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What I Learned From the Kids at the Lemonade Stand

Lemonade Stand Marketing

The funniest thing happened to me today which embodies the theory of why people are very different in their marketing methods. I was driving down the road on the way to a clients business and passed some children selling lemonade. All fine and a typical summer activity which is why I love Pittsburgh.

Memories came back to me remembering doing that same thing. Of course we drank all the lemonade and strong-armed some sympathetic parents to buy. That’s what kid marketers do I guess. I then began thinking about why as humans we are really just oversized children. Those same techniques are used every day by some of the largest companies in the world. Google ring a bell?

In the course of driving up to these kids, some stood up when they noticed my lone car turn on to their secluded suburban street. With their little marketing minds at work having planned their location, their price points, their signage, and their secret blend of lemonade that only a parent could love; you get the point.

Some were there because that was the place to be and couldn’t be bothered about the lemonade. Some budding capitalists were already counting their piggy bank retirement 401K and mutual fund contributions – those were the kids seated in the chairs behind their stand. Others were beginning to shout as if I’d miss 20 kids with a lemonade stand on a quiet street in the suburbs at 2:00pm.

So as a consumer, and a thirsty one at that, I had that fleeting second of contemplation. And I actually considered stopping. As I drove closer the kids were in full wail and one of the kids shouts, “Just Buy It!” in a voice that sounded as if it came from pure frustration that he wouldn’t be meeting with Donald Trump tonight if I drove by. I knew right then and there that he was the marketer of the bunch.

I drove passed. Why? Why hadn’t I stopped? It was drive thru service. The conditions were right for them to all go to Harvard on my lemonade sale split 20 ways. It wasn’t like there was a lemonade stand on every corner. What where the circumstances that precluded me from stopping. Was the memory of the taste of our lemonade we made as kids that bad? Maybe. Or was it the situation? The timing?

Given different circumstances I would most certainly have stopped. The screaming and yelling kids’ trying to coerce a sale was what did it. That and I’m a cappuccino guy. Screaming wasn’t enough for those kids. Yet many marketing and advertising agencies still do this. Search Engine spamming ring a bell? Article marketing with nonsensical posts? Is bombardment enough for me to be persuaded to buy something? Am I willing to buy from a brand that screams at me? How long until Google invents a shower radio called Google Wet to sell me ads?

If I post, “Just Buy It” will the masses come in droves begging for our Pittsburgh Web Design? For our Pittsburgh Search Engine Optimization Services? For our Pittsburgh Internet Consulting? If I corner prospective clients with all that jazz about top Google results and a pushy tone will it help? Probably Not.

Thanks kids for providing me hours of thought. A special Thanks to the,”Just Buy It” kid for the fodder for this post. I should probably drop by and give him a royalty on my next sale.

Image courtesy of Brain Waves LLC

Think about it. People “brand” every day, either consciously or unconsciously. We’re hardwired for it. And that’s because it gives us a mental “shortcut” via the storing of one primary attribute relevant to ourselves which simplifies things. It makes the journey between association-to-recall easier. This works for us by way of storing a mental snap-shot which is clear, memorable and distinct. It sometimes goes like this; “oh yeah, I remember that guy, (or girl) he had that crazy laugh” and so on - you get the picture. We meet somebody that ignites a bit of interest in us, (good or bad) we then mentally and automatically distill the individual down to a single “stand out” attribute unique to them, which in turn gives us the best chance for recall down the road if needed. It helps us cut through the clutter.

Let’s use a restaurant example; you’ve been asked if you know of any good restaurants around here, you say I know this place that has great pasta, now, they may also serve great seafood, salads, and other stuff, but you’ve instinctively “branded” the restaurant by taking that one attribute about the restaurant which was relevant to you personally enabling a clear transfer of info to someone else. The person who is the recipient of your “branded” information transfer may not be the pasta type, but they may think well hey, even though I’m not into pasta, and this individual (who seems credible) says they have great pasta, so maybe they’ll have other dishes that I’ll like which are great too.  One way or the other decision making for the restaurant seeker has been made easier via branding. Just like taking a shortcut.

Now, to really seal-the-deal about branding being a part of our DNA, let’s take the most powerful, prolific and the most well-known brand in human history; Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ contained a multitude of unique attributes; He was a carpenter, born of a virgin, preached, helped people, performed miracles and a whole lot more. (I’m sure there weren’t a lot of complaints about the water into wine thing.) But what is His relevant brand, or His relevant brand promise that stood out from everything else about Him? It was and is Salvation. (Talk about consistency in a message.) And what made His brand relevant? Well I guess you could just ask any Catholic priest on Easter Sunday, or any Sunday for that matter.  (And you thought I was going to say The Beatles.)

So, a brand which incorporates focus, relevance and follow-through has a good shot at cutting through the clutter and maybe “becoming somebody.”  And with the endless onslaught of messaging overload consumers are hit with through traditional advertising streams, the Internet and its Social Media offspring, “cutting through the clutter” is more paramount today than ever. Besides, it’s in our DNA.

Sounds simple doesn’t it?

Not long ago we read an article about measuring ROI for Pittsburgh Social Media campaigns. We think ROI is a term meant for advertising, marketing, or branding initiatives and we aim to explain why. If you're measuring for ROI, you've got to call it advertising, marketing or branding. If you call it advertising, marketing, or branding it's not social media even though that may be the platform used to deliver the message. That’s the fundamental difference between Inbound Marketing and Outbound Marketing and why the distinction in terminology. We measure Social Media campaigns in conversions.

The term ROI stands for return on investment. The only way to measure the ROI for anything is to separate the return and the investment costs from all other factors including all other advertising and marketing. The sum total of everything it takes to achieve your goal is by definition your investment. Time, money, internal resources, outsourced solutions, and opportunity cost are all factors that must be included to determine investment. If you define “return” in other ways such as website traffic, blog traffic, or hit counts it’s not ROI it’s a conversion rate. We think the author gets ROI and conversion rates confused.

Another reason ROI is a bad measure for Social Media is that business is not static, neither is your competition. There are too many factors that change too frequently to measure ROI for social media campaigns. Business cycles, geographic, seasonal, and climatic factors, as well as other external reasons all affect your results and bottom line. To nail down a number is a pursuit in futility. If your going to come up with a measurement metric make sure it’s valid before you base investment decisions on it.

It's the sum of the parts not the measurement of each part that matters in our opinion. Conversions, however they come, are cultivated through the whole marketing plan.

Social Media Tips:

1. Use your skills and resources wisely as they are all finite.
2. Give campaigns, social and otherwise, a fighting chance by planning a prolonged dedication of resources and don’t waver.
3. Only after a defined period of time can you look back and determine where you’re campaigns are successful and where they need work.
4. Be persistent.
5. Have Fun.

Blackball Online Marketing is the home of the Online Marketing Technologist. Liven up your online presence by contacting us. “Helping People is Good Business”

Have a different take on this subject? Do you think we are getting this all wrong? We’d welcome your thoughts.