THE MOST POWERFUL MARKETING ACTION YOU CAN TAKE: A STRATEGIC TRIP
983 words - Less than 5 minutes to read

Imagine for a moment that you’re planning your first trip to Greece. You call a friend, who says “Greece — wonderful! I just took a cruise there. All you need are a few swimsuits!” A business associate hears where you’re going and says, “I love Greece. Be sure to bring hiking boots.” The professor who lives next door warns you, “I went for an archeology conference. Take enough paper and several pens — I almost ran out.” You take all the good advice and pack your suitcase. When you arrive, you don your swimsuit and hiking boots, and grab your paper and pens — for your ski trip on the slopes of Parnassos.

I know, you’re thinking the whole scenario is absurd. Nobody would spend that much money, have that much time to plan, and have this once-in-a-lifetime trip, and blow it by making inappropriate choices based on other people’s trips. But people do it with their companies — where the stakes are a lot higher than a ruined vacation — all the time.

A business will see a “great deal” on a newspaper ad and feel like they can’t pass it up — even though the company’s prospects don’t read that paper. Somebody at a network lunch mentions they got great results using a late night infomercial, and four different CEOs call their marketing departments on the way to the office. A retailer gets on the blogging bandwagon, and the unplanned blather tears down the image they’ve cultivated for years.

What’s the cause for these missteps which, at best, are a waste of money and, at worst, do irreparable damage? The lack of a marketing strategy. A company’s strategy is foundational. If you don’t have one, go clear your calendar for the rest of the day and get one. It’s that important.

In order to determine your company’s marketing strategy, do our 2x5 analysis: two topics, five questions each. They seem simple, but dig deep. Call in people from your office — heck, call some of your clients or vendors if you need to. Do what you must to discover the answers to these questions.

Topic 1: Your Company
Ask yourself the following questions about the business:

1. Who are we? What is your brand personality? What’s your company’s identity? Look at your key people, your culture, projects where the company has excelled, the clients you attract and why. Craft a brand identity that is compelling to your ideal customer and that authentically fits who you are and what you do.
2. What are we selling? What are you offering? What are the products, services, benefits and emotions you provide?
3. Why are we in business? Go to your mission statement, vision, values and goals. Examine the unspoken values as well as the published ones. Compare the original vision to the ideal the company aims for today. How do these fit in your marketing plan?
4. Where is the competition positioned? What positions have been taken by competitors, and what haven’t? What characteristic are already “owned” by a major competitor? How do you differ from the competition, and how are you similar?
5. How do we differ? This is your Unique Selling Proposition — or better yet, your Extraordinary Value Proposition. What do you do that is credibly, sustainably, energetically your own?

Topic 2: Your Message
Ask yourself these questions about what you should communicate.

1. Who is our target audience? Do you know who your ideal client is? What does a qualified prospect look like? Do you know their demographics? If it’s an organization, what are its characteristics? Most importantly, what “pain” does your ideal client feel that you can help cure?
2. Why are we communicating? Why are you talking? What is it that you want to say? Develop your message and your core story. Everyone in your organization should be able to communicate your core story in 30 seconds and 5 minutes, with key players able to deliver it in a 15 minute conversation and a 45 minute presentation as well.
3. What are we going to invest? Time to put your money where your marketing is. How much are you willing to spend now, and how much on the long term?
4. How should we communicate? Given who you are and who your clients are, what marketing ingredients make sense? What media matches your message? What media conflicts with the image or message you’re trying to portray? Commit to a “hands-off” policy for whatever doesn’t fit — no matter who talks it up, no matter how good a deal you can get.
5. When will we use the methods? Figure out your priorities. What’s urgent, what should be done in the next 6 months, what needs to be done sometime in the future? I suggest creating a rolling 90-day marketing calendar to keep the momentum going.

A marketing strategy will save you money, because it prevents throwing money into ineffective marketing tactics. It will prevent public perception missteps, because it will give you and all your employees guidance on who the company is and who it’s not. It will help you uncover opportunities, spend wisely, communicate consistently and attract your ideal customer over and over again.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’ll tell you outright, strategy is my passion. Nothing excites me more than to see an organization transform through my proven strategic process. And the process generates results. Whether it’s opening up a whole new market for a credit union, taking a portable air conditioning company from 8 straight quarters of declining sales to a 42% increase in sales over 12 months or helping a technology company obtain 7 million in new business, it works. If you don’t have a comprehensive, authentic marketing strategy, or if yours needs to be updated, take care of it now. It’s the most important thing you’ll do.

Here’s another action step you can take: Start your year off right by getting MORE business! Watch your sales soar as you apply the ideas, concepts and practical action-steps from Andrew’s newly released “Foundations to Irresistible Marketing,” a 5 CD set and 180 page workbook. The secrets to Strategy, Publicity, Referrals, Networking and Sales are revealed to make your marketing irresistible. In addition, your purchase will provide 720 meals, enough to feed 24 orphans for 1 month at a designated Children’s Hope Chest Care Point facility in Swaziland, Africa; which has the highest AIDS rate in the world. So, when you invest in "Foundations to Irresistible Marketing," you will not only transform your business but you will transform the lives of starving orphans. Click here to learn more.

A JUMBO-SIZED TRUTH
434 Words - Less than 2 minutes to read

When I speak to groups, I like to ask a question. I ask, “What is marketing?” Immediately, I’ll hear “advertising,” “promotion” and “sales”. The product guy adds “packaging” and an eager front-rower will say, “your brand.” The skeptic on the left shakes his head. “No,” he says, “it’s every message you send to clients and prospects.” The audience gasps at the implications. “Good,” I say, and they nod, pleased. “What else?” They look confused. Front-rower speaks timidly: “There’s more?” I look at their innocent faces, judging whether they’re ready for this jumbo-sized truth. I decide they are, and let it fly:

“Marketing is everything you do, and everything you don’t do.” Everyone freezes for a moment. When time starts again, skeptical guy’s ecstatic, front-rower’s eyebrows knit worriedly, and some sweet old lady in the back lets out a four-letter word. This changes things.

For too long, we’ve thought of marketing as something separate, an add-on or cover up or costume. The trouble with that thought is that marketing never happens in a vacuum. If your advertisements were all your customers knew of you, then fine, focus only on ads. But, your customers also see your product quality, your company blogs, and the event you sponsor. The image they have of your company is built on ALL the information they get about you: your business cards, what you play when they’re on hold, even your job postings on Monster and how politely your delivery guys drive your trucks.

If you’re not getting the response you want from prospects and clients, ask yourself these three questions:

In everything we do, and everything we don’t do, are we:

1. Getting the word out? If no one is watching everything you do, and everything you don’t do, focus on engaging your audience.


2. Telling a consistent story? Your story should be evident in everything you do, and everything you don’t do. Your story should be like a cold: so pervasive that your customers catch it just by being near you, and pass it on to people they come in contact with. Spend some time clearly defining a story that is relevant, compelling and persuasive to your customers and prospects.


3. Believable? To be credible, your actions and communications must line up with each other and be consistent over time. Is everything you do, and everything you don’t do consistent with what you tell your audience? Make sure your behavior and your message are aligned so your prospects and clients believe you.

So, marketing is everything—and that’s a jumbo-sized truth even front-rower is ready for.