Archive for February, 2011
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Here is a challenging, but all too common, situation that many nonprofit marketers experience when trying to develop a budget for their marketing plan:
“My organization has been in existence since the 1960s, longer than any other environmental group in the state. But, like many other nonprofits, we have never been good at marketing ourselves, and therefore don’t have the membership base that we should.
As a result, we’re beginning to lose our historical advantage. For example, our state Audubon Society is developing a national audience and now has the funds to market themselves even more effectively. Our state’s Heritage Trust hired a marketing group that has helped them grow exponentially over the last year.
We clearly need professional marketing help. We have a board member with marketing expertise (but, like most board members, he can’t give 100% of his effort to our marketing agenda) and a marketing committee, composed of directors in communications (my boss), development and membership. I do most of our print and online graphic design and web development and outreach, but could be even more effective working with a marketing expert.
While leadership recognizes our need for professional marketing help, they are not moving forward in that direction. My boss agrees 100% but can’t get anywhere either. In the end, while we are stalled marketing-wise, our competitors are moving forward. Help!
I’ve passed on information on nonprofit marketing specialists and asked these specialists to contact our management too. Nothing has made a difference. I want to be more effective but don’t know how to get there. I think my creation of a marketing plan would help, but don’t know where to start. What should I do?”
Here is my advice:
The situation you face is a common one. Every nonprofit organization should be proactively marketing itself to develop and strengthen relationships with members, supporters, donors, volunteers and other stakeholders. Doing so (and I know you know this already) is more than just traditional communications (read that “information dissemination”) and outreach.
True marketing means clearly defining your goals and objectives, the audiences you need to target to reach them, and then the marketing strategies and hands-on tactics that will get your audiences’ attention. The process necessitates talking to your audiences to get to know their perspectives, analyzing what competitor and colleague organizations are doing marketing wise, and more.
Here’s what I’d advise:
o Stop asking marketing firms to call your leadership, and stop passing on firm materials as well. Your intentions are great but at this point it’s clear that this strategy isn’t going to work. As a matter of fact, it’s likely that the leadership is annoyed.
o Build understanding of what marketing is and the value that it will bring to the Council. It’s all too easy for nonprofit managers and board members to nix marketing expenditures when they don’t really understand how vital marketing is to the ongoing health of their organizations. Their reasoning is frequently that program comes first, then vital support functions like fundraising. And I think that’s what’s happening at the Council. It’s up to you (working with your boss) to build the understanding that there is no program without marketing. Begin by crafting some concrete case studies that demonstrate the power of marketing on organizational success. Best, if possible, to focus on organizations that your management know (in your geographic or issue area) so that they will identify even more strongly with the stories. Review the entire marketing process, beginning with the fact that marketing goals are designed to support organizational goals. Explain what particular training and expertise is required to design the right marketing plan and to implement it successfully.
o Come to the table with a proposal. Work with your boss (you need to be a team on this one) to figure out what needs to be done first and what you need (money, human resources and/or training) to make it happen. Be prepared to distribute a written proposal, with budget figures and a timeline. Whatever the request is, do your homework. I suggest that you propose something more tangible than a marketing plan as a first step. Is there a campaign that needs to be launched to a new audience segment? Do you and your boss have the skills (or know where to hire them) to do so? Best to pick a project where you’re confident that you can generate results. After all, you want to use this success to motivate ongoing support and budget for marketing work.
o As you implement your initial marketing project, keep management and board posted on progress. You want them to understand the process (so that they understand the budget and timeframe) and maintain their interest in the project. Remember, it’s up to you (alas) to demonstrate how you can put marketing to work to meet the Council’s goals.
o Serve as an ongoing marketing mentor to the management and board group. As you and your boss come across great marketing models or marketing ideas that might be effective for your organization, pass them on with a cover note. When you attend a conference in the field, summarize key content in an email and share it with these folks. They’ll begin to see you as an expert, while you continue to build their understanding of how marketing can make a difference.
o Once you have one or two successful marketing projects under your belt, then it’s time to develop a comprehensive marketing plan, derived from the Council’s organizational goals. I’d recommend that you bring in an expert at this point to guide you in creating the plan. This is the critical juncture when experience with multiple nonprofit organizations, facing varied marketing challenges is a must. You have one chance to convince your leadership of the value and process of real marketing. Do it. The plan development process itself will raise many issues to be worked through with your management and board members. In doing so, you’ll develop their buy-in and their understanding of your focus and efforts. Beyond that, you and your boss will have a blueprint to guide your focus and your budget and an expert consultant ready to go for implementation.
Nancy E. Schwartz helps nonprofits succeed through effective marketing and communications.
