2020: New Year or Perfect Vision

2020 will be a year where you'll need perfect vision and rock-steady conviction. The beginning of the new decade will bring, as the Chinese proverb warns, 'interesting times'.

In 2020 the business landscape will be fraught with change and disruption. Following are a few thoughts that may assist you in navigating the upcoming upheavals. 

4M Performance

- 2020 will introduce this one-of-a-kind, online business accelerator which will ignite revenue growth and market-reach. Going live in the first quarter, at a cost of only $7 per month, 4MP will allow its members face-to-face access and interaction to a cadre of business experts to solve their management problems and provide information and takeaways the are executable and financially feasible. Look for more information on 4MP in the coming months. 






Retail Businesses

 - Over 23,000 retail stores/outlets shuttered their doors in 2019 (a record), yet retail sales will reach their highest level ever. Problem: the U.S. is over-stored. For example, there are 23 sq.ft. of retail space per person in the U.S. vs. only 5 sq.ft. per person in England.

The trend favors BIG retailers (online and brick & mortar). To survive, small retailers will be required to find a niche while providing the very best service possible.

Streaming Entertainment

What became a major battle ground in 2019 will continue, in earnest, throughout 2020. The race to amass streaming subscribers by a slew of online content providers is just getting started.

A recent study by the Wall Street Journal showed that the average American is willing to spend $44 per month on streaming platforms, which equates to 3.6 services per household. Netflix will continue to dominate with Disney its biggest competitor.

Food (Meal) Delivery

Who will come out on top?

2020 will be the year of the 'great food fight'. The highly competitive meal delivery service, fueled by venture capital, is populated with high growth/no-profits businesses. Demanding service requirements, low fees, and disloyal consumers make meal delivery so competitive that Amazon exited in 2019.

Companies like DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, and Postmates, dominate. In an effort to gain scale, Caviar was eaten by DoorDash, while Eat 24 and Seamless were gobbled-up by Grubhub.

The survival strategy is team-up with restaurants (preferably the large chains) or other retailers outside the food industry. As such, DoorDash teamed with Wendy's, McDs, Cheesecake Factory, and Chipotle. While Uber partnered with McDs and Starbucks. Grubhub with Taco Bell and KFC. Postmates has partnered with Old Navy for delivery.

Another tactic is to use subscription plans to help retain customers. For example, Postmates offers free delivery for a fee of $9.90 per month.

2010 - 2019 : The Most Profitable Decade in History?

As we enter 2020, we are looking back on what many will view as the most profitable decade in U.S. history. Lower tax and interest rates spurred investment and business profits.

The U.S. became energy independent - increasing its leverage in foreign affairs and reducing global hostilities by taking the energy factor out of the war equation.

All of the stock exchanges made new highs and returns on equities were huge.  Netflix, the decade's best performing stock, saw a $10,000 investment in 2010 turn into $470,000 10 years later.

I look forward to 2020 and the opening of a new decade. The business environment offers great opportunity but competition is only a click away. Consumers are willing buyers but are more selective and more disloyal then ever before.


May the New Year bring you health and prosperity.

Jim Lavorato, Founder, 4M Performance 
           
             

Best Ads for 2019

Most viewed YouTube ads for 2019. Traditional vs. social media marketing - they both work.

  

BRAND                                 AD                                           VIEWS

Amazon            'Not Everything Makes The Cut'                 39.5 million

                             (Super Bowl Ad)

Hyundai            'The Elevator'                                               37.9

                              (Super Bowl Ad)

Gillette              'We Believe: The Best Men Can Be'           37.0

Apple                'Introduction: iPhone II                                31.8

Bosch                'Internet of Things'                                       23.3

Doritos              'Chance the Rapper + Back Street Boys'      16.7

                                  (Super Bowl Ad)

Audi                  'Audi Presents:Science Fair'                         14.8

Stella Artois      'Change Up The Usual'                                 13.9

Nike                  'Dream Crazier'                                            11.1

NFL                   'The 100 Year Game'                                     7.3

                             (Super Bowl Ad)

Marketing is one of the most very important accelerators for any business. Both traditional and social media marketing must be used to cover and capture your Brand's consumers.

Jim Lavorato, Founder, 4M Performance 

Analyzing Your Site's Conversion Rate

Is the C-Rate a good metric?

