Don't Waste Money on Marketing! Plan, plan, plan!

This why it saves you money to plan for the whole marketing cycle before you spend money on marketing.

A business owner who came to me recently spent money on marketing, yet he was unhappy with his results.

He had spent marketing money on a website, blog, article submissions, public relations, postcard deliveries and yet he was concerned that nothing was returning a positive return. Perhaps the expectations weren’t properly set.

So here is a free marketing tip on why setting out a complete marketing plan is necessary to guide business decisions and the money spent on marketing.


Idea of Product or Service or Existing Product or Service

You have an idea for a product or service. A few years ago, I spoke with a computer repair specialist who wanted to launch a company that would compete in his local area with Best Buy’s the Geek Squad. He felt he had a competitive advantage.

You can start spending money to market your business idea, or you can spend a little money to begin testing your idea.

Testing Your Idea, Product or Service

Stick to the basics. Who is your target customer or client? Make up a simple questionnaire that can be answered within a minute. Or paste pictures that represent your idea or product onto a small poster board.

Let’s say you have a product that increases gas mileage.

You, or someone wanting to make extra money, hangs out near gas stations, malls, etc.

You ask representative questions:

“Would you like to increase your gas mileage without changing your vehicle?” (everyone will answer yes so it frames the need but doesn’t give you an idea on the product or service)

“Would you be willing to pay between $ 5 - $ 7 if it saved you $ 30 a month on gas?” (pricing)

“Would you purchase such and such a product from friends or at a store?” (distribution)

“What information would you need to make a purchase?” (getting to trust and credibility)


You could continue to survey in many different ways or seek information.

Start up a no cost blog and hand out a postcard with the url. Watch the traffic. If no one visits then they may not feel strongly about the issue meaning you need to focus on consumer education.

Plan and Budget Developed

Coming up with basic information, will help you decide how much to spend on graphics, printing, search engine optimization, face to face networking, etc.

Also, how much money does one sale return? Is the sale one time or will it result in repeat business? You spend “x” dollars on marketing and how long before sales begin to pour in and exceed your marketing costs? This gauges your return on investment.

Develop the Marketing Message and Image

Armed with basic information will help develop the marketing message and image. This is necessary money spent on marketing. It helps with objective information.

Marketing Activities

Set out the marketing activities, then measure them monthly, quarterly and then evaluate which ones are working and which are not. Stick with those that work.

Repeat the cycle. If sales pick up momentum then you can back off your marketing costs.

Spending Money on Marketing

How much money should I spend on marketing my business?"

That's a question I've often been asked and here is how I answer.

First, let me state that the expertise of the business is the best marketing tool. Do a great job in what you offer, and your marketing budget will need to be less since more referrals should be generated.

There are 3 ways to categorize how much a business is going to charge for its services:

1. Premium pricing

This is where the customer expects high value and an "experience."
At this pricing level, both the business and customers self-select on the services they need. Personal referrals are the most common way for businesses to grow at this price.

A marketing budget is going to reflect targeted media and targeted activities. A corporation could make the choice to run full-page glossy ads in high fashion magazines.

A service company or individual may only need to spend little marketing money and target to spend on thank-you notes and gifts.


2. Competitive Pricing

The customer wants a good product or service and a fair price.
At this pricing level, personal referrals are still common but more of an "argument" may be needed to persuade customers. Therefore, brochures or upgrades to web sites may play an important role as well as offering free seminars with take-away value, etc.


3. Bargain Pricing

At this level, your price is lower and more customers are needed to bring a profit to the business. Ironically, this where a larger marketing budget may be needed. The more "traffic" a business needs to generate, whether online or to a brick and mortar store, the larger is the marketing budget.

Finally, marketing must be done consistently. Whatever activities are chosen and whatever pricing levels are decided on, they must be done reguarly over a specified period of time to generate business.

Who Hears Your Marketing Message?

Who wants to hear what you have to say about your products or services?

There are a lot of people to reach in marketing but do you know who they are?

There's a fancy term used today: stakeholders. Who has a stake in your business?

Marketing is often thought of as persuasive methods to reach new customers.

However, look at the audiences, or stakeholders, who may benefit from receiving your marketing message:

INTERNAL

1. Partners


2. Employees (managers, specific departments, hourly)


3. Vendors, including independent contractors


4. Investors


5. Board of Directors


6. Stockholders

EXTERNAL

1. Customers / Clients, New


2. Customers / Clients, Current


3. Referral Sources / Networking Contacts


4. Media

Generating loyalty, building commitment or even informing a wider circle of audiences can lay a long-term foundation for corporate success.

