My wife is a high school science teacher. She should love this blog.
Most of us are familiar with Newton’s laws of motion and Archimedes’ principle. Well, now here are (drum roll, please) … Gagliano’s Laws of Marketing.
Like the Laws of Science, these will describe, predict or explain why things happen in the marketing world.
1. The Law of Action
Every action should anticipate an appropriate reaction.
As marketers, we’re in the business of influencing people’s behavior. We are also in the business of driving revenue to our organization. That said, every dollar you spend should have a specific customer/target response in mind.
2. The Law of Consistency
A customer’s experience is only as good as their last interaction with your company.
Your team must be provide the same serve level at 4:58 on a Friday afternoon as they do any other time. As soon as they enter your parking lot, they are on stage and the curtain doesn’t drop until they leave the property.
This law also relates to your brick-and-mortar and electronic touch points. A sloppy building, down server or crashed ATM can play havoc with a relationship.
3. The Law of Differentiation
Customers never change a product or brand without a good reason.
As humans, we are creatures of habit. If we’ve made a product or brand choice, we tend to stick by it until the benefit of a change outweighs our comfort level with our previous verdict.
To motivate a change, you must demonstrate a tangible benefit for a customer to come to you. And make the switch as easy as possible.
4. The Law of Perception
A customer’s perception out-weighs a company’s reality.
You know you have the better mousetrap. You know your people are smarter and care more than anyone else in town. So why don’t you have 100% market share?
There are unlimited factors that drive a customer’s perception: building/employee image, brand recognition, social media/word-of-mouth, logo design, advertising messages, etc. You must gauge, analyze and manage your image in the community.
Part two of this law is that ANY perception can be changed – good-to-bad or vice-versa (see Law #2)
The best example I can share has to do with a fence that I had built a few weeks ago. I wanted a simple, split-rail fence. Nothing fancy, so my driving decision-criteria was price. I chose a company called Afford-A-Fence (seriously, I can’t make that up). In his heart, the owner knew he provided quality work, but with a name like Afford-A-Fence, my perception and expectation level was something different. In the end, they did a great job and changed my perception completely.
5. The Law of Need
The target’s needs take precedence to the company’s needs.
Your target has a need for a certain product, at a certain price-point, delivered by a certain technology and they want to use you in certain ways. If you do not meet those needs, someone else will.
To be successful, you must align your marketing to target individuals who are most aligned with your company’s product offerings, price-point and delivery system … but be ready to adapt with your target’s changing needs.
6. The Law of Measurement
That which is not measured cannot be considered successful.
This law follows closely with Law #1. As each marketing initiative has a defined objective, we must measure against that objective to determine success or plan future improvement. Whether you’re assessing unaided awareness or raw ROI, marketing must be measured to demonstrate success.
As “laws” these have each been tested and re-tested … proven over time. But this is, by no means, a definitive list. As a group of brilliant marketers, we can add to this. Please add your own Laws of Marketing in the comment section below.
With an in-depth knowledge of your product, a firm understanding of your target and these laws in-hand, you can plan marketing for anything from financial products to shin guards, custom homebuilders to tortillas, commercial air compressors to water parks (I know, because I’ve been responsible for all of these and more).
Take care,
Eric
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