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How to Use Marketing to Add Value to Your Company
Windows of opportunity are fleeting. Once-in-a-lifetime
opportunities are even more elusive. When InSoft challenged AT&T
for a bite of the desktop video conferencing market, effective
marketing had not only positioned InSoft products as industry
leaders, it had positioned the company as a leader.
Thanks to product and corporate positioning campaigns conducted
by RMR & Associates, InSoft
garnered press coverage in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and
other premier media outlets, gaining the attention of Web
browser giant Netscape. After the dust settled, Netscape had
purchased the $7 million InSoft for 23 times earnings -- an
astounding $161 million.
Such serendipitous financial gain doesn't happen every day, but
when it does, you can bet effective marketing played a key role,
as it did with InSoft, preparing them to meet the
opportunity.
RMR defines marketing as the business of attracting, converting
and keeping customers. When people think about marketing they
automatically imagine advertising, public relations or direct
mail. But all of that is not marketing -- it's merely the
vehicles we use to drive home the marketing. Marketing is a
strategy.
Marketing is actually a strategy spelled out in a written plan
- a plan that you are committed to consistently investing in for
at least one year. You need to look at your program as an
investment that pays off over time. After a year you will start
to see a positive correlation between your commitment and your
investment. You must remember "the rule of seven" when
developing a marketing strategy. This rule says that it takes
seven consistent impressions over 12 months for consumers to
recognize your message. Frequency over time is the equation that
multiplies marketing results. Commitment to investing in both is
what separates the winners from the losers.
Once committed to creating a year-long marketing plan, make
sure you cover the following key points:
Market segment of interest. Is your market the general
consumer? Is it a business or industry that serves the consumer?
What portion of the product line are you going after? What is
your niche?
Market segment's size and customer population. Who are
your potential buyers? How many of them are there? If they are
actual consumers, identify them in terms of age, sex, income,
geography, ethnicity and as many other demographic segments as
possible. If your market is a business or industry that serves
consumers, identify them in terms of company size, geography,
share of market, reputation, etc.
Identify important competitors and discover their strengths
and weaknesses. Who are your main competitors? Prioritize
them. Research their strengths and weaknesses by reading
industry publications, visiting their Web sites, following
newsgroup postings, utilizing mystery shoppers, talking to
former employees or conducting focus groups with competitors'
current customers.
Establish a market share goal that will provide a commanding
position. You want a commanding position because you are
better off being a big fish in a small pond, than trying to be a
small fish in a big pond. Big mistakes are seen every day in
marketing plans by people trying to bite off a larger segment
than they can afford to dominate.
Describe how the product will be differentiated, positioned,
promoted, priced, supported and serviced. Your marketing
communications agency can help you establish many of these
aspects that will become the key selling points of your
marketing message.
Estimate your costs and establish a budget. Remember,
properly done, your marketing plan will be an investment that
pays off far more than the expense of your budget. It is far
better to have a lean 10 to 20 page marketing plan that is used
and updated every three months, than to possess a 200 page
document that gathers dust on some shelf.
Sell the
steak's sizzle. If you don't get your marketing
plan right, anything that marketing communications does later
will be like placing a Band-Aid on a puncture wound. It just
won't help. Marketing communications is the end product of a
well thought-out plan based on a well defined market need, in a
well defined high tech market segment.
When writing a marketing plan for a high tech company, remember
that high tech has a significantly higher FUD Factor (Fear,
Uncertainty and Doubt) than consumer marketing.
People are not going to agonize over buying a tube of
toothpaste or a different brand of diapers. But they will
agonize over buying technology.
High tech marketing can really help with the FUD Factor by
offering a combination of comfort, stability and confidence.
High tech marketing also helps with positioning in the public's
mind.
Positioning starts with the product (quick, name a round, hard
candy with a hole in it), moves to the market (quick, name the
car rental company who is #2 and tries harder) and finally, to
corporate positioning (quick, name the leading manufacturer of
PC microprocessors).
Typically, your marketing plan will call for positioning in
this order of product, market, corporate. But if the market is
hot, you can sometimes skip steps getting to corporate
positioning faster -- the place that can lead to acquisitions,
public stock offerings and increased investment capital.
Once happy with your marketing plan, you're ready to develop
your marketing communications strategy.
How will you present your message to your prospects? Consider
these key points:
Define where you are today. Quantify your current market
share and reputation.
Define where you are trying to go. Establish your goals
in terms of market share and reputation.
Define how you can best get there. Identify the sales
vehicles that best get you to where you want to be. These might
include combinations of advertising, public relations, direct
mail, Internet, tradeshows or telemarketing.
Define what it will cost. Remember that frequency over
time equals results. The rule of seven reminds us not to ever
run just one ad to "test the waters." Your budget should be
large enough to allow for frequency (at least seven impressions)
over time.
Define how you will measure success. A good marketing
communications agency will insist on measuring results, so it
can prove its value. You can measure image, awareness, number of
qualified sales leads,article placements, benchmark studies and
sales stats.
What marketing communications should do for you, if it's done
right, is funnel out your best leads. This has been seen time
and time again.
If you begin to use higher reach vehicles like the Internet,
advertising and public relations, you will get more and higher
quality leads that will literally lower your cost of selling.
Once the marketing plan has been written, it is important to
evaluate the program at least once a year. In particularly
volatile markets, evaluation may need to be done even more
frequently. Markets are not stagnant, so effective marketing
plans cannot afford to be either.
By using these tools and keeping yourself informed about the
markets you are in, as well as the markets you would like to
play in, you can add value to your company and help build image
and awareness and ensure that you too are positioned to take
advantage of opportunities.
About the author:
Robyn Sachs is the president of RMR & Associates, a full-service
advertising, marketing and public relations firm based in the
Washington metropolitan area that specializes in the high tech
industry and is known nationally for its innovative campaigns.
She can be reached at rsachs@rmr.com. Visit RMR at http://www.rmr.com. We welcome
your comme
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Marketing Magazine - Marketing News - Brand Republic. |
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Pay per click advertising - online advertising directly on sites of your choice, internet marketing solution for online advertisers. |
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Online Behavioral Contextual Advertising and Marketing. |
Promote your business with today's most effective online advertising technology, contextual advertising at a cost effective metric of CPC, PPC, CPM or CPV. |
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Sales Jobs / Marketing Jobs / Advertising Jobs - MarketingJobs.com |
Employment site for marketing and sales professionals. |
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Marketing: See what people are saying right now on Technorati |
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Marketing knowhow from professionals. Newsletter, articles and how-to's. |
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Guerrilla Marketing Online - The Official Site |
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Business marketing - Read everything your need to know about small business marketing. |
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USA Network Announces a NASHVILLE STAR Marketing Partnership With ... - Yahoo! ... Direct Marketing Association: Telephone, Mail & Internet Marketing ... |
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ClickZ Internet Marketing Solutions for Marketers |
Includes columns with commentary and analysis on a wide variety of internet marketing subjects ranging from B2B marketing to search engine marketing. |
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Direct Marketing Association: Telephone, Mail & Internet Marketing |
Trade association for users and suppliers in the direct, database and interactive marketing fields, offering seminars and resources, and lobbying for ... |
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