Marketing Methods and Tools
The term “marketing mix” points to the need for more than one medium to reach a prospective customer or other audience member.

Now look at the array of marketing methods available to reach these different audiences:

DIGITAL
Intranets and Extranets
Web sites, corporate
Web sites, campaign specific
Flash presentations
Video
Kiosks, full or partial

ONLINE
Social networking
Relevant web sites
Blogs

PRINT
Brochures
Catalogs
Annual Reports
Sales letters
Newsletters, internal, public

ADVERTISING
Trade Publications
Direct Mail
Newspapers, Local
Radio
Television, broadcast / cable

CAMPAIGN SPECIFIC MARKETING

IN PERSON
Strategic Partnerships
Networking Events
Trade Shows
Promotional items

More Marketing Assessment Questions

Ask the Right Marketing Questions

and you'll get started on the right foot to marketing your products and services.

This is my second installment of Ask the Right Marketing Questions.

It's worth taking the time to ask the right assessment questions.

Marketing Assessment Questions


What's the value of taking the time to plan your marketing efforts? You can save money in the long run and choose the activities and marketing methods that will likely generate the highest return on investment.

Otherwise, your marketing plan will blow in the wind. Let's say a respected business mentor tells you to advertise in the yellow pages. So you do.

Then you see a competitor advertise on your local cable television outlet. So you do that, too.

Then you hire a copywriter to produce a slick brochure.

So now you've spent money on different marketing strategies. But do they tie together and is the marketing message clear?

Take time to plan your marketing message.

Marketing Assessment Questions for Free

What do you want marketing to achieve for your business?

What business problem can marketing help solve?

Here are two marketing assessment questions you can begin to use.

Marketing must identify a business need or problem in order to be effective.

So this marketing tip for free centers around key questions.

Why you ask? Good question!

Speak to an experienced and successful salesperson and they'll tell you that the first key step in getting a prospect to buy is asking assessment questions throughout the presentation.

What's the purpose of assessment questions? Good question, again!

When a customer, or prospect, answers those questions the salesperson is getting information to see how to best meet a need. That opens the door to more sales.

You are your own customer at this point. Or should I say you are your own marketing client.

There can be a list of hundreds of key questions to ask during a marketing assessment. Here are a few:

• How much money do you want your business to make?



• How well established is your business?



• What is the greatest need your business meets in your customers or potential customers?



• How well known is your business currently?



• How much competition is there in your business?


Finally, listen to yourself talk about your business. What do you tell customers, vendors, colleagues about the service or product you offer?

This information is the beginning of laying a good marketing strategy and it's a way of getting your own marketing tips for free from the best source -- you!

Read here are more marketing assessment questions.

What is Marketing?

You need to market your business. Understood.

What is marketing?

Answer that question and then you can find the right marketing tips and ideas for free to assist in your marketing strategy. Here's another perspective on marketing, too.

How “marketing” is defined and the methods chosen are unique to a company and the related goals and objectives. For professionals, marketing can be unique to the personality and related ambitions such as writing and public speaking. In large corporations, marketing needs can differ greatly from one department to another.

Let’s get started:

What do you want marketing to do for your company?

Possible answers:

• Make your business or product known


• Generate leads and sales


• Let your referrals know you have a new product or service line


• Build credibility


• Rally stakeholders around change


• Rally employees around change


• Create a passionate message




Answering this question and determining the marketing tools you want to use will you develop a budget. This, in turn, will determine how much money is spent to produce a favorable return on investment.

Why is a marketing strategy so important? There are activities and programs you can get involved in right now that may produce quick results. But who are you reaching? Even small businesses have multiple audiences they can reach.

An effective consultant can highlight the strengths and limits of available options and bring together necessary resources.

While marketing requires testing and experimenting, it should be done with strategies that match core values and long-term objectives. This will prevent a hit-and-miss approach.

Marketing Tips for Free

Welcome to Marketing Tips for Free.

Marketing tips and ideas are provided free of charge for business owners, professionals and managers responsible for their department or corporate marketing efforts and marketing programs.

You may wonder how the 7Ps of marketing can really help your business or if marketing strategies are worth the effort.

Before spending money on marketing tips, ideas or advice read the content that will be posted here on a regular basis or link to the current marketing articles.

The ideas and strategies on this marketing blog can be adapted to help businesses and professionals market their products and services whether it’s for business-to-business marketing or business-to-consumer marketing.