With every new innovation in business comes a new theory about how to market them. This information overload makes it hard to know what’s real, what works, and what’s not worth your time. This document by Patricia Berry gives you an overview of the basic components to marketing anything — including the what, who, where, and why.
If I had a dime for every time I saw an article titled 'How to Get the Biggest Bang for Your Marketing Buck' I’d be writing this from a sandy white beach in the Caribbean. Why are so many people writing about this subject? Let’s start with Henry Ford’s famous quote — at least it’s the quote that I’ve heard for about 20 years. It goes something like this: 'I know half of my marketing budget is successful, I just don’t know which half.' There’s no doubt that marketing took a twist with the paradigm shift of business 'startups' in the 1990s. Let’s take a historical approach to discuss what happened.
Traditionally, most people joined a big company for their first real job. After years of frustration from bureaucratic red tape they left to start their own. They became consultants or started small companies with a product that — with a lot of hard work and selling — would be a success in five to 10 years. Then a little startup called Netscape came along in 1994. If those entrepreneurs could launch a startup and make zillions of dollars, so could anyone. The U.S. economy was on a strong upswing, and venture capitalists started popping up everywhere. With so much capital floating around, there was an implicit feeling that anyone with half an idea could get some of it.
'Startup' became a household word. Working for a startup meant that you were on your way to an IPO. Hundred-dollar bills would be spilling from your pockets in no time. People jumped the Fortune 1000 ships in droves to land their little rowboats on big dreams.
The rowboats started shipping their products, and needed to let the world know. They referred to their traditional marketing books, spent a little time on marketing strategy, and decided they needed brochures, a Web site that looked like a brochure (Web sites were all new), and ads: print, radio, and even online. But there were so many rowboats that the availability of this outbound media was limited. Prices went up. Investors poured in more money. Marketers’ heads were spinning at the prospect of million-dollar Super Bowl ads.
Then somebody woke up. The market started slowing a bit, and the return-on-investment (ROI) or cost of customer acquisition turned out to be not that great. Marketers had to become more thoughtful, more creative. They had to start acting responsibly again. Plenty of articles on the subject appeared. Because it was new, online marketing received ample coverage. 'What is it? How do I do it?'
Well, here’s the biggest secret of them all: in general, marketing hasn’t changed. The world’s first merchants had the same challenges Netscape did: How do I communicate my unique offering to the right group of customers who will — directly or indirectly — generate revenues for my company? It requires a carefully-thought-out strategy based on a solid business plan. It means identifying categories of tactical vehicles from which to execute.
Let’s discuss some of the strategic tasks, then a few of my favorite tactics:
STRATEGIC REVIEW
- Market research — Conduct research to identify and validate the target customer, partners, competitors, and marketing vehicles. Then you’ll know your customers and the competitive landscape. Build relationships with business development partners to help your cause.
- Branding — Ensure that your tag lines, press releases, corporate identity (logos, colors), branding attributes, product naming, and other branding components are consistent. There should be no confusion about who you are and what you sell.
- Stakeholders — Identify all of your company’s marketing customers and how you’ll reach them. Marketing to customers, press/analysts, the general public, local community, professional groups, and investors will each require a unique focus.
- Strategy — Develop marketing tactics to reach your customers and the ROI metrics you’ll use to determine whether you’re a success. Your management and board will insist on the metrics.
MARKETING TACTICS
Here are some tactical categories with my favorite 'bang for the buck' listed in each:
- Advertising and Promotion — This is the one Henry Ford was referring to. It’s a challenge to track customers who come to your site or through your front door because of your advertising. Advertising is always costly, and not always effective. Online marketing is quicker and more cost effective than print or traditional forms. My favorites are direct e-mail campaigns and advertisements in online newsletters/magazines going to targeted audiences. Banner ads can also be effective.
- Promotional contests — From giveaways to competitions, special promotions only work if your customers bite. Conduct some research before launching a contest to ensure that your customers like the idea, and that it’ll cause them to purchase more products or increase brand loyalty with you. Be careful not to market someone else’s product in the process (e.g. win a Palm Pilot), which dilutes focus from your company.
- Communication — Keep your customers and partners interested in you. Tell them something that will help them save time or money; don’t just pitch the speeds and feeds of your product. I like newsletters, both online and paper-based. Online is better if your audience has access to it because it can drive people to a number of different areas on your Web site with links.
- Guerilla — Come up with a wildly creative idea that’s completely unexpected. Out of nowhere you’ll get more customers to your site. Of course, this is my favorite form of marketing; it’s akin to finding a $100 item at a yard sale for $5. We purchased a walk-on role on the Ally McBeal television show (which we’re giving away) and the press went crazy. CNN, the Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Los Angeles Times, Red Herring, and others reported the story. Thousands of potential customers came to our site. 80% of them requested membership to our newsletter and more information about our products. How do you conduct guerilla marketing? Think of where you can reach your customers in a nontraditional form. What do they read and watch? Where do they get information? What’s a tactic for reaching these folks that’s newsworthy in itself?
- PR — No matter how favorably an interview might seem to be going, you haven’t lived until you read a review that has twisted everything you said, and misinforms the public about your product. However, a positive review can also be one of the greatest gifts. The way you 'get press' is by having something interesting and unique to say to a publication’s readers. When a magazine article about advisory boards mentioned our firm as a result of singer/songwriter Sheryl Crow being on ours, the number of customers coming to our site increased. PR is the great magician; it can produce customers and partners.
- Programs — This involves some creative thinking, but it’s one of my favorite ways of grabbing a customer. Back to marketing research, what do your customers want that would drive them to you? Perform some surveys. A program must have a timeframe, specific goals (increasing visitors to the Web site, gathering e-mail addresses), and metrics of success. A program could be an event such as a customer and partner symposium that you host and promote through direct e-mail; online material or a CD of useful information; or a toolkit of information to help make customers more successful. Effective programs combine general marketing materials with tactics.
In summary, to get the best bang for your marketing buck:
1. Know your target customer through primary and secondary research.
2. Evaluate ways to reach them.
3. Set priorities based on cost of customer acquisition.
4. Throw in a creative person for good luck.
You’ll get maximum bang with a combination of traditional and guerilla techniques.