to Avoid Conflict – Part 2

In my previous blog, we looked at the difference between “Listening Wrong” and “Listening Right” as a part of “Listening to Understand,” a fundamental principle in laying the ground work to have a potentially difficult conversation in a way that is constructive rather than combative.

Now, let’s look at strategies for when it’s your turn to talk, after you have successfully demonstrated listening to understand. 

Once the other person has finished sharing their perspective, don’t sabotage the exchange by launching into a “now it’s my turn to talk and your turn to listen” monologue. Remember that you entered the conversation with the initial goal of understanding their perspective. So the first step you need to take in line with this goal is to confirm your understanding.

A great segue can be as simple as, “Thanks for taking the time to explain that to me. I want to make sure I understand the key issues. Can I run through my main takeaways based on what I heard, and you can correct me if I’m off somehow?” Who would say no to such a request?

Once you have the go-ahead, start by paraphrasing your understanding of their key points. You should use simple, reporting language such as, “You said that your budget _____,” or “Did I understand correctly that in your department _____,” or “Your primary concern is that _____, right?” Whatever you do, do not comment on anything yet.

This step also serves multiple purposes with mutual benefits. From the other person’s side, they are happy to know that you are valuing their input enough to take time to ensure that you understood it. Plus, it is reassuring for them to have you confirm that whatever they said was received as it was intended. This builds trust and facilitates further discussion.

More importantly, paraphrasing this way ensures that you actually did understand all of their key points. Misunderstandings could be due to missing or improperly stated information in their initial explanation, or perhaps you were writing something down and didn’t catch something else they said at the time.

Regardless of the cause, once you have had a chance to confirm the facts, then everyone is satisfied that all key information is on the table, and, most importantly, they feel relieved to know that they have been heard and understood.

From there, you can transition into sharing your side of the story with something like, “Okay, well, let’s start with _____.” It’s important to keep your language objective, and if you feel like their view on something is incorrect, keep your explanation fact-based, calm and impersonal. There’s a big difference between saying, “There are a few details I don’t think your team is aware of,” and, “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

If the other person does not play by the same rules and interrupts you when it’s your turn, you can explicitly draw their attention to the contrast and make a respectful request: “I’m sure you’ll have some comments and questions, which I welcome, but I listened to you without interrupting, and would appreciate the same courtesy in return.” You can offer them some paper to take notes on while they listen, for their own benefit, and ask them to paraphrase what they understood when you’re done, so they can follow your model more completely as well.

At best, once you have heard each other out, and truly sought to understand each other’s objectives and reasons, you can come to a solution that meets everyone’s needs. But at the very least, if the answer still has to be “no,” there is still potential for positive outcome.

At that point, “no” can sound more like, “I truly appreciate the fact that/your concern about ___. For now, we have to prioritize _____ because of _____, but I understand the impact that it will have on your situation, so…”

Even though the other person might not be happy with the immediate result, it’s much easier for them to accept the outcome because they understand why, and are emotionally satisfied that they have been respected as a person and a professional.

In the end, difficult topics are addressed productively without fighting and casualties of war, and respectful relationships are not only maintained but strengthened. You’re not avoiding the issue, you’re avoiding creating a mess.

More importantly, you’re leading by example, and fostering a healthy culture of open communication, transparency, and mutual respect.

That’s the difference between someone who has a leadership position, and someone who is a leader.

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Do you have questions or comments about the issues in today’s post, want to know how to apply them, or how to help others with them? If so, contact me at laura@vocalimpactproductions.com or click here to schedule a 20-minute focus call to discuss them with me personally!

Categories
Human Resources Management Marketing Personal Development Women In Business

What Does Your Personal Brand Sound Like?

I just read a great article from Entrepreneur, as shared here, called “7 Signs Your Personal Brand Needs Work.” All seven signs, and the suggestions offered to resolve each, are insightful and important – read them for yourself. But as is common in such analyses, there is one critical factor for establishing your ideal personal brand that is once again missing from the discussion.

It’s one thing to have consistent branding when you’re writing a blog, Facebook update or tweet, but what happens to that brand messaging when you’re talking to someone, real-time, maybe even face to face? On a very literal level, what does it sound like when you share your idea, insight and suggestion? Is it as compelling to hear as it is to read?

So many people have terrific ideas and masterful skill sets, but their ability to persuade, compel, and inspire someone just by talking with them simply falls flat. There’s something “missing” in the delivery, which can translate to something missing from their personal brand

This is the foundation of what I call alignment. Your words and your delivery must be equally strong and compelling, because your words convey your content, and your delivery conveys your intent behind the message. When both parts are reinforcing the same message at the same time, there is credibility to the whole message, and as a result, the credibility reflects back to you.

