Creating a marketing machine

In the March article of this series, I looked at sharpening the “Business Plan Tool”. I’m thinking and hoping that you found some value in that prose and that you may have had a chance to do some work on your business plan.

So now I want to go down to the workshop and spend some time on what I believe to be the most potent tool in the tool kit of business – that is the phenomenal “Marketing Tool”. Too often it is blunt and hard to use and does not get the results it should.

Not everyone will believe my thought that it is the most potent tool but who cares? Most people in business know that if they do not get this tool straight and sharp then their business will be ordinary if it even survives.

Let us have a good look at this tool first of all and then see how we can sharpen it to a razor’s edge.

Lesson 1 – What do I want to catch?
It is going to very hard and very costly to try and catch anything if I don’t know what I am after. Yes?

So the questions that this statement throws up are therefore:-
• What do my prospects look like?
• What are their problems?
• What are their needs and wants?
• Where are they?
• What size are they?
• Can they afford to use me?

Do I, could I have something that could help them to be better, faster, less expensive, more desirable…..? Maybe this is a good time for me to introduce what I have come to know as the first law of marketing. I call it “ML1”. Marketing Law ONE.

One of my IBM mentors, first introduced the concept to me when he said…
Price is not a factor until everything else is equal.
The more I considered this the more I liked it, except I have felt that, if it could be reworded, it might give me a better clue as to what I should consider when putting marketing programs together that would make them both sharp and successful. So how about …

When everything else is equal, Price IS the ONLY factor.
This means that unless I can offer a unique solution to what is required, I will be competing on price alone and we all know that that is a recipe for low margins, low profit, even selling at a loss.

Lesson 2 – Tackle and Bait
“Marketing (aside from overall strategy), for many of us involved in the IT business, is the planning, development and implementation of sufficient ACTIONS that find enough opportunities to satisfy the lead requirements of the business plan”.

The methods we have available to us (the Tackle) are basically:-
• Advertising – radio, print media, billboard, Internet, TV etc.
• Direct marketing – email, fax, and letter
• Public Relations – love it, since it is low cost
• Physical calls
• Telephone calls
• Seminars – one on many – breakfast, lunch, workshop, drinks etc.

I heard once that there were only two things involved in marketing effectively and they were:
1. Get noticed
2. Deliver your message
In fact it does not even matter what your message is if you do not get noticed.

So, as far as getting the bait sharp, I think you have to attend to both of these things. You have to get noticed and you have to have a very attractive message. Here is an example of what I mean.

I was doing some training for Vodafone a while back and there were two sessions involved two weeks apart. At the first session, I mentioned the idea of “Luminous Yellow Marketing” and that for a Vodafone dealer a good idea would be to put out a big sign in “luminous yellow cardboard with an arrow done in silver with glued on sparkles”. The sign should say something like – “Come on in and see our latest Nokia phone – it is an incredible phone, at an unbelievable price”.

The class liked the idea, but usually no one does anything about it, except that this time someone did.

One of the class members came back to the second session and clearly wanted to tell everyone that she had tried the idea, Indeed, she had tried it exactly!

We all asked her if it had worked and with a big grin from ear to ear she said: “Normally we have about 50 people come in to our store each day. Once we put the luminous yellow sign up, that number doubled.” So what worked here?
Firstly, they got noticed…fabulous.

Secondly, they put out a message that, once read, enticed the people to come into the store and find out what the deal was all about. I think we call this a hot lead.

So the questions you should ask yourself when crafting your next marketing campaign would be:
1. Is it good enough such that it WILL “get noticed” amid all the other enticements out there?
2. Is the enticement, strong enough that it WILL generate more than the average amount of interest?

Ask others to answer these questions. You will be too close to the action to have a real view of the value of this work.

Lesson 3 – Timing, Hunger and Bait
There is a bit in this sharpening of the Marketing Tool, isn’t there? I mean to do it well, and get a good result, there is a lot to consider.

Timing is not everything!
However, unless we get it right, then, all the good work that is done with message, medium, noticeability etc., will be completely wasted.

I know that from when I have been fishing. If they are not “on the bite” you cannot catch them.

So, in all marketing activity, one of the most important aspects to be considered is timing. My prospects are mostly sales managers. I know that if I try to invite prospects to a seminar on a Monday morning, there is no chance that I will get a response. I now know that if I invite them to a breakfast on either Wednesday or Thursday, I will get the optimum result.

Sometimes our clients have problems or challenges that they are aware of and, if the message or enticement addresses this, they are likely to respond to your Marketing effort. They have a need for what you are offering.

Hunger
Sometimes, they do not know that they have a problem until we tell them about it or help them to discover it.
This too is Hunger, but the enticement message must come from a knowledge that they are likely to have the problem or challenge that you are addressing. This knowledge can only come from your research into their industry or business. Your understanding of their likely needs will enable you to mount an effective campaign.

People and companies do not invest in a solution because of what it IS. They invest because of what it will DO for them.

So their hunger will be to do with, speed, efficiency, lowering costs, improving productivity, increasing reliability, showing off, being the BEST etc.

When things are tough, management often look to cut dollars allocated to marketing. Certainly, if there is no plan they will get cut. However, if there is a believable plan that is approved and there is activity and commitment underway, then it is less tempting to cut the marketing dollars.

When marketing is cut or not implemented, leads and demand do not eventuate and business is diminished.

You have to have a marketing plan.

To give marketing programs their best chance to generate the leads and demand that your business requires takes time.

• Time to research
• Time to create … noticeability, message, media
• Time to test … see if it works
• Time to approve
• Time to produce
• Time to communicate
• Time to execute
• Time to adjust and re-execute
• Time to measure, reflect, learn and report

So, my final message in the sharpening of your “Marketing Tool” is a message that should normally go at the beginning of an article like this. It is a message of planning.

To really make marketing work for you, to ensure it will deliver on the promise that marketing makes to a business, there has to be a forward plan of activity of at least six months with a commitment of money and resources that can be counted upon.

Sharpen your “Marketing Tool” to a razor’s edge. Give yourself time to ensure that the tool is sharpened and then used brilliantly. It is a winner.

If you would like to have some help sharpening your marketing plan and activity, contact Barry at barry.freeman@quantify.com.au. For more information on Quantify Corporation go to www.quantify.com.au