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The Secret to Business Growth: Know Your Ideal Customer

Posted by advantagemarketing on April 18, 2012

“The aim of marketing… is to understand the customer so well the product or service sells itself.”  - Peter Drucker

By Loraine Kasprzak

These tips and ideas can help you determine who your ideal customer is, which can help you grow your business.

I’ve asked many business owners who their target audience is. Many will tell me “everyone” – but that’s wrong! If you are targeting everyone, you are targeting NO ONE. You’re not using your time or resources effectively.You know what it’s like when someone is trying to sell you something that you have no interest in – you want to get away from that person as quickly as possible. But if you focus on solving the needs of a specific audience, you are more likely to get them to KNOW, LIKE and TRUST you – and you won’t have them running in the other direction.

The secret to building your customer base is to understand your IDEAL CUSTOMER. Without this insight, your marketing tactics will not attract more customers. More importantly, you won’t grow your business.

Al Turrisi, business development expert and founder of Turrisi & Associates, often explains to his new clients that not everyone is a prospect for their products or services. In a recent blog post, he illustrates this point by recounting a conversation he had at a dinner meeting, before he was introduced as the guest speaker:

The person to my left, Joe, was telling me how he has to convince his prospects they need his service. “And, they just don’t get it.”

As the conversation continued, Joe, not realizing I was the guest speaker, said to me, “By the way, what do you do?”

Al: I am a surgeon.

Joe: What do you specialize in?

Al: I removed gall bladders.

Joe: Oh, that’s interesting.

Al: I did my training at John Hopkins and I can tell you need gall bladder surgery.

Joe: No I’m fine.

Al: You may think so, but I know better, and as a surgeon I am telling you, you need surgery. If you come to my office tomorrow I will make the arrangements.

At this point Joe got a little irritated and said, “No, I don’t need surgery!”

Finally, says Al, “I admitted to Joe I was not a surgeon but was the guest speaker and I was trying to show him, you just can’t convince people what they need or what they need to do.”

“You have to start by knowing who your ideal prospect is and what they want – not what you want to sell them, if you really want to increase your sales volume and ultimately your profits,” Al emphasizes.

How do you determine who your ideal client is? Here are 6 factors I work through with my clients to develop an ideal client profile. I ask my clients to think about their best current clients:

How would they describe this person? Are they male or female? How old are they? Where are they located? Are they a business owner, or do they work for a corporation?

What does this client want – what does he or she value, fear, dream about? Do they want to impress the boss? Are they driven to succeed? Do they want to work fewer hours? Spend more time with family?

How does this person buy? Who is a part of their buying decision process (e.g., family members, management team, or their accountant)? Do they respond to sales presentations or informal discussions?

What is the best way to communicate with them? Are they on Facebook? Do they like to attend webinars? Or workshops? Do they prefer to be referred by a trusted professional?

Most importantly, what is their urgent need? What is it about your products or services will resonate with them, and address that need?

Once you know who your ideal customer is, what do you do with the information? These are among the tips Al offers:

  • Develop screening questions that can be used to capture data from prospects.
  • When you’re with a new prospect, ask these questions.
  • Measure the information you receive from the prospect against the ideal model.
  • Determine if the prospect has a compelling reason to do business with you.
  • Don’t waste your time trying to convince people they need you.

 

Who is your ideal customer? How do you address their urgent needs with your products or services? Please tell us in the Comments section below.

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Posted in B2B marketing, Business, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, small business | Tagged: , , | 3 Comments »

IBM and Social Media: 7 Tips for Midmarket Businesses

Posted by advantagemarketing on September 27, 2011

By Loraine Kasprzak, CMC

Tips for social marketing

7 tips midsize businesses can apply to their social marketing

This is the third in a series of posts based on my conversations about social marketing with Leslie Reiser, Program Director of Worldwide Digital Marketing for IBM General Business. Leslie and her team built IBM’s infoboom online community to collaborate with mid-market B2B companies. The community has since merged with other IBM midsized business social media channels, including a Facebook page, LinkedIn group, etc.

Read the first post, Big Blue Blogs?, to get the scoop on how IBM incorporates social media in its midsize business marketing. Don’t miss the second post, which reveals some of IBM’s lessons learned in building successful social collaboration with leaders of midsize businesses.

