Archive for July, 2010
What a Difference a Decade Makes to Marketing
Imagine that you could continue to market successfully the same way for ten years. Do you like that thought? Well delete that daydream because it just isn’t so. Welcome to marketing 2008. It’s more threatening, more promising and more exciting. Buckle your seatbelt, take your motion sickness pill and be prepared to be amazing. Because that is what you need to compete today.
Still the Same
Of course some things remained the same. Let’s establish our foundation before we venture into the swirl of the Time Tunnel.
The fundamentals are the same. That’s what makes them fundamentals. Marketing is still closely intertwined with selling and the purpose of marketing is to help you sell more. Marketing and selling are both strategies to help you make a profit. In fact marketing was and is a fundamental responsibility running through every function of your business.
“Marketing is so basic that it cannot be considered a separate function. It is the whole business seen from the point of view of its final result, that is, from the client’s point of view.” Peter Drucker
Strange that even though management guru, Peter Drucker, offered that advice more than a decade ago – many organizations ignored his wisdom. That’s why we still see marketing departments and sales departments with little cohesion and cooperation. Why? Perhaps too many marketers see themselves as artists or statisticians while they see sales representatives as slimy. And the sales department labels marketing as a bunch of flakes who don’t know about the real world.
The purpose of marketing is to do one or more of the following three things:
1. Grab attention
2. Demonstrate value
3. Build relationships
The world is still round – or is it now flat? How is the “How” of those fundamentals changing?
Grab Attention Grabbing attention has always been a prime concern for marketers. Your message needed to defeat the noise of all the other marketers.
In 1998, if you had a huge marketing budget, the place to be was TV and the grand dame was the Super Bowl game at $1.3M for a 30 second spot. Of course ad production costs were extra. The top three ads that year were for Tabasco, Pontiac and Doritos. Do you wonder how many Doritos they needed to sell to pay for that ad? Oh yeah, Denver triumphed over Green Bay.
The Super Bowl is still the place for marketers with multimillion dollar budgets costing $2.6M for 30 seconds in 2007. But the holy grail of marketing today might more likely be to appear number one on a Google search. You don’t need millions to triumph.
Demonstrate Value Value was once demonstrated with celebrity endorsements, quality awards and longevity in the business.
Today client testimonials carry more weight than celebrities. Quality awards and certifications are so common that they have become ho-hum. Depending on your industry, a long time in business could be three years. We’re more interested in the results that you achieved for your recent clients. If you want to demonstrate value be sure to offer a free trial or money back guarantee – without the weasel word clauses.
Build Relationships Relationship building is more important today. Prove to your clients why they should buy from you – every time. Brand loyalty was once given blindly to sellers. Loyalty didn’t die. It shifted. Loyalty is now bestowed more on our friends and family which is why client testimonials become more convincing. And why networking is so much more powerful.
Changes and Trends
Some trends have been going on for longer than the past decade – but they are easier to notice now. We realize that both selling and marketing are more science than art. Sales representatives are no longer allowed to wing it. Of course both sales and marketing staff were being well trained by successful companies before 1998. But the integration of these activities is more evident in today’s training and daily activity. Today you are also more likely to see the large corporations training their sales reps with marketing skills and integrating marketing folks into the front lines. To be competitive small and medium business must convert all staff into marketers. And it will take more than a memo!
Technology
Technology in the form of computers, software and mobile devices has had a huge impact on how we market. The tsunami of influence is the Internet which has presented marketers with new challenges and incredible opportunities.
Mobile Devices
The proliferation of cell phones and Blackberries mean that clients expect to reach you anywhere and any time. In order to compete it seems that you need to be more available and respond faster than your competition. Be careful because that mentality can lead to the worship of instant satisfaction which results in more mistakes, distracted professionals and grumpy people. Too many are adapting their process to suit the tool – instead of using tools to improve the process. Warning Will Robinson!
Database Marketing
Use your database. In 1998 small business had access to PC based contact managers including ACT, Maximizer and Goldmine. Today you need to build on those fundamentals with a CRM (client relationship manager) system and integrate your data between your computer, mobile device, email and website forms.
Networking
Building Relationships is critical to buliding your business. Because of our increased emphasis on building relationships networking activity has exploded both offline and online. We see this in the growth of specialized networking groups and events. Business Networking International (BNI) a lead sharing group has over 5,000 chapters in 36 countries. Online enhancements include social networking websites like Facebook, MySpace and Bebo plus the business oriented service Linkedin. For more networking tips visit NetworkingExposed.com.
In 1998 folks were exploring the use of email through internet providers AOL and CompuServe. Coincidently the number one movie of 1998 was “You’ve Got Mail”. Today not having email would be like not having a fax machine in 1998. But today it isn’t enough just to have email. You must have an email address with a professional domain. Using a free email address is acceptable for your personal life – but not for business. If you are still using Yahoo, MSN, Gmail or AOL for business you are looking amateurish – or stuck in 1998.
Websites
My first website launched in 1999 when very few small businesses had websites. In those days you were special if you “had” a website. Websites looked like your printed brochure – hence the name “brochure sites”.
It is no longer remarkable to have a website. In fact you must have a website and it must be remarkable just to compete. It’s as necessary as a phone or business card even if you don’t sell on the Internet. Why? Because clients want to check your site before they call or visit you. Your website needs to grab them, identify what you sell in the first five seconds – or they will leave your website. Then you need to engage them, offer them what they seek, do it quickly and capture their contact information for your database. Today the question is not “Should you have a website?” The question is “How many websites should you have?”
Informing your clients A decade ago the way to train, educate and inform your clients was to hold seminars or mail them a printed newsletter. Both still work but are expensive compared to the new alternatives. Today you might inform them with an opt-in email newsletter, articles and FAQs on your website, posting on your blog, and holding teleseminars and/or webinars.
