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Building an Effective Marketing Program
Effective marketing starts with what’s important to your audience, and shows how you deliver what they value most. The right words, appearing in the right places at the right time, increase awareness of your presence (mindshare) in your markets. They prompt people to think of you when they are looking to buy. Lisa Martin, president and CEO of LeapFrog Solutions (www.leapfrogit.com), a Fairfax, Virginia-based strategic marketing communications firm, sat down with Gerald L. Gordon, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Fairfax County (Virginia USA) Economic Development Authority (www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org), to talk about building an effective marketing program for new businesses.
What are the benefits of developing a marketing plan for a company?
An effective marketing plan can help you cut through the clutter. Did you know the average adult is hit with 3,000 marketing messages per day? How do you know your message is getting through and more importantly, is your message is getting to the right person? A marketing plan will let you answer these questions with confidence and a sense of satisfaction.
What are typical elements of a marketing plan?
You can’t play ball without knowing who’s playing. A typical marketing plan starts by researching your market to ensure you know your “playing field.” This background research will be the most important element in your marketing plan. Now you should review and/or outline your company’s history, business objectives and immediate goals. The next element is to identify your audience and develop messages specifically for their eyes. A general strategy, including metrics and a schedule to measure success in a timely manner, is developed and tactics are outlined to support the strategy. A schedule can range from three 3 months to one 1 year, depending upon the scope of the plan. .
What is key to developing an effective marketing plan?
Research is vital to a successful plan. Look at your competitors’ Web sites to learn about their marketing messages. Trade associations and business publication sites provide perspective on your industry and markets. Fee-based databases, such as Hoover’s, provide a level of detail not always available from free Web sites. To get the true voice of your stakeholders, hold focus groups or do a survey. One-on-one interviews of key executives can also help discern the true direction of a company.
What are realistic goals for a company to achieve that is just starting its marketing activities?
A company just entering the market should work towards awareness. In order to generate sales, someone needs to know who you are, for them to know what to buy. Aided recall, better known as branding, can typically take someone seeing and/or hearing your message six to eight times before they remember it. This includes print, radio, TV, internet, direct mail, etc.
What are some of the most cost effective marketing tactics for a small company today?
Networking with groups that make up your potential clients, targeted trade shows, targeted letters with a call - to - action and something inside that will get it opened out of curiosity, targeted online communications, guerilla marketing, e-mail sponsorships or e-mail campaigns directed toward core audiences. But, the number one tactic should be following up with your leads. It sounds simple, but I’m amazed at how many people don’t do it.
Please define guerrilla marketing and its effectiveness.
Guerrilla marketing is typically low cost but high impact. An example would be going to a tradeshow, having an employee canvass the show with a popular TV character and taking pictures with attendees. The attendee receives a paper frame with the picture and your company’s logo and vitals. The attendee hangs up the picture in their office displaying the frame to guests with your contact information.
What are some reasons that business people give to avoid marketing and what is wrong with their reasoning?
“It is costly,” and “we get plenty of business without it” are two of the reasons people give to avoid marketing; they are also poor excuses. Marketing isn’t just about awareness and lead generation; it’s about making your mark and expanding your message, and making it matter. If you want to continue to grow it’s not always about who you know, but who knows you.
How is it different to market in a high-tech center such as we have in Fairfax County and the Washington, D.C., area?
Washington , D.C. , is not your typical metropolitan area. Our local news is everyone’s national news. This ‘spotlight’ drives up the cost of our media, introduces more competition which makes it difficult to differentiate yourself. That is why a great marketing plan is key. so important.
What are some reasons that business people give to avoid marketing and what is wrong with their reasoning?
“It is costly,” and “we get plenty of business without it” are two of the reasons people give to avoid marketing; they are also poor excuses. Marketing isn’t just about awareness and lead generation; it’s about making your mark and expanding your message, and making it matter. If you want to continue to grow it’s not always about who you know, but who knows you.
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