Lots of people claim that they can speak well when they have to give a big presentation or are otherwise in the spotlight, and this shows what they are capable of when they believe the stakes are high enough to warrant that kind of focus and effort. But as far as I’m concerned, your reputation is what happens in the moments when you’re NOT trying; all those little moments when you’re not in the spotlight.

For example, when you look at your own participation in generic weekly meetings, what does your participation soundlike? Ask yourself the following:

  • Do you always speak loudly enough to ensure that all people can hear?
  • Do you inflect lots of up-speak when you talk where it sounds like you’re constantly implying lots of questions and requests for validation into your speech even when you’re not?
  • Do you speak so quickly that you tend to slur some words together or mumble, making people have to ask you to repeat what you’ve said?
  • Do you give and receive constructive feedback in an antagonistic or defensive manner, or shy away from it completely?
  • Do you speak in an unnecessarily low voice without enough breath support so that your voice sounds gravelly or creaky, and you seem disinterested, tired, or not confident?

The challenge is that most of us are painfully unaware of our default speech style. We may know how we think we come across, but often the brand and reputation that we think we are building for ourselves is very different from the reality of the brand reputation we’re becoming known for.

This is why it’s critical to gain an awareness of what your “default” speech style is like in these contexts: because for the most part, that’s what people will remember and what they’ll use to form their evaluation of your credibility and leadership, not what you can do in the rare instances when you absolutely have to. After all, what’s more likely: that they frame their opinions based on the exception, or the “rule”?

When in doubt, remember: That “rule” is at the foundation of your brand.

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Do you have questions or comments about the issues in today’s post, want to know how to apply them, or how to help others with them? If so, contact me at laura@vocalimpactproductions.com or click here to schedule a 20-minute focus call to discuss them with me personally!

Categories
Marketing Personal Development Women In Business

The Hokey Pokey for CEOS

Remember the days when we played games with abandon?

Put your right hand in, put your right hand out, put your right hand in, and you shake it all about…

No fear of looking or sounding silly, just unabashed joy at fully engaging in whatever was at hand.

You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself around, that’s what it’s all about!

That is what it’s all about — putting at least some part of yourself in the arena —

Put your left hand in, put your left hand out, etc…

But somewhere along the way we forget to play the game the way it’s meant to be played. In many cases, we just flat out become afraid of being our true, complete selves. That annoying little voice in our heads keeps asking “what will they think if they know this about me?”

Here’s a better question to ask ourselves: “What if I were to bring all of who I am to every situation?”

Put your whole self in, put your whole self out…Put your whole self in, and you shake it all about…

What would that mean to my business success?

You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself around, that’s what it’s all about!

For Carla Harris, Vice Chairman, Wealth Management at Morgan Stanley, it’s all about being her authentic self, and winning new business along the way. I recently heard Harris speak at a conference in Houston and a story she told stuck with me.

She was competing for a huge piece of business with other Wall Street firms. Of course, there was a formal presentation, but it was an informal encounter with a key player that made the difference.

You see, Carla is not just a powerhouse in her industry; she is also an author, a speaker, a leader, a mother and one helluva gospel singer! I mean, really — if you’ve performed at Carnegie Hall not once, but FIVE times, why on earth would you keep that to yourself?! It’s not like Carla was planning to burst into song, but when a right moment presented itself during that informal conversation, she did, with complete joy and abandon. That one, impromptu act struck a chord with the right person — and Carla walked away with the business.

I walked away from that conference determined to do two things: 1) be ALL of who I am in every situation, regardless of that annoying little voice in my head urging me not to start salsa dancing at the drop of a hat; and 2) help my clients in the C-Suite understand the value of being their authentic selves and sharing their stories when presenting to an audience, no matter how much they might resist.

It’s really okay. Be your total, complete self. Nobody can do you, like you. And when you start to feel a little self conscious, just flash back to how good it felt to put your whole self in and shake it all about. Go ahead — do the Hokey Pokey, CEO style, and show us all what you’re about.

If you would like more information or to schedule Linda as a keynote speaker, please email info@lorellemedia.com or call 713-247-9600.

