As fast as the pace of business is moving, it’s easy to fall behind the leading edge. If you stop to wait and see what you should do next, you can become obsolete just that fast. Look at your products and services from the customer’s perspective. Evaluate your marketing strategies and ask if they are still fresh. You also should be constantly experimenting with new offerings.

I’ve watched the movie Inception twice and look forward to renting it so I can stop it and make notes to support my theory of what is exactly going on. My friends are watching it multiple times to support their theories as well. This is probably the most discussed movie I can remember since Memento, another Christopher Nolan creation.

The basic premise of the movie is placing an idea into a person’s mind (and have them think it’s their own) in order to get the recipient of the idea to act a certain way.

Good marketing makes this happen. Good customer service can also make this happen. And creating a product as alive as Inception, where people talk about it for weeks, is the ultimate business creation. Let’s break this down.

Good marketing

When a person gets thirsty for a beer, what makes them choose which one they drink? Billions of ad dollars are hoping the decision is predicated on a piece of marketing that is lodged in the person’s brain. The idea is implanted that a particular brand of beer is “your choice” to buy the next time you go to the store. Beer sales are reliant on brand loyalty and a relationship with the customer. Taste tests have shown American beer all pretty much tastes the same, and people can’t identify their favorite beer consistently. This is why the placement of an idea about the brand is so important to repeat sales. You want your brand to be the first the consumer thinks of.

A buyer will purchase a product from the first brand or company that comes to mind 96% of the time. Did they make that choice on their own, or was it a quick access to an idea placed in their minds?

Good marketing, whether it’s from an ad budget of millions of dollars or a post card that stays on the desk of your desired customer, is all about placing a thought in the mind of the buyer that it is their decision (their own idea) to buy your product.

Look at your own marketing approach. How focused is your marketing with the intent of embedding an idea into the minds of your customers? Are your ads cursory, or are they the kind that sticks in the customers minds? Memorable tag lines, messages, and visuals can find a home in those minds you desire to reach.

Ask yourself these questions while reviewing your marketing approach:

How can I send a more consistent message in all of my marketing?

Do my marketing messages live on in the minds of those I am targeting?

What is the idea I want to implant into my customers’ minds about my products and services?

How can I best accomplish that inception?

The rest of the week I will write on how to create Inception Customer Service and Inception Buzz for your business. Remember you want to create ideas that can keep your customers’ minds spinning … like a top.

Marketing your business in this economy requires a strong stomach and a creative mind. Why the strong stomach? Most executives cave into the knee-jerk reaction of cutting marketing budgets when revenue slows down, which only exacerbates the revenue situation by not getting the word out to customers and prospects. When in fact, organizations should be increasing marketing efforts in challenging economic times.

The most common complaint I hear: But I don’t know if my marketing is working or not? Then maybe you are doing it wrong.

Traditional marketing:

Newspapers, television, radio, email and a website are traditional marketing methods that will not set an organization apart unless the content is extremely good or unique. Creativity still gets the message through on these old school tools. Flo for Progressive insurance, Vince for ShamWow and Budweiser’s Clydesdales have messages that cut through the noise and their revenue proves that.

If you choose to use tradition marketing bring the creativity and lots of it. Frequency is also the key, although it can be expensive, consumers notice the unique.

Toward the edge: Web-based marketing

I mentioned a website is traditional marketing because there are literally millions of websites being added in the time it takes to read this article! Websites are old school marketing. The key to web-based marketing is how you drive traffic to your website (and it better be designed to keep the visitor there!) Search engine optimization, multiple links and social media feeds should be the focus of any marketer trying to drive traffic to your “awesome” website. And, if it isn’t awesome in the mind of the visitor: It won’t matter how much traffic you drive to it, you are failing in your marketing.

I mentioned social media because that is fast becoming the best way to touch prospects and customers while also driving them toward your website. Facebook, twitter, ping.fm, and Hootsuite are social media tools that should be in your marketing quiver. Millions of people are active in social media and it is not only here to stay but will be driving the next generation of search engines based on peer review. If you’ve not already joined the social media party you are lagging behind great marketers.

Out there: Game marketing

When someone says they are the mayor of Starbucks do you have any idea what they are referring to? Foursquare is a location-based phone app where a person can check in when they visit an establishment and the person who checks in the most in the last two months is given the title of Mayor. It is a game where not only can people check in but they give reviews and tips for their foursquare friends to see. How are you treating your mayor? What customer comments are being left on your foursquare listing?

Tomorrow I’ll go into greater depth on foursquare, but I bring it up here to point out how marketing is becoming the domain of the customer and the evolution of marketing is changing rapidly. Get creative and develop a strong stomach because the new economy rewards the best in the business and crushes those who are clueless.

1060 on set for AAA Vacations

Whenever you market or advertise your company, you always want to put your best foot forward, right? When meeting with a potential (or even current) client, you pay attention to your clothing, your grooming, and your manners. You make sure your printed materials, PowerPoint presentations, and website all look their best. By the same token, if you choose video as your medium, you owe it to yourself (and your company) to have it shot by professionals.

Even though we here at 1060 Creative can shoot and edit video for a lot less than you think (see here for examples of some interview-type projects we’ve shot), we understand that budgets can be tight. A professionally shot video might not be in the books, and you may want to get your message out by shooting a video address yourself, maybe with your personal camcorder or webcam. If that sounds familiar, then this post is for you.

I’m going to just come right out and say it: The web is filled with poorly-produced videos of business owners introducing themselves (and their respective businesses) to the world. Most of them use a webcam, which is really their first mistake. Sure, there are some mighty fine webcam rigs out there, and they work well for getting a down and dirty video on the Internet, but the image they produce is far from professional and falls well short of the coveted Best Foot Forward. I don’t want to call anyone out in particular, but go to YouTube and do a search for “welcome to my business” or “business opportunities” or some similar term. Start clicking on the videos and you’ll see what I mean. There are many videos with bad lighting, bad audio, or shot in a messy house or office. Sometimes all three (and worse). Indeed, a lot of the videos look more like amateur video blogs than professional video addresses from business owners.

So what to do?

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