The percentage of sales to site visits = the conversion rate. The rate is normally in the 1-5% range. If you experience a 5% or above rate you're in 'fat city'.

The rate is determined by several factors:
- The industry sector in which your business operates. For example, the average C-rate within the healthcare industry is 1.8-2.1%, food and beverage .9-1%, transportation 1.4%.
-Your target demographic: age, gender, etc.
-How competitive your product or service is.
-How much money you budget for social marketing.

If your site is getting good traffic but not many conversions (a high bounce rate) you need to change your online marketing strategy. You are not getting enough market coverage, the site is not engaging, you are targeting the wrong demographic, your product is not needed so demand is low.

Make sure you study the site's analytics to determine where your marketing or product is falling short of your sales goals. Perhaps you can try one or more of the following fixes to get your C-rate where you want it.

-Incorporate good infographics and videos in your marketing.
-Redo your narrative. Stick to the benefits of your product to the buyer and explain them in terse, straight-forward wording.
-Use podcasts and, if possible, a webinar or other form of live streaming which
would include a Q&A session.
-Analyze your competition. How are they marketing? Do they have a blog? Where do you rank in a Google search vs. the competition?
-Use and post customer testimonials.
-Ensure that your access, login, and payment processing is easy to use and response is short. Take all credit/payment options and make sure your site is secure.

AD: Member Sign-up 2020

The question of whether the C-rate is a good metric remains? I believe it is one determinant but only one and you should not rely on it entirely to rule your marketing plan. Social media marketing is inexpensive as compared to traditional marketing paths but may not be the way your product is "best" marketed. Radio, TV, public relations, charity partnerships, print, public speaking, seminars and workshops are just a few marketing avenues to be used.

Using a mix of social and traditional marketing is best for most products especially if marketing to a local/regional demographic.

Jim Lavorato, Founder
4M Performance

Subscription-based Sites Getting Harder to Scale

Currently developing a subscription-based portal - 4M Performance (scheduled to launch early 2020) - I wanted to impart what I faced when building, then managing a subscriber site.

Based on info from Statista https://www.statista.com
there will be over 198 million U.S. subscribers to pay-to-play platforms within three years - and growing rapidly.


Currently, online user video 'watch-time' averages five hours per day and is filled with incredible diversity, quality, and volume of content. It follows you from device to device throughout the day and video viewing has become personal.

That scale, rapid growth, and personalization puts incredible pressure on any new subscription platform despite better technology as consumer expectations are extremely demanding.  Subscribers want ease of use, TV-like experience, and flexibility.

From my experience, the biggest problem starts with the seemingly harmless login button. Once the subscriber hits the login a myriad of activity starts. Requests are initiated to directories, billing systems, rights management platforms, third parties that authorize access and other customer transparent technologies - that all need to work flawlessly.

To me, there are four critical areas that require attention:

1. Platform scalability:  High service availability and fluid responsiveness needs to be a primary design principal that is integrated into your identity and access management software at inception.

2. Capacity planning: How many subscriptions are expected and what kind of service levels are you targeting? Working backwards from this answer, your streaming services must stand up to load tests.

3. Failures: There needs to be a plan for how failures will be contained. For example, forcing the process into a temporary mode that can catch up once all systems are again available vs. just crashing. In short, every potential failure needs to be analyzed and problem-solved.

4. Early subscription tactics: The initial rush to subscribe and the resulting stress to the platform can be mitigated by encouraging early registration, using exclusive or  teaser content.

Access and ease of use by subscribers will drive customer loyalty - the lifeblood of any direct-to-consumer site. Here are several best-to-use tactics.

Customer engagement: A single login and ease of access across all content and data available. Also, reduce as many subscription and payment processing challenges as possible.

Lifetime Value: The sign-up page should serve as a utility that manages the full customer life-cycle. It should be integrated with reporting, email, and CRM systems. It should tell you who is engaged, who is likely to churn, and who needs a login reminder.

In summary, subscribers must be able to trust that your content will be accessible when it matters most. Additionally, it  must bestow a great experience as subscribers will be holding you to the same high standard that the mega- streamers are providing.

Hope this helps and good luck with you subscription platform.

Jim Lavorato, Founder 4M Performance