 

About the Author: Linda Lorelle is best known as an Emmy and Gracie Award- winning journalist who anchored the evening news for nearly 17 years at Houston’s NBC affiliate, KPRC-TV. The Stanford graduate is now an entrepreneur, using the art of storytelling to create compelling, original video content for clients who understand the value of owning their story. C-Suite executives who want to brush up on their presentation skills also call upon Linda to share her expertise in public speaking and help them feel more at ease.

Linda is a highly skilled emcee and panel moderator who is able to seamlessly guide a conversation around any subject matter. She also enjoys engaging with audiences on a variety of topics as a keynote speaker. The next time Linda delivers her speech, “Don’t Ever Underestimate the Heart of a Champion: A Journalist’s Journey of Loss and Transformation”, don’t be surprised if she pulls a “Carla Harris” and breaks out into a ballroom dance!

Categories
Marketing Operations Personal Development

Six Strategies to Set Your Business Apart

It takes customer service and more for a small company to compete in today’s world of big box stores, and the same business strategies that will set a small company apart are valuable tools for a company of any size.

It is a business situation that has been repeated in towns across the country – a “big box” store comes to town and the local businesses get nervous. How can they compete with the larger inventory and lower prices of a store like Costco or Home Depot? The big stores seem to have more tools at their disposal – buying power, national advertising, etc. Local business owners can list a myriad of concerns, and while there is some truth to their fears, it is really just making excuses. There are ways small business owners can keep their customers – even attract new ones – and flourish, when a larger competitor moves into town.

The reality is that any business must consciously implement effective strategies to address competition from any new business that moves into the same market. This is true for any type of business or industry, no matter whether the established business or the newcomer is small, large, a deep discounter, whatever … the strategies are the same. And some don’t cost a thing.

Here are some low- and no-cost ideas that can help you compete:

  • Make it about more than the merchandise. You sell the same product or service as your competitor, and the competitor happens to be a “big box” store with the buying power to offer a lower price. Is it still possible to keep the customers coming through your doors? Yes! This is where customer service becomes the strategy of choice. Offering a better customer experience adds value to the product and can set you apart from the competition and free you from the commodity trap.

 

  • Or, do make it about the merchandise – the merchandise that the competitor doesn’t have. One small hardware store that happens to be just down the street from a Home Depot has found a way to flourish. They figured out what Home Depot doesn’t sell and then made sure to offer those items. Now Home Depot even sends customers their way for the products that have been so thoughtfully and purposefully stocked.

 

  • Know your strengths – and let customers know, too. Hopefully, you are known for offering good customer service, but what else sets your business apart? Why should someone do business with you instead of the competition? Figure out your advantages and then let others know.

 

  • Make it about more than the business. Lend your name to other causes in the community, be it the local, national or even international community. The company’s market will define the scope of your “community.” For many small businesses, this means taking an active role in the local community by being visible – sponsor a sports team, let a local charity hold a bake sale outside your store on a Saturday, etc. Show the community that you care.

 

  • Let your loyal customers lend a hand. Keep in touch with your customer base through a variety of ways – social media, mail, and so on – and build an army of evangelists. Engaging with them will encourage them to promote your business.

 

  • Consider a formal loyalty program. Airlines, hotels, restaurants and more use loyalty programs to offer incentives for continued business. Would such a program work in your business?

 

Whether you choose to institute any or all of the strategies mentioned here – or dozens of other options – there is one ever-present way to compete in any market. Simply stated, just deliver amazing customer service that makes the customer feel so special that he/she wouldn’t consider doing business with anyone else.

 

Shep Hyken is a customer experience expert and the Chief Amazement Officer of Shepard Presentations. He is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author and has been inducted into the National Speakers Association Hall of Fame for lifetime achievement in the speaking profession. Shep works with companies and organizations who want to build loyal relationships with their customers and employees. For more articles on customer service and business go to http://www.hyken.com.

Copyright © MMXIV Shep Hyken – Used with permission.

Categories
Marketing Personal Development Women In Business

She-Conomy: A Power to be Reckoned With

 

Women executives may have a slight upper hand when it comes to marketing. Did you know that women make 85% of all brand purchases, and 70 to 80% of all consumer purchases as a whole? Unless you are marketing a product or service that is specifically geared towards men, you should always market towards the female consumer. Most women make purchasing decisions for themselves, as well as their families.

 

In 2012, studies showed that women were responsible for $7 trillion dollars of all business and consumer purchases. However, a whopping 91% of these women said that they felt advertisers didn’t truly understand them as women. This is why women executives may have an easier time understanding how to market to the female demographic. If you’re marketing to a demographic that is mostly female, having a considerable amount of women in leadership positions throughout your company will boost your success rate as well.