Today everyone on the Internet can be a publisher via their own websites, blogs, article sites and forums. You need to be out-communicating your competition. You might expect your competition to compete with your message but also watch for damaging exposure from disgruntled clients or employees.
Marketing Research Gathering Market Intelligence is easier for you, your competition and your clients. You might want to reread that last sentence and think about the implications. Take advantage of the opportunity. Using search engines you can learn about your competition and their offerings. Use “Google Alerts” to stay informed of daily mentions on websites, blogs and news sites of your name, your product name, your industry and your competition. If you are not yet receiving these Google Alerts – you might be missing news about what others are saying about you and your industry. Go to Google and register for this free service. Ignorance is no excuse.
Test opinion by visiting groups and forums on major sites such as Google and Yahoo or on industry websites. Conduct polls on your website or hold a survey with SurveyMonkey.
Client Service
Lots of opportunity here. We still seem to be struggling with customer service. Some shine while others annoy. I experienced a good example of good customer service today when I bought a coffee from Starbucks. I ordered my “small regular coffee”. I refuse to speak their language – no ‘tall latté” for me. The staff still smile at me, deliver what I want and thank me as they give me my change. Compare that to the hordes of sales staff that seem to expect you to thank them for giving them your money. And they don’t thank you for your business. So I pay the $1.75 for the Starbucks coffee and feel good because of the friendly service. I don’t get that consistently from Tim Hortons.
Advertising
The traditional mass marketin
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What Most Marketing Gurus Don’t Teach You
If you’re not getting the results you want from your marketing, there’s a good chance it’s because you’re missing one key ingredient. An ingredient that can make the difference between successful marketing and dreadful marketing. The difference between your business making it or breaking it.
You’re probably doing “tactical” marketing.
So what exactly does that mean? Isn’t marketing, marketing?
The answer is, no. There are two kinds of marketing: strategic marketing and tactical marketing. And, there is a distinct difference between the two.
It’s what most marketing “gurus” don’t teach you
As I look around, most of the “marketing gurus” I see are teaching tactical marketing. It’s not that that’s bad … it’s just that it’s only part of what you need to succeed.
They’re teaching you how to write copy. How to publish an ezine. How to market your business by writing articles or by issuing press releases. How to market by teaching teleseminars or doing speaking engagements. Or even how to network effectively.
Yes, these are all very valid ways to market your business.
So, what’s the problem?
Without a well-thought-out marketing strategy behind them, your chances of finding success with any or all of these marketing tactics is limited.
So what exactly is strategic marketing?
Just like it sounds, strategic marketing means you have a strategy behind your marketing. A “game plan” if you will.
It’s what you do BEFORE you start marketing
It involves spending some time BEFORE you market to determine exactly what you want to accomplish and setting some goals for your business. It means establishing an objective for every marketing activity you undertake.
With strategic marketing you take the time to answer some basic questions about who you are marketing to and what message will be most effective.
You take the time to really understand the people you are marketing to and how your product or service solves a problem or fills a need they have.
You put all these puzzle pieces together to create a strategy and a plan to grow your business.
Yes, that strategy may involve things like writing effective ad copy, publishing an ezine, article marketing, writing press releases, and maybe even doing some speaking or networking.
But here’s the real difference …
You now have a game plan driving your use of these marketing tactics. You know what you want to achieve. You know who you’re trying to reach. You know where you can find them. And you know what you must say to persuade them.
And, most importantly, you have a marketing plan that ensures you’ll stick with your marketing consistently enough to actually move the needle toward your goals.
(C) Copyright 2006 Debbie LaChusa
Debbie LaChusa is the founder and president of DLC Marketing, Inc. and The National Association of Home-Based Business Moms. She is also the author of The Career-at-Home Mom: Secrets for Earning a Six-Figure Income While Having Time for Your Family. She’s a marketing and home-based business coach and international speaker who has shared the stage with celebrity teachers from “The Secret.” You can register for Debbie’s free special report, “Why Marketing Isn’t Enough” and get a complimentary subscription to her ezine, Stepping Up! at http://www.debbielachusa.com
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Increase Sales With Targeted Marketing
Marketing is by no means a small game, and marketing your small business to big success will require some dire attention to detail. A hefty amount of work goes solely into marketing an organization’s goods and services each year. Billions are spent on things like advertising, promotions, consumer surveys, and quality control to assure the thorough-put of an organization’s reach to its most valuable asset – the consumer.
The sunny side of this road is that we have come a long way in understanding the bridges between attracting consumers and making sales. This allows for a small business to learn from the previous failures and successes of its competitors. Outsourcing through more adept organizations, who are fervent in turning up qualitative and quantitative statistical research, is then a luxury to your small business.
Many of those going into business for the first time tend to believe that the more people they market to, the more sales they’re bound to make. While this may only seem logical to the average mind it is quite far from the truth in the world of small business marketing. You shouldn’t try to compare your small business with that of a multi-billion-dollar corporation like Coca-Cola where, to them, everyone is considered a potential customer. For your small business to grow and make a name for itself you will need to do the opposite. This means eliminating unnecessary marketing expenses on those groups of people who are not very likely to benefit your small business.
Finding Your Target Market
You need to become successful in your marketing efforts and drive up your sales, without incurring additional expenses or furthering your business in debt. That requires finding your target market. A target market is a well defined set of present and potential customers that your small business attempts to satisfy.
You will need to identify your target market and focus all of your marketing energy on that specific group. There are a number of analytical approaches to understanding and refining your target market depending, of course, on your product and business. However, it is important to be creative and open-minded when seeking out your target market. Many aspects of a target market may seem vague and obscured, at first, to the inexperienced marketer.