Subscribe to her free e-newsletter “Getting Attention,” at http://www.nancyschwartz.com/getting_attention.html and read her blog at http://www.gettingattention.org for more insights, ideas and great tips on attracting the attention your organization deserves.
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Some Times Referred to as the E-marketing or Online Marketing …
In these days of vast Internet use, people generally have the intention to attach everything of their daily life to the Internet. So the.
James Malinchak find creative marketing inspiration
Doctors often wonder when and how to start incorporating marketing into their long-range business plan. There’s no argument that it is a necessity – the questions are more about the process.
Ideally, a practice should start marketing from its inception. Whether general, cosmetic or another type of specialist, the sooner you market, the easier it is to develop your brand as a quality dentist in your market. However, as more and more doctors are transitioning from a general practice to one with a greater aesthetic focus, the need to create a source of pre-qualified patients with an interest in aesthetics grows.
Getting Started
Far too often, doctors turn to marketing once they realize their practice is in trouble. Perhaps they have dropped insurance too quickly, or the competition has landed in their neighborhood. The number of new patients each month has declined, and panic mode sets in. It must be time to stop stalling and start marketing.
In reality, successful marketing efforts are built over a period of time. The practice needs a plan. The practice needs a brand identity (ie – logo, tag line/positioning statement and consistent “look”). The practice and associated brand need several months of consistent advertising before they can even start to grab hold of a position in the mind of a prospective patient. Using marketing to turn a practice around within a month is like trying to stop a flood with a single sandbag.
So when is the best time for the non-advertising practice to start incorporating marketing into their practice? From the moment you take your first course at LVI. Start with the internal projects first – developing a long range plan, a logo, determining your position in the market, a stationary package, new patient welcome package, etc. Make sure you’re your case presentation and case closing skills are well practiced. Then, as you continue to take more courses and further develop your skills and confidence, you’ll be ready to jump into external marketing without waiting.
Patience = Patients
When asked how long the process takes, I often refer to the history of my husband Larry’s practice. Before he even opened his doors, we had created a logo and communicated his opening with print advertising and direct mail. As his interest in aesthetic dentistry grew, print ads about aesthetics began appearing in our advertising schedule.
But it was not until he had completed several LVI courses that we pulled the trigger focusing on aesthetics in our advertising. Gradually, more patients began asking about these services. In his estimation, it took over a year of consistent advertising about aesthetic dentistry before our market came to regard him as the premiere choice for those services.
As a general rule, the more saturated your market, the longer the process takes. We were fortunate with Larry’s practice because we live in a rural area with virtually no established competition for aesthetic dentistry – and it still took a year. Of course, now the competition has caught on and competitive ads about cosmetic dentistry are infiltrating the market. But since he was established in his position, his brand has remained consistently strong. As a general rule, you have to spend twice as much money to achieve half the result if you’re trying to occupy an established position. Find a niche message and stay with it.
In a metropolitan area such as Philadelphia or Houston, advertising for aesthetic anything can be seen in every medium. Cosmetic surgery, LASIK, permanent makeup and salons are all competing for your prospect’s expendable “health and beauty” income. A myriad of ads for smile makeovers pepper the magazines, radio and TV. Your prospective patient now has to sort through all this clutter to get to your message, and with enough frequency that they remember you when the time comes to make a decision.
There is skill involved in knowing when to start promoting your talents. An old saying in advertising goes “Nothing can kill a bad product faster than good advertising.” In other words, have your clinical, case presentation and case closure skills refined before you unleash your message on the public.
Where Do I Start?
Once you’ve made the decision to market your practice, you’ll need to do a little homework. First, carefully evaluate the competition in your market area. This includes anyone promoting out of pocket health and beauty services as well as other dentists.
Look in the local paper, lifestyle magazines, yellow pages and check your mail. Watch the ads on TV and listen to the radio. Cruise the web for your market. Try to gauge the message and frequency over a period of several weeks. Rip out ads and make notes about what you see. Are these advertisers consistent or just looking for a quick fix? Those with a consistent and clear message are your competition.
Next, determine the best person to help you guide the marketing of your practice. There are many independent consultants who can help create a long range plan and schedule for program development. Give them appropriate insight into your business and plans, but make sure they do the homework to learn the nuances of your industry. There are also a number of excellent full service agencies who can execute the plans as well as develop them.
Unless your office manager has credible past experience, don’t frustrate her and make her learn a new industry. Work with an experienced marketing professional who looks at the whole picture. You or your chosen point person should act as the VP Marketing does in a corporation – manage the consultant or agency, but let them do what you hired them to do.