 

Studies have also shown that women will earn more money than men by 2028, and most family purchases aren’t finalized until they are okayed by the woman of the house. In fact, 75% of women consider themselves to be in charge of all household spending. Both women executives and male executives need to familiarize themselves with certain statistics so that your business and your brand can grow to be unstoppable together. For instance, did you know that almost 37% of all women would rather purchase a product that is environmentally friendly, while 50% wish they had more environmentally friendly purchasing choices. That’s something that can truly help market your sales to female consumers.

 

In 2012, 55% of female mother consumers said that if a certain brand or product is recommended in a review blog, they will buy it. Since 2012 the number of moms taking to blogging and social media has, of course, increased. So blogging is definitely something that will help boost and promote the sales of your brand and/or product. Most women truly value good customer service, so make sure you have an outstanding customer service team, as well as policies that cater to the consumer. If you take consumer opinion into consideration and offer great customer service, your brand and your demographic will be unstoppable together.

 

Although brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Nike, and Prada are popular among people that have a very padded bank account, the average women’s list of top brands looks more like this:

 

Walmart Target
Verizon EBay
AT&T Ford
Amazon.com Pepsi
McDonalds Sprint

 

When you are in a position of leadership and you are marketing your brand to women, you also have to take the average financial situation of your consumers into consideration. This is something executive women have to keep in mind. If you’re trying to market to the “soccer mom” type, an ad that is reminiscent of a Louis Vuitton advertisement isn’t going to make them feel like you understand them.

 

For example; as a woman I’ve always looked at a certain cleaning product commercial, and thought, “Oh please! Who cleans in heels?!” I was immediately turned off by that brand because I felt they didn’t really know what they were talking about. So how could I trust their product?

 

The recent presidential election in the U.S. has sparked a lot of controversy between female consumers and certain brands. Ivanka Trump is now the first daughter and she has always been a successful designer. Recently, certain stores have been refusing to sell her brand because of her father’s presidency, while others are being boycotted because they openly chose to continue carrying her line in their stores. Women have every right to refuse purchases based on a political standpoint, but how does that affect business for women in leadership?

 

If you have been thinking that making your political stance known to your consumers is a good idea as a woman in leadership, my honest opinion would be to keep business and politics separate. The problem here is no matter how you look at it you’re going to lose a percentage of your customers. Some of these brands and companies may be trying to send a different message, but the truth is the message is already clear.

 

When Macy’s boycotted Ivanka Trumps clothing line, their democratic customers were proud and overjoyed. However, they also lost a lot of customers that support the president. In fact, women all over the U.S. were canceling their Macy cards live on social media. So, the best thing to do in a leadership position is to keep politics completely out of your marketing approach. Besides, women executives should be thinking of ways that we can Be Unstoppable Together, not apart.

 

Be Unstoppable Together

 

Connie Pheiff, Unstoppable DIVA

 

Do you have questions or comments about the issues in today’s post? Want to know how to apply them, or how to help others with them? If so, contact me at connie@pheiffgroup.com or CLICK HERE to schedule a 20-minute discovery call to discuss with you personally.

Categories
Best Practices Human Resources Marketing Personal Development Women In Business

Love Endures Storms

Did you wake up this morning not wanting to face the day? Just to put 2 feet on the ground, rise up and face your obstacle, your fear, your pain takes courage. No matter what storm is circling in your life, it cannot last.

Absolutely, it is shaking you up, making you feel uncomfortable.  That feeling, the one that is stirring your soul is called LOVE, inner LOVE. When everything around you is dark, look to inner LOVE, to find the strength to endure the storm.

 

Are you facing an obstacle at the office or at home? 

We all go through storms of life to move us, put us on a new path, a

 different path or perhaps a “wake up call” for change. When you are in the midst of your storm, rise up, find that strength, the inner love and pay very close attention to the message. The storm is stirring you up like a big roar but quietly whispering a message, a gentle push toward your new awakening. Pay close attention ….Don’t Miss It!

 

Love, especially self love is the #1 Motivator in the world.  It compels you to rise to your greatness.  How you react to your storms of challenge and circumstance come from your Love Placement System (LPS) which is a belief system inside yourself that has been developed over the years. 

 

If you are faced with a challenge at the office, how you want to react is triggering you to grow and rise to your greatness.  When you feel the storm, it’s calling out to you to rise to become better.  What can you do to be a better leader in your company, or perhaps a better husband or wife at home?  It’s simple – STORMS are lightening bolts shining brightly on what needs to change.  How you quiet your storm is based on your ability to see it as a lesson and a gift.   If you practice healthy self love, you will not hit the easy button.  You will sit with your storm and receive the lesson and RISE to your greatest potential.

