Marketing Information

The Building Blocks to Effective Marketing


The Building Blocks to Successful Marketing


It's More than Sales and Advertising


By Julie Chance

Whether you're a Fortune 500 company or a one person shop, to be successful, you must have a marketing strategy and you must implement it consistently. However, it doesn't have to cost a fortune and you don't have to be a creative genius.

The key is developing a marketing strategy that forms a solid foundation for your promotional efforts. Implementing promotional activities such as advertising, direct mail or even networking and one-to-one sales efforts without a marketing strategy is like buying curtains for a house you are building before you have an architectural plan. How would you even know how many curtains to buy or what size they needed to be?

You can develop a strong marketing foundation by:

  • Defining your product or service: How is your product or service packaged? What is it that your customers are really buying? You may be selling web-based software tools but your clients are buying increased productivity, improved efficiency and cost savings. And if you offer several products or services which ones are the most viable to promote?

  • Identifying your target market: Everyone or anybody might be potential clients for your product. However, you probably don't have the time or money to market to Everyone or Anybody. Who is your ideal customer? Who does it make sense for you to spend your time and money promoting your service to? You might define your ideal customer in terms of income, age, geographic area, number of employees, revenues, industry, etc. For example a massage therapist might decide her target market is women with household incomes of $75,000 or more who live in the Uptown area.

  • Knowing your competition: Even if there are no direct competitors for your service, there is always competition of some kind. Something besides your product is competing for the potential client's money. What is it and why should the potential customer spend his or her money with you instead? What is your competitive advantage or unique selling proposition?

  • Finding a niche: Is there a market segment that is not currently being served or is not being served well? A niche strategy allows you to focus your marketing efforts and dominate your market, even if you are a small player.

  • Developing awareness: It is difficult for a potential client to buy your product or service if they don't even know or remember it exists. Generally a potential customer will have to be exposed to your product 5 to 15 times before they are likely to think of your product when the need arises. Needs often arise unexpectedly. You must stay in front of your clients consistently if they are going to remember your product when that need arises.

  • Building credibility: Not only must clients be aware of your product or service, they also must have a positive disposition toward it. Potential customers must trust that you will deliver what you say you will. Often, especially with large or risky purchases, you need to give them the opportunity to "sample", "touch", or "taste" the product in some way. For example, a trainer might gain credibility and allow potential customers to "sample" their product by offering free, hour long presentations on topics related to their area of specialty.

  • Being Consistent: Be consistent in every way and in everything you do. This includes the look of your collateral materials, the message you deliver, the level of customer service, and the quality of the product. Being consistent is more important than having the "best" product. This in part is the reason for the success of chains. Whether you're going to Little Rock, Arkansas or New York City, if you reserve a room at a Courtyard Marriott you know exactly what you're going to get.

  • Maintaining Focus: Focus allows for more effective utilization of the scarce resources of time and money. Your promotional budget will bring you greater return if you use it to promote a single product to a narrowly defined target market and if you promote that same product to that same target market over a continuous period of time.
Before you ever consider developing a brochure, running an ad, implementing a direct mail campaign, joining an organization for networking or even conducting a sales call, begin by mapping a path to success through the development of a consistent, focused marketing strategy.

About The Author

Julie Chance is President of Strategies-by-Design, Strategies-by-DESIGN, a Dallas based firm that helps small and medium sized businesses Map A Path to Success by providing consulting, training and skills based coaching in the area of marketing strategy development. For more information go to www.strategies-by-design.com or call 972-701-9311.

jchance@strategies-by-design.com


MORE RESOURCES:

Ace Marketing & Promotions Inc. Takes Proximity Marketing(SM) to ...
CNNMoney.com - 13 hours ago
Ace Marketing & Promotions Inc. (OTCBB: AMKT) announces that IMAX Theaters is piloting Proximity Marketing at its Palisades theater location in NY, ...


Merkle Inc., the Limited to team on database marketing
Bizjournals.com, NC - 9 hours ago
Database marketing firm Merkle Inc. has signed up the Limited as a new client in a three-year contract. The Columbia firm will analyze customer data to help ...
Merkle Selected by The Limited to Support Integrated Customer ... MarketWatch (press release)
all 17 news articles


Boston Globe

FedEx trims '09 marketing budget by 25%
Bizjournals.com, NC - 14 hours ago
United Parcel Service Inc. rival FedEx Corp. will cut its marketing budget by more than 25 percent for 2009, the company recently disclosed on its blog. ...
FedEx cuts marketing spend by more than 25 percent Reuters
FedEx to reduce marketing budgets by 25% Brand Republic
all 84 news articles


Bouvier Kelly wins health marketing awards The Business Journal of ...
Bizjournals.com, NC - 14 hours ago
Downtown Greensboro marketing firm Bouvier Kelly has won three awards from the Carolina Healthcare Public Relations and Marketing Society for its work with ...


Wellstar/TMI Begins Marketing Imaging System to Long-Term Care ...
CNNMoney.com - 4 hours ago
TMI's marketing plan includes a program where LTC facilities can lease the equipment necessary to perform skin assessments and store the necessary data ...
Wellstar/TMI Announces Estimated Three-Year Revenue Projections MSNBC
all 9 news articles


Seattle Post Intelligencer

University of Florida's marketing savvy and athletic prowess have ...
Sun-Sentinel.com, FL - 11 hours ago
By Sarah Talalay | South Florida Sun-Sentinel University of Florida fan Michelle Jackson has her outfit for college football's national championship game ...
BCS is a political football in 2009 CNN
all 2,805 news articles


Proton Laboratories Announces New Sales & Marketing Office
CNNMoney.com - 14 hours ago
Proton will start by marketing a variety of enhanced water products that provide health benefits for people and the planet as well as the commercial product ...


FIMA Completes Project in Veracruz and Begins Marketing Homes for Sale
MSNBC - 1 hour ago
The initial stages of marketing the properties for sale have already begun, and the Company will expand those efforts now that the properties are completely ...


Summit Realty Group marketing Dow property along 106th Street
Indianapolis Star, United States - 11 hours ago
With a team of 25 brokers and additional market research, marketing, and client support staff, Summit Realty Group specializes in office, industrial, ...


Katz Launches Katz Marketing Solutions
Streaming Magazine, FL - 6 hours ago
NEW YORK -- January 8, 2009: Katz Media Group has launched a new national marketing unit, Katz Marketing Solutions, to create custom solutions that "exploit ...
Radio Relevance: Katz Launches New Marketing Unit MediaPost Publications
Katz Media Group Reorgs to Trim Costs MEDIAWEEK
Katz Media Group Launches National Marketing Unit to Exploit the ... Earthtimes (press release)
Radio Business Report - AdAge.com
all 22 news articles

Marketing - Google News

home | site map
© 2006