It Worked For My Best Friend, So…
We hear it often – “I’ve been hearing that radio worked really well in “X” market. Let’s give radio a try.” The key to marketing a practice lies in understanding the principles behind marketing strategy. Every market and message is unique. What you say and how you communicate it will not have the same results in Lewisburg, PA as it will in San Francisco. It totally depends on who your target demographic is (family age women, professional men, blue collar, Hollywood, divorcees, etc.) and where they are located (holistic S. California, power-driven D.C, health conscious mid-west). There is no single right answer for everyone. That’s why package marketing solutions work well for some people and totally bomb for others. The more your marketing consultant knows about your target market and competition, the more specific – and targeted – the message can be.
Pulling the Trigger
While you may have hired a consultant or agency, remember that ultimately, it’s your business. The agency has an obligation to give you recommendations based on their knowledge and experience. But everything you approve – logo, ads, website – will all reflect on you and your practice. Make sure you’re not only comfortable with what you approve, but that you love it. A good agency will keep working until you get a product that simply thrills you, as well as one that gets calls from patients.
Once you’ve made the decision to add marketing to your practice, be prepared for a long term commitment. Remember that it takes time to get results, but with good direction and a unique creative message, you will get the attention of your prospective patients. Don’t change directions after only a month – give it time. Keep an eye on the future. Strategies to market aesthetic dentistry will change as our society’s trends and needs continue to change. Evaluate the competition, track your results, and most of all, keep learning. Continual improvement will help to define your success.
Xana Winans is the owner and president of Golden Proportions Marketing (GPM), a thriving company that specializes in comprehensive, custom marketing and advertising strategies for the dental and medical fields. The GPM website can be found at http://www.goldenproportions.com and Xana can be reached at 866-590-4476 or xwinans@goldenproportions.com.
What to be Successful? Marketing Makes the Difference
When you hear the word “marketing” what comes to mind? More business or wasted money? If your experience with marketing or advertising has been less than positive your cynicism may be well founded. Yet, have you ever noticed a competitor with a mediocre product and a healthy business? The difference is often marketing.
Some say they’ve never done marketing and don’t need to because of good word-
of-mouth. Positive word-of-mouth is great, but not enough if you’re serious about
growing your business. Others do invest in marketing yet treat it as a necessary evil.
The problem with that mindset is that it’s driving with the brakes on. Those people
sabotage their efforts by making poor decisions, taking half-measures and often
resisting anything innovative.
When asked about the “one big key” to marketing success I reply that there’s
nothing more important than a “marketing mindset”. A marketing mindset is an
attitude, a way of thinking, that values and embraces the power of marketing. If you
look at the companies and brands that are most successful — Nike, Microsoft,
Virgin, Trump, Saturn, Kenneth Cole, etc — you’ll find someone at the top with a
marketing mindset. People like Trump, Cole, and Virgin’s Richard Branson may have
it instinctively. For most, however, it’s a learned attribute. So, if you don’t have a
marketing mindset yet, keep reading and start to get one.
Follis Fact #1 You need a Marketing Mindset.
Attracting vs. Chasing
A guy sees a beautiful woman in a bar, tracks down her name and number, calls her
up and says, “Hi, my name is Joe and I’m great in bed.” That’s cold calling. Another
guy sees a beautiful woman in a bar and gives her a napkin that says, “I’m Bill and
I’m great in bed.” That’s direct marketing. A third guy sees a beautiful woman in a
bar, has his ex-girlfriend go up to her and say, “See that cute guy over there? He’s
my ex, his name is Tom, and he’s really great in bed.” That’s PR. Last guy walks into
a bar, a beautiful woman approaches him and says, “Hi, my name is Courtney and I
hear you’re really great in bed.” That’s effective marketing.
Attraction is the essence of marketing. When you create enough desire to get your
prospect to come to you, they’ll always be more predisposed to buying. That bares
repeating. When you create enough desire to get your prospect to come to you,
they’ll always be more predisposed to buying. The challenge, of course, is that your
prospect is elusive prey. So, imagine the first rabbit hunters. They’d exhaust
themselves using spears and rocks until a more evolved Neanderthal got the idea of
using carrots. Or, imagine the girl who desperately wants a date, but can’t
understand why she scares guys away when she chases them. Unfortunately, too
many businesses act like that girl chasing for a date by putting lots into selling and
nothing into marketing.
Follis Fact #2 It’s always better to attract than chase.
Expense vs Investment
Those who don’t understand marketing view it as an expense. Those with a
marketing mindset know it’s an investment. They know that, if done right, it can
excite their prospects and produce a great return. “Done right” means well-
researched, well-managed, and generally handled by someone who knows what
they’re doing. Regarding expense, being a small business is a bad excuse to do
nothing. Start small, but do something. There are plenty of cost-effective, non-
traditional ways to do a test. So, if you want to grow, you can’t afford not to develop
a marketing plan.
Determine your Objective and Budget
Like building a house it starts with a solid foundation. Start with a clear objective.