Don’t React!  That doesn’t calm the storm.

And, in your storm, Be gentle with yourself. You are exactly in the midst of the uncomfortable for a reason.  Give yourself 1000 reasons to hold on to your inner LOVE. The strength to endure is in YOU!  The ability to grow and evolve into your best self will only make you a better leader in your professional life and a better person for all the relationships in your life.

 

If you notice that you keep facing the same storm, then you keep missing the messages, the lessons and the gift

 It doesn’t fade ~ Not until you learn how to Love yourself enough to seek growth to become the greatest version of yourself.  GO RISE!

 

 

Spread the Love,

Debbie Forth

Love Architect, Love Coach, Speaker

C-Suite Network Advisor & Contributing Editor

Debbie@DebbieForth.com

DebbieForth.com

“Architecting Healthy Relationships from the Inside Out”

 

Since 2012, I’ve helped my clients break through the obstacles that seem to be holding them back in creating the love-life of their dreams. Life’s too short to be unhappy, unsure, or unfulfilled by one’s self — so what are you waiting for? Let me help you learn and develop better ways to handle the issues that are standing in the way of your goals. Are you ready to be held accountable to making the choices and changes to transform by falling in love with self and being ready to give/receive love to others?

“It’s with in our own stories that unlock the doors of healing for self and others.”

Categories
Marketing Personal Development

Ethnic Marketing: Reaching the Jewish Demographic

Different groups of people will always need to be communicated with in different ways. Understanding cultural sensitivities and tailoring messaging to those needs is what successful marketing campaigns are made of.

A recent Forbes article, “Putting the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Through the Large Family Stress Test” pointed out the efficacy of this strategy. FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automotive) owns virtually half the US minivan market. But they’d do well to ask themselves: who is our target market?

And if they’d ask themselves that, they’d likely answer themselves this: large families. Their follow-up research would reveal that the Orthodox Jewish demographic represents a large segment of their market. Extensive research will prove this point but so will this simple experiment. Take a quick tour of a supermarket parking lot in a predominantly Jewish area and note the number of minivans present. Staggering, right? FCA would do well to nurture and market to this demographic.

Take this example of successful ethnic marketing. JetBlue ran a Passover-themed marketing campaign with a clever play on “The Four Questions,” entitled “Why is This Airline Different from All Other Airlines?” Not only was this a witty ad, but it was a brilliant marketing strategy. Here’s why: Passover is a family-oriented holiday, prime for family get-togethers and vacations, most of which require airfare. A carefully crafted, strategically timed message garners support and gains traction among its targeted demographic.

With Jewish orthodox fertility rates reaching a whopping 4.1 per family, there are opportunities for profitable gains in a wide range of markets, from clothing and toys to food and beyond. Orthodox Jews have also proven to spend significantly on clothing (especially in the holiday season), food, school, and more. For businesses operating in this space, a world of opportunity awaits.

Convinced? Ready to start your marketing campaign? Not so fast.

The Orthodox Jewish demographic a population which needs to be communicated with in specific ways and through specific mediums to accommodate their nuanced sensitivities, which is why strategic ethnic marketing is critical.

There is definitive evidence that Orthodox and traditionally observant Jews constitute an almost exclusive advertising audience – not readily influenced by so-called “mass media.” For example, Jews look askance at the prurience, violent behavior, sexual innuendo, etc. that are commonly found in the media. Accordingly, Orthodox Jews often do not obtain their information from traditional media sources which often discuss and portray these elements.

Additionally, the Jewish people have many times during the year where it is difficult to engage with them. Sabbath, Jewish holiday seasons, and festivals scattered throughout the year means marketing campaigns must be well thought out. These times also present major opportunities as they are times in which Jews make new purchases.

As such, messages to the Orthodox community must be developed in a completely different manner that is attuned to their sensitivities and target them through other Orthodox media sources.

Yitzchok Saftlas, Founder and CEO of Bottom Line Marketing Group, has immense experience marketing to the Jewish population. The team of skilled professionals at Bottom Line Marketing Group have a nuanced understanding of their needs and the market research to back it up.

Bottom line? The Jewish demographic represents an important and lucrative marketing opportunity as its rising population offers considerable power in both the marketplace and political sphere. You just need to know when, how, and why to target it.

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