In defining your target market you will need to create what is called a marketing mix. The marketing mix combines the four variables – product, place, promotion and price – that are controlled by your business, and uses them in a manner which aims to satisfy your target market. The product variable is made up of all the qualities that are perceived by the customer from your product and have the potential of satisfying their wants. The place variable determines time, place, and possession value. This means distributing the right product to the right place, at the right time, and in the right quantities. The promotion variable focuses on communication between the marketer and the customer. Is your message getting across to your target customers effectively? If so, how are they reacting and how fast? These are important variables to note when effectively trying to promote your product. Finally, the price variable notes the amount of money or resources your business seeks from the buyer in exchange for the goods or services being sold. All four of these variables are what make up your entire marketing mix and must be coordinated and developed so that they may both satisfy your market and result in a profit for your small business.
Furthermore, you will need to understand the relevance of dividing your market in order to pursue effective targeted marketing for your small business. This is what we call ‘Market Segmentation‘. Every market can be segmented into a number of categories and subcategories. A few basic market segmentations, for example, would be geographic, demographic, psychographic, and product-related segmentation. The primary objective here is to identify all of the characteristics or traits your most promising customers have in common so that you may harness all of your business efforts on reaching those particular customers. This will involve nitpicking through the market and finding a market segment, or a smaller group of people or firms, that exists within a larger market and whose wants are currently not being filled by products already on the market.
The Mass Market Strategy
The mass market strategy assumes the target market to be any potential buyer of brands in a product category and offers a single marketing mix. The mass marketing strategy has been used by such large corporations as Ford, for example, even in the early 20th century to retain low production and distribution costs. Henry Ford offered only one marketing mix for all car buyers with the Model T automobile, which enabled him to become the lowest-cost mass producer of cars.
Times have changed though and today’s consumers are more demanding and expectant than ever. Pursuing a mass market strategy proves unreeling to the ill-capitalized firm. Mass marketing draws a great deal of risk and uncertainty when inexperienced or underprivileged.
Market Segmentation
As your small business begins to better understand its market, it will become second nature to practice market segmentation. Offering one or more marketing mixes to just one segment of a market might prove more resourceful than trying to conquer the entire market share. In this case, agility becomes the tradeoff to muscle.
Markets are often segmented based on geography. Geographic segmentation divides a mass market into such units as regions, nations, states, cities, and districts. For example, your small business may choose to target the sunny Florida state differently from the windy city of Chicago due to the climate for which their geographic locations afford them. This may result in two different market segments for a product category that holds a market in both geographic segments. Just as more stringent emissions laws in California cause auto makers to provide for a different market segment from the rest of the country, your small business too will become overpowered by geographic segmentation for all sorts of reasons.
Markets are also segmented on the basis of demographic variables. Demographic segmentation pertains to statistical data as in age, gender, race, nationality, education, occupation, and purchasing power. Your products can not only be marketed depending on where a potential buyer is situated, but also based on who they are and to what they are associated with. Power drinks are targeted mainly to athletes and male fitness fanatics. Apple computers target the youthful and creative individual. Centrum Silver vitamins are targeted to people over the age of fifty. The demographic classifications of your target market can go miles long and stories high or they can be short and resolute depending on how well you know your product and market.
Psychographic segmentation zeros in on social class, personality, and life-style. For example, the Oprah Winfrey show targets independent women. Harpo productions has committed a great deal of its marketing efforts in various psychographic segments by empowering female opinion. Also, the Mirage hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada caters to the high-roller gambler’s life-style. These market segmentations are subject to a great deal of scrutiny, however, and it can be hard to clearly predict the scope of a psychographic market segment.
A firm may also divide a mass market based on the consumer’s amount of usage of a product or service, the type of usage involved, and what benefits the consumer is looking for. This is called Product-Related segmentation. For example Google AdWords, targets the direct marketer or low-budget small businesses looking to gain global, national, or even regional exposure for their business with the flexibility of controlling how much or how little they spend.
Once you have clearly understood your target market and begun the process of eliminating unnecessary marketing expenses on groups or individuals outside the scope of your target market, you will inevitably see a much higher return on your investment and long-term growth in your business. Targeted marketing increases the chances of your small business for channeling more spectators into buyers.
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Local Online Marketing for Small Business.mp4
What if there were things you could start doing now that could help you to market more successfully in the future? Even if you didn’t have your marketing act together over the past year. Well, there are.
(1) Review your past marketing activities and results
Take some time to review all of your marketing activities and try to understand which ones worked best. And when I say “worked best” I mean, which ones resulted in more clients, more customers, more sales, or more growth for your business?
Your goal each year should be to understand which marketing activities bring you more business and which ones do not, so you can concentrate on the activities that work, and delete the ones that do not.
Even if you did not have an organized marketing plan, or marketing activities that you implemented consistently during the past year, if you are still in business today, then there must have been some form of marketing going on.
(2) Broaden your definition of marketing
Marketing isn’t only things like running an advertisement, or sending out a direct mail piece. It’s anything you do that puts your business, product or service in front of the prospects you are trying to sell to.
You may be surprised to realize you’ve been marketing more than you know!
Any time you talk to someone about your business, product or service, in person, at an event, over the phone, or through a brochure or some form of media, you are marketing. Any time you send someone an email or a thank you card from your business, you are marketing.
Be aware of any time you are communicating with current customers, or potential customers. Take the opportunity to make them aware of new products or services, special offers or programs, or even milestones or changes in your business.
Do you include your business card every time you mail a letter to a client or prospect? Do you have an email signature that includes your business name, your phone number, your email address, your website address and possibly even your tagline? You should. You are reminding people about your products and services and making it easy for them to find out more if they so choose.
If you truly believe that your products or services can enhance people’s lives, then it should be easy to share the word at every opportunity. After all, if people don’t know about you, they can’t benefit. Put this way, it is almost a disservice to NOT market.
(3) See if you can track your sales to your marketing, either directly or indirectly
Take a look at the marketing you did do, taking into consideration all of the activities mentioned above. Can you directly or indirectly track any new or increased business to these activities? An example of direct tracking might be: You attended a networking event and someone you gave your business card to, contacted you or made a purchase.