The more specific you make it, the better you can develop an effective plan to
achieve it. If your company has no marketing director to create a plan, get help. A
marketing plan is critical and it involves the analysis of key market factors such as:
o the nature and traits of your product.
o the exact audience you’re targeting.
o the competitive environment.
o the traits of your industry/category.
o the maturity of your business.
o timing.
Your marketing budget depends upon the analysis of these factors as well as your
short and long term objectives. For some businesses, 5% of annual sales is plenty to
invest. For others, 10% may not be enough. Once the marketing goal is determined
it’s easier to determine the budget needed to achieve it.
Have a Great Product
At the risk of stating the obvious, a big key for marketing success is having a great
product. In his best-selling book, Purple Cow, marketing guru Seth Godin calls it,
“being remarkable.” It’s about having a product or service that’s exceptional.
Though many non-remarkable products may seem to do well because of great
marketing, no long-term success can be achieved without a great product. In fact, if
a product is not great, great marketing will usually make it fail faster. People will
buy it, not like it, and never buy it again.
Case in point: Ever see an exciting teaser for an upcoming movie? It can make a lot
of people run out and buy a ticket. The problem starts a couple of weeks later when
folks see the movie, hate it, and then spread the word. Before you know it, the
movie’s gone. Here’s another case. Remember New Coke? If not, you’re not alone. It
didn’t last long. Despite the marketing muscle that Coke put behind it, the Coke-
drinking public decided they were quite happy with the old Coke. Another case
involves a new tropical hotel. Eager to jump-start his business the owner got tour
directors and travel writers to check it out and hopefully generate some good buzz.
Problem was, the hotel wasn’t finished. Had he waited a couple more months he
would’ve gotten great reviews. Now he’ll be lucky if those tour directors and writers
give him another shot.
If businesses spent less energy trying to sell their product and more on improving
it, they’d have more success in the long run.
Follis Fact #3 Great marketing will make a bad product fail faster.
When product, client, and marketing are all exceptional the results can be a
beautiful thing — even if it doesn’t start off that way.
“Let me get this straight…you want my commercial to start with my competitor’s
tagline?”
That was the company president’s response when I presented the concept. I guess I
couldn’t blame him. Recommending that he put $350,000 behind a TV spot that
began with his main competitor’s tagline may not have seemed like the smartest
idea. Yet, I knew my concept was strong — if I could articulate it. But, before I
continue, let me step back and explain the scenario.
Sorrell Ridge Fruit Spreads was an unknown all-natural “spreadable fruit” product
(ie. jam) that had been selling in health food stores. Now, the tiny brand was ready
to battle the big guys on the grocery shelves of America. The main competitor and
undisputed leader in the category was Smucker’s. Smucker’s had a 30-year history
during which it built one of the strongest, most positive brand images in history.
Their tagline, “With a name like Smucker’s it has to be good”, was famous and
endeared by the American public. What’s more, their ad budget was about 20 times
that of tiny Sorrell Ridge. To say we needed a kick-ass campaign is an
understatement. But Smucker’s was vulnerable. Their preserves were mostly high
fructose corn syrup, refined sugar, and little fruit. Sorrell Ridge, on the other hand,
was all fruit. It was a big competitive difference and the stage was set for a classic
David vs. Goliath battle. So, back to our meeting…
“You want my commercial to start with my competitor’s tagline?”
“The idea here isn’t to promote Smucker’s tagline, it’s to dismantle it,” I replied
passionately. The president’s eyebrows raised. I then walked him through the simple
30-second TV spot which opened with the Smucker’s tagline filling the screen…
With a name like Smucker’s it has to be good.
The announcer began: “For 30 years Smucker’s has been telling us they have to be
good. But in fact, Smucker’s Preserves is mostly corn syrup, refined sugar, and only
some fruit.” At the mention of each ingredient a pair of hands popped up from the
bottom of the TV screen and patched over the last line of type, “it has to be good,”
with a succession of modifications starting with “it’s probably good”, to “it might be
good,” and finally, “is it really so good?” We then cut to the Sorrell Ridge jar as the
announcer explained that “Sorrell Ridge is 100% fruit.” The final stake in the heart
was our tagline which played directly off Smucker’s:
Sorrell Ridge. With 100% fruit, it has to be better.
Holding my breath, I glance over at the Sorrell Ridge president who now looked like
a kid on Christmas morning. I then presented a “50 cents off” coupon ad with side-
by-side visuals of each jar positioned under their respective tagline. Like the TV, it
was simple, but compelling, and he loved it. But now came the legal questions.
Could we even do it? After some nail-biting delays, and a few minor copy changes,
the lawyers gave us the green light. But not without stern warnings that there was
no guarantee that Smucker’s wouldn’t sue. To the president’s credit, he pulled the
trigger on the campaign and we held our breath.
