We are all subjected to multiple marketing messages during a day and everyone has an opinion about advertising. But does that make everyone a marketing expert? Marketing is not just about advertising. Advertising is only one component of the promotional toolkit and promotion is only one of the four “Ps”…. product, pricing and place being the other three. All have significant bearing on a successful marketing program.
This is marketing 101 to professional marketers but many business owners do not understand the scope and process of marketing. Here are some common statements:
1. “I want to build a brand”. Brand building takes heavy dollar investments. It can’t be done on a shoestring budget or talked about in the same breath as guerilla marketing. Think Procter and Gamble, Nike, Monster. Think millions. Think consistency and long–term.
2. “My friend advertises his business on cable TV and has been getting lots of response.” Okay – but how many of those inquiries are from real buyers? Do you have a process in place to convert the inquiries into sales? Are you buying a bigger audience than you need to? If it is the right medium, are you prepared to do it for longer than a month?
3. “I’m not getting any response from my marketing efforts.” There could be lots of reasons for this including not targeting the right audience, not having a strong value proposition, insufficient repetition to build awareness or perhaps focusing too much on only one medium.
Effective marketing starts with good strategy. You must identify the right target market, clearly state what problem you can solve or benefit you provide, and differentiate yourself from the competition. It’s also not an exact science. Marketing is like owning a race car…it often needs tuning.
For more information about how you can improve your marketing efforts, contact Melissa Wall, Marketing With Distinction, LLC, melissa@distinctmarketing.com or 203–888–9995.
