Do you fire before you aim?

On Tuesday, I presented a workshop to a group of small business owners titled – How to Build a Rock-Solid Foundation For Your Business.

Because it was the first time I delivered this seminar, I wasn’t quite sure how well the content would be received by the audience.  Guess what?  I was floored in a very good way.

The main theme behind the workshop was the importance for business owners to build a foundation or strategy for their business before doing tactical marketing “stuff”.  Unfortunately, most business owners, if they engage in any type of marketing activities,  just “fire” away without giving much thought to  getting ready and then aiming.

Why is that?

 Well, most business owners have been trained that marketing is only tactical “stuff”, newsletter, website, direct mail piece.  Don’t get me wrong.  Tactical marketing is very important.  But, your tactical marketing will never be as effective and won’t produce the stunning results until you develop a stratetegic plan.  Your strategic marketing plan consists of what you say, how you say it and the audience you say it to.    

Here are the elements of a strategic marketing plan or a foundation for your business:

• Identifying your target market and your ideal target market, so you don’t end up marketing to the “world”.
•  Understanding what your target market wants and expects from a business that provides the products or services that you provide.
• Educating that target about the benefits or results that you deliver with your product or service.
• Developing ways to build know, like, and trust with your target market.   

Marketing isn’t magic, although some marketing gurus might try to get you to believe this.  Marketing is developing a strategy and then consistently and repeatedly touching your target with the correct tactical plan.

Do You Have A Solid Foundation For Your Business?

Nobody would ever think of building or worse yet, living in a structure that didn’t have a solid foundation to support the structure.  Try to imagine it . . .  . a house without a foundation would eventually just topple over and crumble to pieces.  So why do so many business owners operate their businesses with no foundation and just kind of “wing it”?

To try to eliminate any confusion, the marketing word for foundation is strategy.

Now, just because I have no idea how to build a foundation for a house, doesn’t mean I don’t inherently know and understand that you need a solid foundation to keep the house solid.  So for a business owner, it’s okay if you don’t know how to build a foundation for your business as long as you understand and acknowledge that you need a foundation for your business in order to develop your business fully.

What does a foundation look like for a business?

I don’t care what business your in, this is what a foundation (strategy) looks like in any business:

• Understanding and choosing your ideal clients so that you only work with people that inspire and energize you.
• Understanding clearly, why people choose you, buy from you, expect from your type of business.
• Developing a differentiation strategy that makes you memorable and unique
• Clearly communicating what you do without sounding confusing or boring

You can’t possibly marketing or sell to your prospects and clients until you understand and implement a “foundation” for your business.  Oh sure, you will do your share of  business.  But you won’t get the quality and quantity of ideal clients until you develop your foundation or strategy.  Your business will never click on all cylinders until this foundation is set.

So here’s the question.  Do you have a solid foundation or strategy for your business?

If you haven’t taken the time to build your foundation, you should commit to working with someone that can help you build your foundation or strategy. 

Stay connected.

Super Bowl Ads Flunk the Marketing Equation Test

Now that the dust has settled on Super Bowl, the Dayton Business Journal Reports “that companies that spent big bucks to air advertisements during the Super Bowl did not necessarily see those dollars translate into more visits to their Web sites this year.”  Traffic to Super Bowl advertisers’ Web sites saw no dramatic increase during the game this year, according to a figures released Monday by Akamai Technologies(Nasdaq: AKAM), a Cambridge, Mass.-based content delivery network company.

How can that be?  At a cost of $2.4 million per 30 second ad how can the ads not deliver more interest, more web trafic to the advertiser?

The answer is simple.  None of the ads I saw follow the equation for what makes an effective, powerful ad. 

Sure, some of them were cute, entertaining, comical, but how many of the ads you witnessed can you connect with a company?

If you remember from my last post, great advertising is a simple equation and here’s the equation:

Interrupt + Engage + Educate + Offer = Success      

Let’s take a closer look at the Marketing Equation.

Interrupt - The ad should get qualified prospects to pay attention to your marketing.

Engage –  The ad should give prospects the promise that the information provided in the ad will facilitate their decision making process.

Educate – The ad should identify the important and relevant issues prospects need to be aware of , then demonstrate how your company stacks up against those issues.  

Offer – The ad should provide prospects a low-risk way to take the next step in the buying process . . .  give more information to the prospect so they have the necessary information to make a good decision.  

Most of the ads I witnessed on Super Bowl Sunday only met one piece of the Marketing Equation – - -  Interrupt.  They got me to pay attention, but then, there was some much nonsense attached to the ad, that by the time time the ad was finished, in many cases, I couldn’t tell you who the company was or even what the product was that they were pushing.   

So, what is marketing supposed to do again?  Marketing and advertising should get the attention of the target market, facilitate their decision making process, and lower the risk of taking the next step in the selling process.