We didn’t have to hold it long. Sales spiked and within the month were up a full 90%.
Our thrilled client immediately doubled his media spending by scraping together
every dime he could muster. When the dust finally settled 12 months later, Sorrell
Ridge had a 50% national increase while sales for the entire jams category increased
only 3.5%. The Harvard Business Review wrote it up as a case study and Forbes
wrote it up as a 2-page feature. My partner and I got covered in a dozen trade
publications and appeared live on CNBC. And, despite all our legal fears, Smucker’s
never did take action. Everything we said was true and obviously Smucker’s knew it.
Though they probably could’ve tied us up in court, the last thing they needed was
more press. We simply had a better product and we got the message across in an
exciting way.
Follis Fact #4 The better your product, the better your marketing can be.
© 2005 John Follis. All rights reserved.
John Follis is one of the 12 “Best Advertising Minds of New York” as voted by The New York Ad Club. His campaigns are in 3 college textbooks, he has written for ADWEEK, and he has taught at 3 New York universities. Currently, John works on select projects, consults, and speaks. He may be reached at john@follisinc.com
For John’s booklet: How to Attract and Excite Your Prospects: A Guide for Getting the Best Marketing Results, visit: http://www.follisinc.com/booklet.htm
For consulting info, visit: Marketing Therapy: http://www.follisinc.com/therapy.htm
For speaking info, visit: Follis Speaking: http://www.follisinc.com/speaking.htm
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Reset Your Business Marketing Model and Create Marketing Ease
Combine traditional business marketing and Internet marketing strategies and increase your business revenues.
Business Marketing Works.
Without marketing your business has no revenues. This marketing may be from word of mouth of clients you’ve served already. Or it may be intentional marketing you create your self. Either way business marketing works. Marketing is the only way to your business success.
Traditional Business Marketing Techniques that Work
Traditionally, we know that ads in magazines, direct-mail postcards, direct-mail sales letters, business networking, telephone calls, and building business relationships all work. In fact, if you’re business marketing strategies are not working, take a look at the copy. What does each ads say? Are you tracking the results of the ad? Did the ad generate revenues for you? If not, you may have had an expense as a result of applying the traditional business marketing techniques. It could be costly to run the ad again using different copy until you find the copy that gets the result you want.
Combine Tradition Business Marketing with Internet Marketing Strategies that Work
Putting internet marketing strategies to work in your business can give you an opportunity to test your ads in a cost effective way. Using internet marketing strategies you can discover what works and doesn’t work with your ad for little or no cost.
Once an ad is getting results using internet marketing strategies, you can put the successful ad in magazines, postcards and even use it on your business card. With an ad that you know gets results the expense of the more traditional marketing techniques is viable.
Powerfully Effective Business Marketing
The combination of internet marketing strategies with traditional business marketing techniques is a powerful way to move your business forward and increase your revenues. It can take as little as three weeks to 90 days to begin seeing new results in your business.
It’s a Magical Combination.
Combining internet marketing strategies with traditional marketing techniques gives you a freedom for expressing yourself uniquely, unlike ever before. Your unique selling point can be easier to create. Your purpose becomes more defined. You are able to attract your ideal clients to your business more easily as a result
Just as business marketing is systematized and repeatable using traditional methods, internet marketing is repeatable and predictable as a clear system to follow. Learn these systems and surge your business revenues forward using the “magical combination” of traditional business marketing and internet marketing.
You’ll be smiling as you check your continuously increasing bank balance.
Juanita Bellavance is an internet marketing mentor with a focus on passive income streams combining internet technologies with other business models.
Create the Magical Combination of Business Marketing and Internet Marketing in 90 Accelerated Days!
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Who is SocialSonya
One of the things that I think most people in the marketing world take for granted is that everybody understands the fundamental role of marketing in business. Through my daily interactions with other business owners over the past several years, however, I have been amazed at the relative lack of understanding about the importance of marketing. More often than not, marketing is a back seat, tertiary thought that comes after their product/service and daily operations, if it’s even that high of a priority.
One of the phrases that my business partner, James Orr, has coined in the real estate investing realm is that “everything starts with motivated sellers.” Without motivated sellers, there are no properties to buy, rentals to put tenants in, fixer uppers to flip, or deals to wholesale. This is such an important aspect of real estate investing that it’s almost a mantra for the way that James and scores of other successful real estate investors run their businesses. The key to getting in touch with motivated sellers happens to be marketing.
I guess that a good place to start in this discussion is to define what marketing is. Google define tells us that marketing is “the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to satisfy customers.” Marketing really does consist of more than what most people think it does. Marketing is more than just the activities that drive sales. Rather, marketing encompasses all the activities that seek to identify what consumers want and how to promote and deliver those goods and services.
