The Goal: Practical Information For All.

 The importance of having a marketing plan insulated from other aspects of your business is crucial. It is  why so many ‘start-up’s’ fail in their first year  or so. Here is what typically happens:

Someone gets an idea and shares it with a friend or relative, they find the capital they need to get started. They put together a business plan that may include marketing strategies, along with everything else.

This can potentially be a huge error, because by including it with everything else and considering the typical, run-of-the-mill marketing strategies/tactics, something  gets lost. It really needs some creative attention on its own. Isolating the marketing platform and developing a plan specifically for it,  is just better! For some serendipitous reason, by tackling it all on its own, the creative juices seem to flow in a whole different way. It’s difficult to put into words, you must experience it. There is just something about brainstorming in a locked room with your colleagues and a white board!

This is especially true for someone attacking a niche vertical.

So, what’s your ‘closed door’ marketing plan?

In helping small business for years with this key element, here is, what I believe, to be the foundation:

1)  You need to develop marketing strategies for the company itself and your products and services.

2)  A through understanding of the culture of your potential customer and how they buy.

3)  Being able to distance yourself from the competition.

To address the first point, you must be totally transparent, helpful, green and fair ..etc. It must all be well thought out and congruent. You must exude ‘integrity’ right from the start. Some of your marketing budget has to go towards that,  its just the world we now live in!

With regards to the second point, you need to know your customer inside and out. If you are targeting ‘boomers’  you may need to lay of the technology and invest a little more in training for ‘belly to belly’ presentations. Conversely, if you are relentlessly pursuing the youth, you had better ‘bone up’ on mobile marketing!

As for the third point, you need to think differently from the competition. Easier said than done. If they don’t offer a guarantee after 30 days, you should. If they won’t fix it for free, you will. Whatever it takes!

If you transformed these three areas into circles and drew a Venn Diagram, where the circles overlap would  represent the ‘strategic opportunity’ you have.

These three steps are crucial because this is what happens next:

The Three Seasons Of A Typical Business

1) Sales are all that matter. (But do you see how difficult that would be if you haven’t perfected the above!) You do all you can to make the phone ring, because when the phone rings, so does the cash register! (Do they even make cash register’s anymore?) “Make it rain, Jack”!

2) As the company’s revenues plateau, lead generation and maintaining client loyalty begins to matter more and more. (Again, see above, you better know who you’re looking for and how to keep them happy.) It’s suddenly all about raising awareness and building relationships!

3) It’s now time to start building your brand. It’s no longer lead generation, it’s demand generation! YOu are generating demand based on the benefits of your product/service and your growing reputation. You now have a recognized place in the respective vertical or niche and you are focused on staying’ out front’, setting the pace, consistent communication, as well as maintaining and embellishing established relationships.

By the way, and this piece of the plan is not meant to be minimized: All your key people better be on board with this action plan or you are dead in the water. You know the old saying, “One bad apple……….

So, what’s wrong with your marketing? Are you dressed for the wrong season? We will show you how to organize your ‘marketing wardrobe’ in future posts. If you need help with anything, I’m only a phone-call / email away.

Best

Stephen