An example of indirect tracking might be: You attended a networking event, and someone you gave your business card to, referred you to a friend, and that friend contacted you or made a purchase.
For each marketing activity you did over the past year, ask yourself the following questions:
(a) Did I get any new clients, customers or increased sales as a direct result, or an indirect result, of this activity?
(b) If the answer is yes, quantify the result by asking yourself: How many new clients, customers or sales did it generate?
If you can’t seem to track your past marketing activities, consider asking your current customers how they found out about you.
You could do a survey that includes a number of customer satisfaction questions, but also includes a question to determine how they found out about you.
If you have a handful of clients that you work closely with and you really don’t know how they found you, pick up the phone and ask them.
At the end of this exercise, you will have a list of all of your marketing activities, and the results connected to each one.
(4) Separate those activities that resulted in business from those that did not
Are there any activities on your list that did not result in new or additional business? If you gave these activities a good opportunity to bring you business, then maybe it’s time to consider dropping these activities and trying some new ones. After all, there is no sense continuing to spend money on marketing that has not proven to be effective for your business. Even if it has worked for someone else, it may not be a good marketing activity for you and your business.
(5) Use this information to plan your marketing for next year
Plan to spend more time, energy and/or money on those activities that brought you business and sales. These activities have proven themselves to be effective for your business, product or service. So odds are if you commit more to them, they will result in even more sales.
And, if you really don’t have any way to track your sales or new clients, don’t beat yourself up. You are not alone. In fact, one of my biggest challenges as a marketing consultant has been to get my clients to track the effectiveness of their various marketing activities. Just make sure to remedy this now, once and for all. Commit to never implementing a marketing activity again without some way to track how effective it is.
(6) Set up a way to track all future marketing activities
Recognize the importance of tracking and make sure that you have a plan in place to track all of your future marketing activities. The simplest way to track is to simply ask each new customer where or how they found out about you.
You may also want to consider including a code on any flyers or brochures that you distribute, and providing a reason for the customer to bring that flyer in when they come to make a purchase. Reasons to return the flyer could be to take advantage of a special offer, or to get a discount or free bonus gift.
You can also do this by phone or on the Internet if that is how your customers make purchases. Simply ask them to provide you with the code on the brochure or flyer that they are calling or ordering from. Make sure the code is specific to the location or group of people that you distributed the flyer to.
If you are networking or speaking to a group and someone gives you their business card and agrees to receive your free report or e-newsletter, make sure you include a reference in your contact database of the event where you met them.
For every marketing activity you do put a plan in place to help you track all them. Effective tracking is by far one of the easiest ways to improve your marketing effectiveness. And when you zero-in on what marketing activities are most effective for your business, you will be able to focus your efforts on only those activities, and will be able to spend less and get more as a result.
(C) 2005 Debbie LaChusa
Debbie LaChusa created The 10stepmarketing System to make marketing your own business as simple as answering 10 questions. Learn more about this unique, step-by-step system and get a free 10-week Marketing E-Course when you subscribe to the free, weekly 10stepmarketing Ezine at http://www.10stepmarketing.com
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Tracking Your Marketing Dollars
A client recently asked, “I don’t have a formal marketing budget, so how much should our company spend on marketing?”
There is no simple answer because all companies have different marketing goals, different target audiences and staffing varies for sales and marketing follow up.
Ideally, good marketing helps to bring pre-qualified customers to your sales team, who then complete the sales process and close the sale. But the reality is that most companies spend a great deal of time, effort and money marketing, but spend little time tracking and analyzing. They know exactly what they are spending but may have no idea about how their message is being received, what strategies are really working and what sales were a direct result of their marketing effort.
Companies who clearly define their marketing strategy, set realistic goals and marketing budgets, then track the results always seem to have better control over their marketing efforts, and are able to make changes quickly in response to market changes or changes in strategy by their competition.
Step 1: Budget
First, figure out what you can afford to spend per month for the next three months without negatively affecting your company’s cash flow. Then, create a simple marketing plan that gives you the most effective return on your marketing dollars. Usually this means determining the best way to reach the greatest number of pre-qualified prospects for the least amount of money.
Step 2: Plan and Measure
Carefully measure the effectiveness of your marketing. Promotions that use codes, coupons or other means to track responses to the campaign are best great since they help you to track responses. E-mails, telephone calls, website traffic and conversions of website traffic to actual leads must be tracked and measured in order to determine what is effective, or not.
Step 3: Analyze
Analyze your marketing results to determine which marketing strategy or marketing message is working best. A high response rate may be good, but a fewer number of more qualified leads will usually be better. As you follow up on leads ask them what they liked about your marketing message or the way the message was presented.
Step 4: Refine and Perfect
Refine your marketing message and focus on marketing campaigns and messages that work, repeating Step 2 and Step 3 at end the end of each quarter. You can experiment with increasing your marketing budget each quarter to reach more prospective customers. By determining which strategy or campaign works best, over the next few months, shift more of your budget into the marketing strategy that’s reaching your target market and bringing you the results you want.
Five tips to make tracking easier
1) Simplify your marketing efforts. Focus on one theme per quarter but do try variations of your marketing message. Different graphics, images, and colors may contribute to different responses in recipients. Be sure to track which version customers respond to better.
2) Centralize your lead results. Even if you different people in different departments responding to leads, make sure you centralize data collection so everyone involved will track and record data in one place. Relying on estimates or monthly meetings to try and determine which what strategy is working can be counter productive, especially if you have a campaign that flops and you need to change your message immediately.
3) Analyze what works and why. And find out what does not work and why. If you’re not getting the response you had hoped for with a new promotion or message, ask your prospects why and determine what’s at fault. Is the message not clear? Is the media appropriate? Does your offer or message hit any “hot” buttons?