Before an individual or company ever even makes the decision to produce a particular product or service, they should first spend the time to determine if there’s even a market for that offering. If there is a demand, they then need to figure out how to get that offering to the consumers that want it, how to tell consumers that it’s available, and how to price it such that there is money left over for a profit. This is all part of the marketing process, and really should occur before the product itself is even produced.
In more common usage of the term, “marketing” is often seen as only the promotional aspect of a product or service that is already available. This part of marketing consists of making the consumer aware of what you’re offering, and convincing them to buy it. There is a tendency in corporate environments to separate the marketing and sales functions into disparate departments, which is often a mistake. The purpose of the promotional element of marketing is to drive sales, and therefore the two functions are intricately connected. A good example of the disconnect between these two departments is when companies that sell capital equipment have vastly more people in their marketing departments than they do in their field sales force. Another example is when marketing and product development folks ignore the input from the field sales personnel. This input is often derived from actual customer contact, which most employees of large organizations don’t experience.
The prime purpose of one of my blogs is to test marketing promotions using a vast array of messages, media, and markets, which are often referred to as the three M’s of marketing. Before we conduct a test, we first do some background research to determine if there is even a market for what we’re considering selling, and we analyze whether or not we can at least break even on the marketing test using certain realistic assumptions about sales ratios. Pricing strategy is also something we discuss a lot before launching a new test. The actual development of sales copy, writing and placing ads, setting up measurement systems, etc., comes later in the process. Making sales and tracking metrics, then tweaking the marketing, comes next.
Sadly, many business owners don’t understand the importance of marketing. Because of this, they fail to plan for rough spots in the business cycle, such as off seasons, economic downturns, and other events. As the cliche goes, “failing to plan is planning to fail.” Every business should have a marketing plan of some sort, and it should be in writing. Companies that don’t “do” marketing will invariably fail.
In short, without marketing there are no sales. And without sales, there is no revenue. And without revenue, any business will quickly succumb to the statistics that show that nearly 2/3 of all businesses fail within their first 4 years.
About The Author: Jassen Bowman is an Internet marketing consultant and helps run a blog dedicated to testing various marketing methods, media, and messages. Visit the Ruthless Accountability Marketing blog to learn more.
Copyright 2007 – Jassen Bowman. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
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Work From Home Ideas Website
Strategic marketing plans are a must have for your fledgling computer business. With a strategic marketing plan you define a means to accomplish your overall marketing goal.
The most successful businesses have a strategic marketing plan in place and they refer to it often. They use it as a living document and not something that sits on the shelf collecting dust.
When developing your strategic marketing plan your first priority should be how you weight the different marketing activities available. Here is a suggested breakdown for you to consider when developing your strategic marketing plan:
Spend about 50% of your time and money on a combination of marketing through organizations and referral marketing.
Spend about 20% of your time and money on doing things related to speaking and teaching and seminar marketing. This part of your strategic marketing plan includes your solo seminars as well as those that you joint venture with accountants and other niche technology providers.
Third priority in your strategic marketing plan is direct mail. Plan to spend about 20% of your time and money on direct mail. Here, targeting is extremely important. In fact targeting is a factor for consideration with all of the elements in your strategic marketing plan.
The last and smallest facet of your strategic marketing plan should be the marketing activities that tend to work for some and not for others. These are all the other types of marketing activities available from door hangers and telemarketing to targeting specific industries. This part of your strategic marketing plan will include a lot of hit and miss items but you won’t know what works until you actually test it.
Bottom Line on Strategic Marketing Plans
Start thinking about building your strategic marketing plan at the very beginning of your business planning exercises. Your strategic marketing plan will hold you on course as you wind your way through the many different marketing techniques available. If you follow the percentages above, your strategic marketing plan will force you to concentrate on proven marketing strategies and only pursue the most risky alternatives in small amounts.
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Marketing in Transition
Introduction
Marketing is the management process that identifies, anticipates and satisfies customer requirements profitably. In pre-modern economies, the predominance of small enterprise and there was monopoly and there was no recognition of marketing as a separate field of expertise. Marketing emerged as a separate technical field only in the late 19th century.
In the present scenario, the changing needs and wants or taste and preferences among the customers leads to paradigm shift in marketing. This is due to changing attitude and behaviour of the customers, globalization, increasing purchasing power and changing life style of the customers.
Causes for Marketing in Transition
• Globalization – Globalization has brought changes in technology, quality, service, work culture and undoubtedly fierce competition.
• Emerging Middle-Class Consumers – the increasing Purchasing Power of the Middle-Class consumers creates the MNC’s to seek opportunity in the emerging market.
• Changing Lifestyle and attitude of Consumers – since there is a change in the customers lifestyle due to western influence the customer’s needs and expectations has increased.
