IMSC Services – Consulting
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Marketing
Topics: - Tips for
Effective Marketing
The scenario:
Let us presume that your organization wants to market some new
products that are currently being developed.
Problem:
In this article I am presuming that the
organization described in this example is a small business and does not
have a dedicated marketing department with trained professionals to do
the marketing work. As the person assigned to the project you have been
given a fixed budget for both the marketing campaign and for acquiring
help for this project. After searching around for consultants and
reviewing quotes, you realize that you are under budgeted and decide
that the only way to this project will be realized, is that if your
organization does the marketing work internally. The problem is that no
one within your organization has enough marketing knowledge to do the
work effectively. This means that someone internally has to learn pretty
much on the job and in light speed and you are nominated.
So what to do?
Marketing is about conveying to a
target audience the perception of value that a product, service or an
organization has. The first task is look at whatever existing literature
your organization has about the products or services being target
marketed and evaluate them; only revise them if needed. However, if your
organization does not have any literature prepared then your first job
will be to create some. This literature is generally the detailed copy
that your sales people hand to both clients and prospects when they
request information on the organization, or its products or services.
My first suggestion
would be to if you have access to the Internet is to visit a competitor
website and see how they approached the problem. First off, I urge you
please don’t copy them that will only serve to hurt your organizations
reputation. Now, the reason for visiting the competition’s website is
because you need a fast education and one of the best methods to
learning is observation.
Things to look for:
- Look at how they laid out
the literature and make note of the things that you feel
are effective and what elements are not.
- Take out a pen and paper and
make notes documenting these observations
- Notice the use of graphics;
were the graphics effective at adding a needed visual
punch or were they misleading or confusing?
- Ask yourself is the
literature clear and does it answer the more common
questions that customer generally ask.
- Does the literature do a
good job of describing the said products or services?
Take note of the products
and services. How similar are they to what your
organization is offering. List the key points that the
competitor used to drive home value and does this list
of values help distinguish them from other companies
that offer similar products or services.
Make sure that you
visit at least half a dozen or so competitor sites. Create a system for
comparison using the tips I outlined above, I personally would suggest
using Microsoft Excel or something similar to and when you are finished
look at the results and use it to help you make better decisions as far
as the site goes.
Now what do I do?
Using whatever software and any
other tools you have at your disposal you now have the task to creating
marketing material that is effective and compelling. The steps above
should have better prepared you to do this task just follow them and use
your own good judgment. The key is to remember what a customer
experiences when looking at literature. Think of the typical questions
they would have and strive to make sure that they are answered clearly.
There are certain elements that all good literature should convey and
the more clear and concise your literature is the better its message
will be absorbed by clients and prospects. A few examples of these
elements are listed below.
When creating the
literature, make sure you highlight the key points that best describe
the products or services. I cannot stress the importance this enough.
Every product or services has main features that create a perception of
value. Without these features they would remain nameless or irrelevant
in the vast array of choices that today prospect must choose from. This
is necessary in creating an effective brand name through marketing.
Another main point
is to try to find ways to make your products and services stand out from
the crowd.
- If
your organization has better pricing
- More
options
- Has
it won any awards
Are
there any published reviews that can
re-enforce the claims made by your
organization? Use any or all of
these points listed above in your
literature to help position your
products or services in a way that
gives them distinction is an overly
crowded world.
Make
sure you properly identify your
organization; always have your logo
present on all your marketing
materials.
Make
sure to provide your audience with
ways to contact your organization by
listing who to contact and their
phone number. Alternative options
like fax, email or website should be
included if available.
With that said, this is
not intended on being a complete guide, the topic of Marketing is vast
and there are many approaches, I wrote this out as a guide to help you
get started. The more you do the more you will learn.
Good Luck and look for
more tips as they are published bi-monthly.
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