4) Create a call to action. Does your offer have a time limitation and a call to action? Don’t just rely on the offer itself to prompt a response by the recipient. Make your prospects want to respond right away to the offer. Have a respond by date or put a time limitation so they can’t wait for more than a few days to respond.
5) Refine your marketing message. Sometimes “great” ideas don’t result in a big response. Remember that you can refine your marketing message in order to get a greater response or change the message graphically so you get noticed instead of lost with all the other offers your market may be receiving.
Vann Baker is the president and creative director of Design-First, a marketing company that helps companies of all sizes and in many different industries with branding, marketing strategies and creating effective marketing materials. Vann has over 25 years of marketing experience, and has created websites, brochures, e-blasts, catalogs, direct mail and effective marketing campaigns. For more tips and information about marketing your company, go to: http://www.design-first.com
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Emerging Opportunities of Online Marketing Differences between the conventional marketing and online marketingDuring the nineties, the.
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If you’re running a small business, then at some point you may be faced with the problem that you want to gear up your marketing in order to grow the business, but at the same time you’re afraid of getting it wrong and losing whatever you invest in it.
Whilst large businesses can afford to throw large amounts of money at campaigns, and absorb the losses if their marketing doesn’t work, small businesses need a return on every pound they spend. They need some level of certainty that the money and effort they invest is going to produce good results. Otherwise, what can happen is that they keep doing what they’re already doing (which probably isn’t working that well), or they blow a load of money on advertising or marketing solutions that don’t work, and then lose faith in outside help or marketing altogether.
If you want to avoid wasting money on marketing and advertising, or getting burnt by marketing consultants then you’ll want to minimise your risks and invest your money in solutions that work for you.
As you read this article you’ll discover 5 options for learning how to do your own marketing or recruiting outside help, and the advantages and disadvantages of each option.
5 Options for Learning Marketing Skills or Getting Help with Marketing
1) Learn how to do it yourself through reading books, attending workshops, using audio programmes etc.
The obvious advantage of this is that it’s the cheapest option, plus as you learn to do things for yourself, you retain control of your marketing programme. However, the major drawbacks are that the learning curve is very steep and it may take a long time to learn what works, plus you may end up learning a lot of generic information that doesn’t directly apply to your business or that doesn’t give you an actual step by step plan. You may learn what to do, but not how to do it or the exact steps you need to take to implement what you’ve learnt.
2) Use a marketing consultant/agency
The advantage of this is that you effectively hand over the problem to someone else who deals with it on your behalf, leaving you to get on with what you do best. The disadvantages of this option are that you don’t learn what works for your business and you are no longer fully in control of your marketing function – so you won’t know why some things work and others don’t.
Also, this is probably the most expensive option, and some marketing consultants have got a tendency to prescribe their pet solution, before even diagnosing the actual problem and the situation. Not only that, but if your problem is, for example, lack of sales, and you decide the solution is PR, and then hire a PR consultant, they will work to your brief. In other words, you’ve diagnosed the problem and precribed the solution. However, PR may not be the best solution to your problem, and a proper analysis of your target market and your current activities, budget and opportunities is required before forming the conclusion that a PR consultant is the answer.
3) Group coaching/training programmes
The advantage of this is the lower cost plus regular classes and fieldwork that keep you on track. Some people will benefit from working in a group, especially as they learn from the experiences of others, and particularly if there is a “buddying” system in place.
The disadvantage is the lack of personal coaching/consulting or significant input from the expert in examining your particular situation. Not only that, but you’ll be going at a pace as dictated by the course outline, when you might want to move considerably faster or even slower. Also, most programmes go through a range of strategies as decided by the programme creator, some (or many) of which are not applicable to your particular situation. This is especially true if the programme is designed for the generic “small business” – what works for a dry cleaning business may not work for a consultant, coach or professional.
The result is that you may be learning 10 or 12 strategies at a rather superficial level, rather than homing in on the 2 or 3 strategies that are really going to deliver results into your business, and which are manageable.
4) One to one business/marketing coaching
The advantage of this is the personal attention, and the ability to address your specific issues. This works out a little more expensive than a group training programme, but less expensive than hiring a consultant.
How this works varies widely and a lot depends on whether the coach is using a coaching model (i.e. they guide you in working out your own solutions) or a marketing model (they take on a role more similar to a consultant than a coach, and tell you what will work for your situation). Most do not seem to offer any structure, specific outcomes, or programme of activities so it can be hard to tell what you’re getting for your money.
5) A Structured Programme of consulting, training and mentoring delivered one to one
In this scenario the consultant uses a structured series of exercises to analyse the client’s situation, help them build their marketing foundation, overcome problems and obstacles standing in their way and works with them to create a series of marketing actions that will work best for them.
This typically costs about the same as marketing coaching, but has more tangible outcomes and the consultant will also be doing things on the client’s behalf in between sessions. The advantages are that the client is fully in control of their own situation and is being guided and taught how to do things for themselves. The consultant will also use their expertise to steer the client towards solutions that will work for their situation, their market and their type of business, and filter out approaches that are irrelevant or less likely to produce good results.
The disadvantages are that you still have to do the work yourself (unless you pay for help with implementation), and if the consultant is helping you to craft your message and build your foundation, then there may be a delay before any strategies get fully implemented. This is really the approach that is analogous to building your house on rock rather than on sand – it takes a little longer to lay the foundations, but it’s a sturdier, stronger solution in the end.
© 2006 Jane Hendry, Attractioneering
Jane Hendry helps professionals, consultants and coaches to create marketing systems that easily and consistently attract their ideal clients. To get your f*ree Attraction Marketing Starter Kit please visit http://www.attractioneers.com . You will also find a F*REE marketing plan template and a F*REE marketing evaluation.