• Increasing literacy rate
• Children influence in buying decision making
• Changing perspective of rural marketing in India
• Increasing penetration of mass media
• Consumer awareness
• Information revolution
• An Enormous growth in international business
Formation of marketing concepts and practices
• 1905 – the University of Pennsylvania offered a course in “The Marketing of Products”
• 1908 – Harvard Business School opens
• 1940s – electronic computers developed
• 1980s – emergence of relationship marketing
• 1984 – introduction of guerilla marketing
• 1995-2001 – the Dot-com bubble temporarily re-defines the future of marketing
• 1996 – identification of viral marketing
Emerging New Marketing Practices
Due to increased competition the companies had necessity to enhance additional features to their products to promote the sale of their products. Many companies followed different marketing practices to attract their customers.
Winning concepts and marketing practices are
• Relationship marketing
• Co-branding
• Viral Marketing
• Sachet Marketing
• Green marketing
• Rural marketing
• Destination marketing
• Online marketing
• Cause related marketing
MARKETING IN TRANSITION
A transition from a product oriented approach to a resource oriented approach
Transaction marketing Relationship marketing
Focus on Obtaining new customers Customer retention
Orientation to Service features Customer benefits
Timescale shorts long
Customer service Little emphasis High emphasis
Customer commitment Limited High
Customer contact Limited High
Quality
Primarily an operations concern
The concern to all
Nowadays many companies are practicing the new marketing concepts and practices. Some of the examples are as follows.
Relationship marketing:
The domain of relationship marketing extends into many areas of marketing and strategic decision making. In the phenomenon of cooperation and collaboration with customers becomes the dominant paradigm of marketing practices. Relationship marketing has the potential to emerge as the predominance perspective in the paradigm of marketing.
In the fierce competitive market customer relationship management is emerging as the core marketing activity in companies. For that to maintain companies practices customer retention strategies and having good relation with the customers.
Example:
HSBC bank sent greeting cards to the customers on their birthdays to have good relationship
Whirlpool do very good post sale service to the customers.
Sachet Marketing
In India, Unilever successfully markets Sunsil and Lux shampoo sachets sold in units of 2-4 dollar cents; Clinic All Clear anti-dandruff shampoo sachets at 2.5 rupees each; and 16 cent Rexona deodorant sticks.
Idhayam gingili oil available for Rs 4/- package.
To capture the BOTTOM OF PYRAMID also
Green Marketing
It refers to the process of selling products and/or services based on their environmental benefits. Such a product or service may be environmentally friendly in itself or produced and/or packaged in an environmentally friendly way.
Green marketing can be a very powerful marketing strategy though when it’s done right. Nowadays all companies are trying to produce eco-friendly products. And many companies have got ISO 14001 awards and strive to get.
Examples are ITC products, in the note books, it is environment friendly notebook.
Changing Perspective Of Rural Marketing In India
The great Indian rural market is characterized by huge untapped potential and opportunities. It is estimated that almost 70% of Indian consumers live in rural areas, which generate almost half of the national income. The number of middle income households in rural India is growing to above 111 million by 2007. There are almost twice as many lower middle income households in rural areas as in the urban areas.
A large number of corporate are excited about tapping the potential of rural areas. The recent entry of some corporate like Bharti, ITC, DCM shriram consolidated, EID parry and Amul etc. proved their fascination towards this sector. These corporates tried to develop successful model of integrating information-technology in rural transformation in a profitable way.
The tamilnadu based EID parry has developed an agro-portal [http://www.indiaagrline.com] to cater the specific needs of the rural farming community. It is an endeavor to catalyze e-commerce in agricultural and non-farms products by offering a network of partnerships. The content is available in local tamil language.
The Anand, Gurajat based Amuls DISK dairy information system KIOSK project is yet another milestone of integrating corporate sector and information technology. These kiosk serve valuable information related to dairying, breeding and rearing cattle .
ITC e-choupal has emerged as one of the most ambitious project integrating information technology and corporate sector for rural transformation. ITC e-choupal network has already covered approximately 3.1 million farmers through 5050 choupal in 29,500 villages. The company has ambitious plan to reach 1,00,000 villages covering 10 million farmers by 2010 with whopping approximately 1,000 crore. It is opening 5-6 e-choupals everyday in six different states of India.
Pepsi rural marketing
Pepsi company India has entered into rural market by having joint programme with the Punjab agriculture university in ludiana and Punjab agro industries corporation in chandigarh. The programme focuses on evolving agricultural practices to help Punjab farmers produce crops that would make Indian products internationally competitive. To cultivate a range of sweet oranges for its Tropicana range.
Apart from that, they have given advertisement to attract the rural people with the celebrity of Amitabh bachchan and star cricketer sachin tendulkar.
