Most everyone has firsthand knowledge of just how competitive business is today.
We realize that it takes more than name recognition and good products or services to make an impact. Even with the right timing and a steady flow of referrals, it's a challenge for firms to get a competitive advantage and bring in steady sales. Getting an organization into the best position requires thinking that's long term, strategies that can produce short- and long-term results, and a program that takes into account the difference between the two.
Unfortunately, many marketing programs are doomed from the start. Too many sales managers fancy themselves to be marketing experts, but lack any of the knowledge or hands-on experience necessary to even understand marketing strategies, let alone successfully implement them. But that doesn't stop them from talking their way into a losing program.
When the marketing goal is nothing more than 'We need sales today,' it's just a matter of time before disappointment hits home. When the plan sounds strategic, but amounts to only a cliché-for instance, 'We can go a long way for short money'-it will fall short. If big results are expected in a matter of weeks, not months, there isn't enough money to make it happen. It doesn't matter whether the unrealistic plans come out of desperation or ignorance. Cut to the chase and recognize that a sales mentality has its place: far away from a marketing plan.
Many different marketing communications activities can be used for objectives that are both short and long term. However, a strategic plan should take into account those disciplines that are more geared to immediate results, as well as those that have an impact over a period of time. For example, a direct-marketing program can be easily tracked. Leads are evaluated, response rates categorized, sales figures logged, and accurate assessments made on paper. Print advertising is also an appropriate vehicle for achieving an immediate impact.
Still, too many factors (the product/service offered, the extended buying cycle, the ad's timing, the frequency, the competitive environment) affect how well an ad will influence the intended audience and how much impact there is in the marketplace. Long-term results come from creating customers.
A plan with a focus on creating customers is a plan for future results and growth. This is a process of educating customers (sharing your knowledge), providing useful information (communicating the benefits of doing business with you) and branding (positioning your company and differentiating it from the competition). By building name recognition, you build customers. Public and media relations activities are key elements of a program for creating customers. Workshops and seminars are excellent opportunities for educating them. Newsletters, brochures, annual reports, sell sheets, and Web sites are other vehicles for telling your company story, promoting your services, and sharing valuable information that helps a prospect become a customer.
Although activities that are kept up over a period of time can generate immediate sales and leads, they should be viewed as ways to build relationships and cultivate customers over the long term. In addition, many marketing communication activities (such as trade shows) are appropriate opportunities to achieve short- and long-term objectives. Trade show exhibitors, for example, have several goals: introducing a new product, building brand awareness, selling new products, building a database, compiling competitive information, and so forth. An exhibitor can walk away from a show having secured business from a batch of new customers and having made much progress in the customer-building process.
A marketing communication program should be viewed as a process. It must consist of a variety of activities realistically scheduled over a period of time. As it creates interest and influences its intended audience, it will have an impact on the organizations you want to make your customers.
And you will have sales.