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Johnny Vargas Internet Marketing
There exist many definitions of marketing, in fact, too many. Together with the progression of the Internet, and consequently the development of new marketing techniques, technologies and stratagem, new definitions of marketing are appearing in large numbers. However plural and diverse the definitions of marketing may be, the essence of the said remains intact. Marketing is still no doubt the unique function of the business enterprise and no prosperous business is possible nowadays without effective marketing.
Most businesses believe that marketing effectiveness is expressed solely in numbers. Apparently, there are aspects (metrics) of marketing effectiveness that can be quantified and measured. The first and foremost goal of marketing is to create customers. Consequently, the effectiveness of this aspect of marketing can be evaluated by the number of new customers, new leads of a company or, in case of telemarketing, the number of completed calls. Another significant metric of effectiveness is the number of new products purchased by existing customers since the objective of any enterprise that intends to stay competitive in the market is not only to create new customers but to value and retain the ones they have already.
Measuring the response is another simple and cogent way to evaluate marketing activities. By taking the total cost of a marketing activity (for example, from an advertisement) and dividing it by the total number of responses, you determine the cost per response ratio. This cost per response ratio can help you decide if this activity was a success by comparing it with other alternative marketing activities. A standard measure of the effectiveness of various marketing activities is marketing ROI (return-on-investment).
Apart from the above there are aspects of marketing effectiveness that cannot be quantified. Many marketing analysts state that the mission of marketing is to establish an environment in which the customer appreciates the benefits of doing business with your firm, to set the stage for making the sale, to create the circumstances that make the sale the next logical, appropriate step. The uniqueness of a company that sets it apart from the competitors, its strong hold on the market place, i.e. the status of a company as the acknowledged leader in the field, the ability to stay at the forefront of the customer’s mind can all be considered the benchmarks for testing marketing success of an enterprise.
Marketing effectiveness that results in businesses achieving its sales targets, enhanced profits and increased bottom line performance is determined by both quantified and non-quantified metrics. The concept of singling out certain metrics when analyzing the efficiency of marketing policy and performance has been adopted by many and continues to evolve. Making marketing more accountable is an opportunity to put the effectiveness of your marketing performance to test. The elaboration of modus operandi for measuring marketing performance has become a hot issue in today’s marketing discussions. There are two parties concerned that are interested more than others in the solution of the issue. The first party represented by chief executive officers, chief financial officers and board directors want to know that investment into marketing brings profit. Marketers that make the second party want to proof the same.
The solution of the problem took the form and shape of a scorecard, no surprise. Thus, marketing is becoming the last in the list of business functions to accept scorecards – a concise report featuring a set of measures that relate to the performance of an enterprise, as a means for measuring marketing activities in order to give an all-embracing view of the performance of the above business department.
The next question that arises here is how many metrics and which in particular will make a scorecard comprehensive and all-embracing. Some economists claim that there are over 50 marketing metrics; however, it is clear that not all of them are equally important. A scorecard that is able to accurately diagnose and predict the future of marketing performance will comprise the fundamental metrics that evaluate only what is really important.
The fundamental metrics should include not only quantified metrics that are easy to measure (for example, number of new customers, ROI) but also non-quantified ones (brand awareness, brand equity) since it is the latter which are mostly able to determine the long-term vitality of a business. Thus, elaboration of a perfect scorecard measuring marketing performance needs certain training. Surveys show that the ones that already exist may still need some refinement and updating.
If you want to learn more about marketing metrics, check Sam Miller new web-site.
the power struggle in marketing (and how to beat it)
hey amish love the blog and the new look..just wanted to tell you that your information keeps me excited about internet marketing..your post is on point i refused to let myself get lazy on owning my own products..its easy to get lazy …
The Impact To Internet Advertising with Video Email Advertising …
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Marketing Planning Made Simple – Another Small Business Power Tool
Marketing planning must be really difficult and complex, otherwise why would there be so many books written on the subject … right?
Well, I’m just enough of a skeptic to believe that many of these books were designed more to make money for their publishers and authors than to make marketing planning simple and understandable.
I spent more than 30 years working with very successful small business people who never wrote a single marketing plan. Why didn’t they need complex, 100-page marketing plans chock full of statistics, charts and graphs like the experts recommend? It’s because they knew exactly where they wanted to take their companies and how to get them there and they were universally successful.
The fact is they basically carried their product “marketing plans” around in their heads. That’s how simple marketing planning can be. In fact, if you strip marketing planning down to its most basic elements, you could just about write your plan on the back of a napkin.
Okay, that might be a bit of an oversimplification, but let’s look at the six basic things you need to know for successful marketing planning.
1. The situation. Is this a new or existing product or service? If it has competition, how is it better than the competition? Bigger? Lasts longer? Easier to use? Offers more features? Priced better? You should be able to sum up your situation in a couple of sentences. If not, maybe you don’t really understand the situation.
2. The market. How big is the market for your product or service? This can be defined in terms of total dollars, number of units sold or any other quantifiable number. The important thing is to know the size of your market because only by knowing this can you define a marketing objective. You also need to define what the market looks like — Males, age 25-45? Soccer Moms? Working mothers? Seniors? Childless couples? A market isn’t just numbers, it’s people. And it’s important to understand where they are economically, what’s important to them, and what problems you can help them solve.
3. Strategy. Now that you have defined your situation and your market, it should be easy to develop a marketing strategy. For example, if your product is footless, control top panty hose, your strategy might be to “focus sales efforts on figure-conscience women age 34-45 during the spring and summer months.”
4. Tactics. If “strategy” is what you intend to do, “tactics” is what you need to do to accomplish it. In the case of the strategy example above, the tactics might be:
- Begin sales efforts against distributors by Feb. 1
- Have products in distribution pipeline by March 1 for delivery to retailers no later than April 1.
