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Introduction
Does the mere mention of the word “marketing” make you shudder? After all, how do you know whether you should be a gorilla or a radical . . . ask permission or give your stuff away? It seems like anything goes these days. Consider the guy who offered PCs over the Internet. All anyone had to do was provide every bit of information that was requested . . . and endure a running “advertorial” every time the free computer was turned on. Then there’s Avon, a long time multi-level marketer -- last spring the company opened a day spa at a chic New York address. You can order your very own Barbie doll over the Internet, made to your exact specifications . . . or a BMW with the exact options and colors you’ve dreamed of . . . and on and on and on. You get the picture.
Yet, with all these fancy hooks and ingenious ploys, how can you, the average businessperson, get the word out about your products and services? There’s more clutter than ever before, certainly more competition. And, budgets are even tighter. So, how can you break through, be heard, get noticed? How do you determine the right approach for your business?
Former Intel CEO Andy Grove once said, “How well we communicate is determined not by how well we say things but how well we are understood.” Applying that to marketing means that everything you do must have an audience focus. That could be considered a tall order. But in reality it’s not. To achieve success with your marketing endeavors, you must begin at the beginning. You must have a strategic, specifically focused marketing plan.
Why a Marketing Plan?
There are three reasons for a marketing plan. First, the plan will serve as a roadmap, to guide you through the myriad of activities while tying you to your strategies. Second, it will give you a reason to do those activities that make the most sense for your business. Third, and perhaps most importantly, a solid plan will provide you with the rationale to say no to something that doesn’t fit with the overall direction you are taking your company.
John Lennon said it best, “Life is what happens while you’re making other plans.” If he’d been talking about marketing he would have meant that business all too often gets in the way. Good promotions are just the out growth of good planning.
Let me give you an example. A client asks me to help with a brochure or a newsletter. Instead of just saying yes, I ask a series of questions. Some of them are easily answered – what specifically do you want, who is going to see this, when do you want it – all require little thinking. However, the last question is the key. I ask why – is the client doing this and why would anyone care about receiving the material. The point of this two-part question is to return the client to the strategy behind the activity. If the strategy can support the activity, we move ahead. If not, we go back to the drawing board.
Marketing Plan Components
Whether structured and formal or of the cocktail-napkin variety is entirely up to you. However, to be successful – and most helpful -- the plan should contain these components:
§ Mission – the reason your company exists. This is not some pie-in-the-sky statement about being “the best in class” but the baseline reason you are in business. For example, sell boxes, provide candidates for a job search, provide local and long distance telephone service – all are appropriate corporate missions.
§ Vision – your long-range goals. Usually more tangible or measurable, a vision could be to reach X dollars in sales within three years, to eliminate the competition within five years or to achieve a buyout within nine years.
§ Target Markets – who your customers are. In some cases, this means looking at who your customers should be – then marketing to them.
§ SWOT Analysis – an in-depth look at the strengths, weaknesses (internal) and opportunities, threats (external) for your organization. One of two critical pieces of any plan, this speaks to issues of infrastructure that must be acknowledged and addressed for a plan to succeed. If you can’t produce enough product or follow up on leads generates form your activities, you have wasted your time and resources.
§ Competitive Analysis – identifying your competition. This other critical piece looks at real as well as perceived competitors.
§ Objectives – how you are going to reach your goals. This ties back to your overall business plan – increasing sales might include: adds to your sales force, launching a new product or reducing prices.
§ Tools & Tactics – what you’re going to do to reach your objectives. The nitty-gritty of any plan, there are a variety of activities that can carry out your objectives. Two cautions here: first, be sure what you choose to do fits your needs; second, do what you can afford so each tactic is implemented completely.
§ Budget & Timeline – what it will cost and how long it will take. Include all costs for all activities (i.e.: postage for mailings, phone time for telemarketing, design services) and set deadlines that are real.
§ Evaluation – did what you do work; would you do it again; was it worth it. This is the litmus test. Knowing why something was successful – or not – is very important. Remember, a plan isn’t “etched in stone” but a fluid document. Monitoring your activities and their outcomes is critical to your overall success.
The Best Chosen Words
A cornerstone of my philosophy comes in to play once the plan has been developed: “It’s not only what you say . . . but how and when and where and to whom.” In other words, once you determine your strategy, you must set your story, choose your words and keep using them, over and over.
To achieve this you need key messages – well beyond the 30-second and 3-minute networking varieties we all use these days. The messages must represent my favorite radio station WIIFM (what’s in it for me – as in them, not you). And they must integrate in both your words and activities.
Your audiences need a clear picture of your message that evokes emotions. But remember, no jargon. Delivering your messages in the simplest of terms net the best results.
Additional Considerations
This quote from Tom Peters (in Thriving on Chaos) sums it up. “People, including managers, do not live by pie charts alone – or by bar graphs or three inch statistical appendices to 300 page reports. People live, reason and are moved by symbols and stories.”
For a marketing plan to work are two other considerations. First, do what will work for you and your business, not what your colleague did or what someone suggested. Second, know when you have to get some help. You are an expert in running your business. Creating a successful marketing effort might require some outside perspective.
When you think about it, none of this is brain surgery. It fact, most of it smacks of being almost boring. But that’s where the magic comes in. If you develop a strong marketing plan -- that comes out of a clear vision of who/what you and your competition are – that is tied to your corporate goals and objectives, you’ll reap the rewards of your efforts.
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