Coca-cola rural marketing
With the help of Isha foundation coca-cola released the CD of the coca-cola tamil CSR film “NESA KARANGAL” and also acknowledged and appreciated coca-cola’s efforts in promoting social cohesiveness and sportsmanship with an aim to transform rural lives,
Advertisements to attract the rural customers are maasa-actress Rani Mukherji acted in this advertisement and says “masti ka chataka” , Satis shah’s maaza ad is also based on village background.
Aamir khan acted in the advertisement which showcases a beautiful village background with the punch line “thanda ka matlab cocacola” and also ad title “soni kudi” targeted the villagers.
Destination marketing:
Destination marketing is all about selling the experience. To sell the experience is far more difficult. In destination marketing media plays a major role . word of mouth plays a vital role in destination marketing . people love to discuss their tour, infact they feel proud in telling their experiences, they bring gifts for their close ones they show their photographs and purchases to their relatives and neighbours
Eg . kerala has implemented the destination marketing very successfully and emerged as the most acclaimed tourist destination of the country in the recent past. Because of this destination marketing kerala has achieved remarkable success in generating revenue and employment in state through tourism. It is estimated nearly $100 million which generate the employment opportunity in kerala.
In the recent past all the successful stories of destination marketing that is Malaysia, Goa, Kerala, Singapore etc.
Emergence of theme parks such as ADHISAYAM, MGM , BLACK THUNDER,- all are examples of destination marketing.
Transition from kirana stores to modern organized retail outlets:
Modern retailing in India is growing rapidly. Although it commands just 3% of the overall retail market share, changing demographics and consumer taste are driving the growth of more than 30% of the modern retail formats. It is expected to grow another 9% in the year of 2010. India is more attractive than ever to global retailers.
Major players in India are:
Pantaloon retail India limited or future group, RPG group, Tata group, k.Raheja corp. group of companies, RRL (Reliance retail limited), A.B.Birla group, Gati, Calvin klein,murjani group, Disney artist stores, Vishal group (vishal megamart)
Foreign players in India are
Wal-mart stores, Carrefour, Tesco, Rosy blue group, LVMH Group, Metro
This transition makes the marketing in transition
Transition in Segmentation:
Transition from demographic based segmentation to psychographic based segmentation . since 1950’s market segmentation has been referred to as a process of identifying groups of individuals who are similar in attitudes etc. and the segmentation is of demographic segmentation . after 1970s it is psychographic segmentation , know about the customer taste and preferences and collect at the real time point of purchase data. And now it is need based segmentation is using for different marketing functions like advertising and new product development .
Cause related marketing
Cause related marketing is practiced on the rationale that consumers are human beings are kind hearted. The customer pay the amount with some satisfaction that the specific amount is to for relevant social cause.
Example
A sanitary napkin brand “whisper” announced a contribution o Re.1 on every pack of sales for blind relief society. This helps in improving whisper’s market share.
HLL announced a contribution of Rs 0.50 on the sale of each of its brand of lifebuoy brand soap to a diarrhea project.
Co-branding
Co-branding is when two companies form an alliance to work together, creating marketing synergy. This co-branding is innovative in the marketing practices.
Examples:
• Andhra bank and ICFAI university are using the strategy of co-branding.
• Andhra bank and Hindustan petroleum also launched their co-branded card
• SBI card and LG electronics India launched the LG-SBI card. This is the country’s first co-branded credit card for the consumer appliances industry and can be used at more than 2 lakh outlets in India.
• Idea cellular and HDFC Bank launched two co-branded cards providing multiple benefits to customers of both.
• Pillsbury Brownies with Nestle Chocolate
• Dell Computers with Intel Processors
Online marketing
Internet marketing, also referred to as online marketing, Internet advertising, or eMarketing, is the marketing of products or services over the Internet. Internet marketing also includes management of digital customer data and electronic customer relationship management (E-CRM) systems.
Samsung marketing practices
Viral marketing , interactive marketing
Samsung created its “Fun Club” as a way to engage with Samsung mobile phone owners to help them get the most from their phones. Samsung provides content such as games, ringers, and wallpapers that are designed specifically for Samsung mobile phone models. Hearing about new mobile content is one of the benefits of joining the “Fun Club.” Samsung was looking for a new way to use rich multimedia to promote the game, Skipping Stone, to its customers. Samsung engaged Enpocket to create a mobile marketing campaign promoting Skipping Stone using the graphically rich MMS channel.
Conclusion
In the present competitive scenario, there should be transition in marketing practices in order to survive in the market. Since “change in the only thing which never change” in the world, companies have to adapt themselves according to the changing environment. The best emerging practices in the corporate world is win-win concept to be the leader in the market.
A. ARCHANA
II MBA (2007-2009) BATCH
RL INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES.
MADURAI
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