- Begin concentrated radio advertising in 12 key markets by April 15 …and so on
5. Objective(s). You can frame your objectives any way you want but you have to assign a number and a date. It’s no enough to say, “Successfully introduce the new product by year’s end.” In the immortal words of Yogi Berra, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you might end up somewhere else.” If you don’t include a number and a time, you will never know whether or not you were really successful. Write objectives like “sell 5,000 units by December 31.” Then, on January 1, you can count sales and determine how successful you were. Best case, you will find you sold 5,000 or more units and will know your marketing planning was right on. And if you didn’t meet the objective? You should be able to at least learn a lesson and do better next time.
6. Budgeting. The final thing you need to consider is how much money you can spend to meet your objective. The best way to do this is break down your budgeting by tactics. If you need to reach 100,000 women to sell 10,000 units of your product, do you have the money to do this – in terms or radio, newspaper, TV or direct mail? Do you need collateral materials such as brochures or in-store displays? How much will these things cost? Depending on your product or service, you may also have to hire a PR firm or an advertising agency. Be sure to budget for this expense.
Can you add more elements to your planning? Of course. Just go buy one of these marketing textbooks and you’ll find pages and pages of information that could be incorporated into your plan. The point here is that maybe you don’t have to make your marketing planning a huge and laborious project. Do what many of my clients have done – keep it simple, something you can just carry around in your head if that’s your style. The important things are your situation, your market, your strategy and tactics, your objective and your budget. Know these things and you’re well on your way to success.
Have you heard about HD radio technology? It makes AM sound as good as FM and FM sound almost like you were listening to a CD … and its free! To learn more about this amazing new technology, just go my Web site, http://www.hd-radio-home.com, to get all the buzz. Douglas Hanna is a retired marketing executive and the author of numerous articles on HD radio and family finances.
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Embracing The Future – Marketing Yourself, Your Business And Your
Introduction
Many businesses and organisations have a perception that marketing means promotions and advertising. They think being good at marketing is producing a glossy brochure and having an ad on the local radio or television. But marketing is much more than slick promotions and expensive pamphlets. It is about a process and having a clear strategy. It is also about structuring every aspect of your business to include a marketing function.
It is also about understanding marketing strategies, the tools of marketing and the language of marketing. Many people are frightened or are put off by the jargon and concepts put forward by so called marketing experts.
This article attempts to simplify the process. To provide a “how to” of what’s required to develop winning marketing ideas.
Many people also believe they are too busy or don’t have enough time or energy to develop marketing ideas. It doesn’t have to be difficult or complex.
Many great marketing strategies are very simple and straightforward.
In fact, I believe everyone has a great marketing idea inside of him or her just waiting to come out! What’s stopping you from taking the next step?
My goal is to help you overcome any procrastination and provide a framework where your ideas can grow and prosper.
How will I know if I’ve been succesful?
Well if I’ve been entertaining and informative – I’m in the “Edutainment” business. And if I’ve delivered what I call the “Three H’s”.
- HEAD – provided information and knowledge that’s tapped into your head. Some useful piece of new knowledge or information that’s got your brain ticking over.
- HEART – Tapped into your emotions. Moved you in some way. Made you smile, laugh or get excited.
- HIP POCKET – I have yet to find anyone not interested in money. My goal is that in this session you will pick up something – a new idea, contact or concept that will help you make more money.
Why marketing ideas are important?
Ideas, creativity and the ability of turning these into practical strategies will become the hallmark of successful businesses in the new millennium.
Leading organisations will tailor all of their activities around these concepts to create a culture where ideas, innovation and a can-do marketing attitude are fostered.
Truly successful companies are now doing this by building brands and customer loyalty around these names and symbols. It is the brand and the marketing processes around the brand that are the assets of new companies in this information age.
With the huge amount of change happening – businesses and groups that are quick, nimble and have an ideas focus will have the potential to carve out new niches.
They will be marketing and media savvy.
In today’s highly dynamic global business environment, truly successful leaders will know how to harness both marketing ideas and the power of the media.
We are living through some of the largest social and economic changes we’ve ever faced.
We’re in the midst of a great gold rush, the likes of which we haven’t witnessed in a hundred years. Marketing ideas are the gold of the 21st century.
What is marketing?
What does marketing mean to you?
How would you define marketing?
If you believe marketing is about selling or promotions, you’re only partly right. Marketing is much more.
Here is my definition I give to clients, customers and people who attend my presentations and workshops.
Marketing is…
- What you do to ultimately get or keep a customer.
- About positioning.
- About process
- Entering a new paradigm. It means structuring every activity within your business to meet the needs of your customer.
Take a moment to compare your views on marketing with the latest thinking on marketing.
Are you prepared to shift? To see how marketing touches on every aspect of how you interact with customers and how you run and operate your business.
If you’ve been able to shift your focus and change your attitude on marketing its now time to move on and develop your BIG MARKETING IDEA.
Top 10 Reasons Stopping People Achieving their BIG MARKETING IDEA
Many people never achieve their true potential in achieving their goals, dreams and aspirations. From my experience as a broadcaster, manager and marketer here are my Top 10 reasons stopping people from achieving their big marketing idea.
1. Not believing it can be done.
The belief system has to be really strong. You really have to believe you can do it to overcome the hurdles. In 1992, the 500 farmers who started this Co-operative with $5000 must have had a really strong belief system they could make it work.
2. Doing Nothing.
Some people just don’t know what it takes. Instead of starting on a path they do nothing for fear of doing the wrong thing.
3. Don’t think they have an idea or solution to a problem.
Some people keep their ideas and solutions locked up inside them and neither see them or acknowledge them. It often takes an outsider to bring them out. Why not get an outsiders view of the challenge and brainstorm some solutions.
4. Not believing you can make money out of it.
You often hear people moaning about being stuck in a job because it pays the bills or doing something because that’s the way it’s always been done. People are motivated by the need for food and shelter and your need to believe you can make money from your idea or solution.