Did Sunday’s Super Bowl ads accomplish this?   

It’s no wonder we are confused at what company or product is any better or worse than than the others.

In my next post, I will discuss the Confidence Gap and why it is prevalent with today’s consumers. 

Marketing is an Equation

How can a small business owner get better results with their marketing and advertising dollars?  The first step in maximizing the effect of your marketing ads is to understand that marketing is an equation. 

Unfortunately, most small business advertising falls into Menu-Board style advertising.  This type of ad is similar to a restaurant menu that basically states “here is our name, here is a list of stuff we have for sale and come buy from us for no justifiable, rational reason besides we have it”.  Now, that’s not to say because the ads are done wrong and violate the  Marketing Equation doesn’t mean they won’t work.   As the saying goes, “Even a dead fish can float down stream”.   But to really maximize your advertising dollars and get more people raising their hands that want to know more about what you have to offer you need to follow some basic principles of marketing. 

So, what is your marketing supposed to do?  All your marketing ads should do the following three things:

1. Capture the attention of your target market
2. Facilitate the prospect’s information gathering and decision-making processes
3. Lower the risk of taking the next step in the sales cycle  

And, how to we accomplish what marketing is supposed to do . . .  with the Marketing Equation.

Interrupt + Engage + Educate + Offer = RESULTS! 

In my next post, I will get into the specifics of the Marketing Equation.

    

The distinction between strategic and tactical marketing is huge!

Most business owners mistakenly assume that when you talk about marketing that you’re automatically talking about tactical marketing -placing ads, generating leads, placing media, creating brochures and so forth.  They fail to realize that the strategic side of the coin – what you say, how you say it and who you say it to is almost always MORE important than the marketing medium or WHERE you say it. 

Here’s the difference between strategic and tactical marketing.  Strategic Marketing has to do with what you say in your ads, how you say it, and who you say it to.  Tactical Marketing is the execution of your strategic marketing plan as far as generating leads, placing media, creating marketing tools, and implementing a follow up system.  In other words, it’s the medium your message is delivered in.

So, if that makes sense to you . . . and it should, in order to get the “biggest bang for your buck” with your marketing dollars, it is critical that you develop your strategic message before you implement your tactical plan.  Stay tuned for my next post where I will show you a very simple way to formulate a powerful Core (strategic) message that will get your target audience to raise their hands and want to know more.    

Stand Out From the Crowd with a Handwritten Note

When was the last time you received a handwritten note?  When was the last time you actually wrote a handwritten note to one of your customers or prospects?  Too long to remember?  If you do happen to remember, how did it make you feel to receive a handwritten note?  In the age of e-mails, text messages and  instant messaging the handwritten note has become a lost art.  Here is a real simple, idea for success for business owners and sales professionals to distinguish themselves from their competitors by reviving this lost art.    

And the greatest part is that the handwritten note is simple, affordable and because it is rarely used extremely effective.  

So, when should you send a handwritten note?  

Here are a couple of ideas of when you can stand out from the crowd by sending a handwritten note:

• You have received a gift
• You were a guest in someone’s home
• You were treated to a meal
• You received a business favor
• You are replying to an invitation
• You are sending condolences
• You want to offer congratulations
• You need to apologize

Of course, like any type of activity, you should develop a system for doing this.  Commit to sending out 5-10 handwritten notes on a weekly basis.  If that seems like too much work, send out one handwritten note per day.  Then, get ready for the positive comments you’ll hear from those you send these to.  You’ll be amazed at the comments you receive with the power of the pen.   

Live by a Marketing Calendar

“A good plan is like a road map: It shows the final destination and usually the best way to get there.”

H. Stanley Judd

One of the core principles I preach to the business owners I work with is the necessity of operating their business by implementing a Marketing Calendar.  Simply put, a Marketing Calendar is a written road map for your marketing activities for a period of time.  And, what better time to plan your Marketing Calendar for 2008 than  in December of 2007.

If this sounds like a daunting task, it doesn’t need to be if you follow these simple steps for creating your Marketing Calendar:

1. Your calendar must be in writing.  If it’s not in writing you won’t commit to it.
2. Keep it simple.  Your Marketing Calender can be stated effectively in 1 or 2 pages. 
3. Develop a “marketing wish list”.  Include all marketing objectives that you would like to accomplish in a given period of time, even if the objective may not be realistic for your budget .
4. Develop a realistic marketing budget.  Choose those strategies that you can afford.
5. Implement an Objective and Strategy to Achieve the Objective approach.  State what your marketing objectives are and then the strategies required to achieve your objectives.

Finally, understand that your Marketing Calendar is a dynamic, living document that will change over time.  Remember, plans are useless, but planning is essential for the success of your business.