In this post, Leslie shares 7 principles you can apply to your own social media/digital marketing efforts. Using even one or two of Leslie’s insights can make developing your company’s social marketing a whole lot easier.

Understand where people are already getting their information, where conversations are already happening. Get involved in these discussions first. Understand where the client base is going before you try to direct the discussion.

Realize that social marketing requires an investment. You’ll need to have some level of investment to grow your social presence. For example, you may want to have a community manager added to your staff who will drive online discussions.

Be creative! After you’ve been listening to discussions for awhile, you’ll have an idea of what’s needed, what’s missing in the marketplace. Make that your niche. Create a new concept for that niche and make it your own.

Have something insightful to say. You have a short window to engage your audience because there’s so much competition for their time. What value are you giving in exchange for their time?

Keep it simple. When you keep it simple, you’ll make the best use of your investment. You’ll want to focus on sharing your content on the social platforms where you find the discussions most relevant to your company. IBM, for example, simplified and consolidated its midmarket interactions into five relevant social spaces, and made content easier to find with tags and indexing.

Empower your employees to be social marketers, and do it in the context of your market. The Watson success on Jeopardy is a good example – IBM people were all over the place – on both social and traditional media. For example, on Reddit.com [the social bookmarking and sharing site], there is a small, enthusiastic Watson audience, and IBM employees contributed to that discussion.

Leverage free tools – there are many. You don’t need to spend millions of dollars, but be thoughtful and be prepared. [For a good list of free social media tools, check out 10 Free Social Media Tools Every PR Pro Should Master].

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Posted in Business, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Social media marketing | Tagged: , , , , | 2 Comments »

IBM’s Lessons Learned in Social Business

Posted by advantagemarketing on September 20, 2011

social media and IBM

You can do social the hard way, or read these lessons learned by the IBM mid-market team

By Loraine Kasprzak, CMC

“I didn’t fail; I just found a thousand ways that didn’t work.” – Thomas Edison

In my previous post, I highlighted how IBM uses digital and social marketing to build its online eminence (think: Watson on Jeopardy), leverage the intellectual capital of its 400,000 employees, and provide deep-level content for its target audiences. This post resulted from my conversations with Leslie Reiser, Program Director of Worldwide Digital Marketing for IBM General Business.

Leslie and her team built IBM’s infoboom online community to collaborate with mid-market B2B companies. In October 2011, infoboom merged with new and expanded IBM midsized business social media channels – making it easier for business leaders to engage with the information that interests them.

The team has many lessons learned that small and mid-market businesses can apply to their own social marketing strategy. These are some of the insights Leslie shared:

Get the support of your leadership team. This helps galvanize the broader organization behind you. Present the business case and talk about social in terms leadership understands. Leslie’s team set up a consolidated dashboard with social sharing and engagement metrics that demonstrate value to the business.

Online communities take care and feeding. Community building isn’t easy. You need to understand the market view. What does the market want – an objective approach or one that’s vendor-driven? Then differentiate yourself – find a market niche and present a better solution for the niche’s needs.

Do your research and talk to clients. IBM’s research was extensive, including one-on-one “voice of the customer” interviews, focus groups, and over 1,000 online surveys. Even if you don’t have an IBM-sized budget, you should still invest time in reaching out to clients to discuss their needs and challenges.

IBM also set up a client advisory network, with 140 middle market CIOs [Chief Information Officers] from diverse industries and multiple countries who bounce ideas back and forth. This group, which has been in place for 3-5 years, is very candid and outspoken. The group also has the characteristics of the customers IBM is targeting. They’re not necessarily IBM’s best customers, but are indicative of the broader market.

It’s also important to pilot. Leslie’s team needed to see what worked and what didn’t in the market. You have to pilot before you invest in content. “You don’t want a meatball – especially an expensive meatball – hanging out there,” says Leslie.

At launch, validate and ensure you’re meeting audience expectations. Ask for feedback and correct your path.

Be sure you very carefully articulate your value exchange.  What are you going to provide that the market or client needs?

If you’re an international company, be very sensitive to country nuances and individual requirements. It’s not enough to translate – you need local experts. For example, IBM’s US healthcare solutions are vastly different from solutions for the UK. Certain countries can leverage US solutions and content – Singapore and Australia are two – but not the UK. Understand the market you’re getting into and know what’s acceptable and what isn’t.