5. Don’t have time?
Many people are caught up in the rush and “busyness” of today’s life. I’m not suggesting you add more to your life by adding an extra action point, job or task to your “To Do List”. I’m recommending you do less and eliminate something! If you watched one hour less of television per week that would give you 52 hours. What would you do with 52 hours of extra time?
6. Don’t have enough resources?
People often say they need resources – money, infrastructure, computers, printers and the like. But how much money does it take to write an idea down and then communicate it to someone else?
7. Persistence!
You’re likely to come up against a 100 barriers before you succeed. Persistence is vital in breaking through the barriers.
8. Is it practical?
Is the idea or solution practical and does it work? Take the example of NASA in the US. They spent a million dollars developing a ballpoint pen that works in zero gravity! The Russians gave their cosmonauts pencils.
9. Are you afraid?
Many people are afraid of many things – success, failure, rejection or just being different. These fears can become barriers.
10. Not being ready
Many people are aware that what they’re doing is not what they really want to do and creating barriers for others. They recognise the need to change and shift their thinking. They’re just not ready at that moment in time to make the change.
So that’s what’s stopping people from putting in practice their BIG MARKETING IDEA.
What are the success factors for Marketing Yourself, Your Business and Your Co-Operative?
10 Tips on Marketing
In summary here are 10 Tips on marketing.
1. Clarify your mission.
2. Have a plan and set some goals and strategies.
3. Know your strengths and build on these.
4. Identify and talk to your customers.
5. Find out who your competitors are?
6. Put a value on your service.
7. Let people know about your service.
8. Add value to existing services.
9. Differentiate your service from others.
10. Evaluate and review on a regular basis.
Thomas Murrell MBA CSP is an international business speaker, consultant and award-winning broadcaster. Media Motivators is his regular electronic magazine read by 7,000 professionals in 15 different countries.
You can subscribe by visiting http://www.8mmedia.com. Thomas can be contacted directly at +6189388 6888 and is available to speak to your conference, seminar or event. Visit Tom’s blog at http://www.8mmedia.blogspot.com.
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James Malinchak find creative marketing inspiration
How Can You Recession Proof Your Marketing?How Can You Recession Proof Your Marketing?
You realise that marketing is vital for your business to survive this economic downturn. Now more than ever you need to use marketing to help you sustain and grow your business, however, you need to cut costs and marketing expenses does seem like an easy way to achieve this!
You are not alone. Ever business is struggling with this challenge at one level or another. What do you do? How can you get the right balance? How can you recession proof your marketing?
Well the answer is simply and obvious. Stop wasting money on marketing programs that do not bring results! So many businesses spend on marketing activities without a clear business objective and the ability to track results. Every marketing dollar spent must be scrutinised. You need to get smart about how you are marketing. Smart marketing is about maximising your business results in the most cost effective manner. You do not need mega-bucks to apply smart and effective marketing for your business. In fact, if you follow my guidelines you will achieve Better Marketing Results on your own marketing activities.
Here are four rock-solid points to ensure your marketing will become recession proof:
- Focus on your Ideal Customer: Develop a customer profile with detailed descriptions of their drivers and buying processes. You must completely understand your customer and their buying process to allow you to formulate marketing messages that are relevant and will resonate with them. Your message must paint an emotive picture of your customer enjoying the benefits of your product or service.
- Apply Multi-Channel Marketing: At any one time you must have a least four marketing channels delivering results for your business. Yes, you read that right four not one. You might be thinking to yourself that implementing one is already a struggle let alone four. The secret has long been discovered by successful business entrepreneurs. You need a business marketing system that will function efficiently as your business development engine. Consider the following four marketing channels to start with:
- a) Referral Marketing: We all know this, however, what we need to do is go full-throttle on referral marketing as a driver for new business. Look at implementing referral programs with incentives and rewards. Rewards can be informal such as flowers, chocolates or a dinner for two for referrals that generate business. At the very least a thank you card would be appropriate even if the referral did not turn to new business. Formal programs like affiliate referral strategies are Pay for Performance paying commissions only on successful referral sales.
- b) Networking or Personal Selling: Everyone in your business must be able to network effectively whether in a social and or business function. Make sure all staff is familiar and comfortable with your Unique Benefit Statement. Formulate your Unique Benefit Statement from your target customer’s point to view What’s In It For Me? The value of networking is in your opportunity to establish relationships that expand your market reach beyond your immediate networking circle.
- c) Email Marketing: I am not talking about blast or broadcast emails that have spawn the term SPAM. Don’t be one of these. Properly implement email marketing is focused on your recipient. It must deliver relevant and interesting content for your target audience. Understand your customer and use their profiles in defining what they want and need. Inform and educate your customers in the benefits that will help them with their pain points to demonstrate the value you can deliver for them.
- d) Web Presence: Get this under performing marketing channel into shape and revamp your website into a properly functioning online web business presence. Make it an automated marketing engine for your business development. Revisit your key business objective for your web presence and demand more for those electronic web pages in cyberspace. If you have a clear business objective you will develop an understanding of how it can be achieved on the Internet. Every single web page must work hard for your business. A good way to help you focus on this change is to view your online web presence as belonging to your target customers it is theirs not yours! Content must be oriented toward their relevant needs and interests not what you want to say. Ensure that every web page meets this content test and is designed according to persuasion conversion scenarios. If your web designer/developer is unfamiliar with these design concepts find one that does immediately!
Apply these guidelines and you will get Better Marketing Results to make your marketing recession proof.
Patrick Zuluaga has more than 20 years experience in marketing and business development roles with Australian and international companies. He is Director of PMZ Marketing, a consultancy focused on Small and Medium Enterprises to help you succeed in business with better marketing results.
You can reach Patrick via email at patrick@pmzmarketing.com.au or visit the web presence at http://www.pmzmarketing.com.au
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