Let your rock stars go social. People are looking for expertise, credibility and authenticity from you. Leverage your subject matter experts in your social marketing and it will help your company become an industry thought leader and drive the online discussion.

Next post: Leslie offers tips for middle market businesses for building social presence.

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Posted in B2B marketing, Business, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Social media marketing | Tagged: , , , , | 2 Comments »

Unexpected Customers from Unexpected Markets

Posted by advantagemarketing on May 2, 2011

growth opportunities

Your best new customers can come from unexpected places - keep your eyes open for opportunities.

by Patrick Lefler

For small growing companies, customer development is the most important task to ensure survival. And this customer development process is all about understanding who you are selling to and why they want to by it. Noted author and entrepreneur Steven Gary Blank perhaps says it best when talking about the risks for these types of companies:

“The greatest risk–and hence the greatest cause of failure–is not in the development of the new product but in the development of customers and markets. [They] don’t fail because they lack a product; they fail because they lack customers…”

Customer development information does not come easily, nor does it become apparent even after you’ve sold your first product. Sometimes you find yourself focusing on the wrong customers, not understanding the demand that buyers have for your product. And other times you focus on the wrong features. In many cases, your best customers are unexpected or they come from markets that were overlooked the first go-around.

In an essay titled The New Venture, Peter Drucker recounts a wonderful story of just such an occurrence.

“Shortly after World War II, a small Indian engineering firm bought the license to produce a European-designed bicycle with an auxiliary light engine. It looked like the ideal product for India; yet it never did well. The owner of this small firm noticed, however, that substantial orders came in for the engines alone. At first, he wanted to turn down these orders; what could anyone possibly do with such a small engine? It was curiosity alone that made him go to the actual areas that the orders came from. There he found farmers who were taking the engines off the bicycles and using them to power irrigation pumps that hitherto had been hand-operated. This manufacturer is now the world’s larger maker of small irrigation pumps, selling them by the millions. His pumps have revolutionized farming all over Southeast Asia.”

For start-ups and other small growing companies, the best lesson to learn is that you may find customers in markets that no one imagined when the product was first developed. The only way to find these different markets is to get out of the office and investigate. If you see unexpected customers in unexpected markets, find out what’s driving demand. And don’t dismiss the unexpected as a ‘one-off’ exception or a fluke.

Here’s the takeaway: Unexpected customers can come from the most unexpected of markets. Get out of the office; investigate these exceptions and factor that demand into your product development going forward.

Patrick Lefler is the founder of The Spruance Group; a management consulting firm that helps growing companies grow dramatically faster. He is a former Marine Corps officer and a graduate of both Annapolis and The Wharton School. The Spruance Group acts as a trusted partner by offering unbiased advice and providing unique solutions to help clients solve their most pressing product strategy needs. For more information, please visit www.spruancegroup.com

Posted in B2B marketing, Business, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Professional service firm marketing, Traditional marketing | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

13 Ways to Level Up Your Marketing in 2011

Posted by advantagemarketing on January 4, 2011

Use these 13 ideas to help strengthen your marketing program in 2011

By Loraine Kasprzak, CMC

Is your same-old marketing getting the same old results? Here are the some of the ideas I’m sharing with Advantage Marketing clients to help them build a stronger marketing program in 2011:

  1. Revisit your value proposition. Times have changed and what you offer your clients may have changed as well. Does your written value proposition reflect these changes? Don’t have a value proposition? Create one! Nailing down this messaging will help you focus your marketing efforts and better communicate with customers.
  2. Discard what isn’t working. Set aside some time now to review what did and didn’t work in your 2010 marketing program. What could you have done better? What wasn’t a good fit for your firm? Consider ditching what didn’t show a return for your company and reallocating those budget dollars to more effective tactics.
  3. Reach out and listen to your customers. Feedback from your customers can be critical to uncovering the next opportunity for your company. Starting this quarter, make it a point to call several customers to ask how you are doing.
  4. Remember problems = opportunities. If you are asking for honest customer feedback, you’re going to hear about the bad as well as the good. Act on feedback and let your customers know what you’ve done. This can improve relationships and help you uncover opportunities for new products, services or processes.
  5. Get active in social marketing. If you are not at least on the social media sites that are relevant to your target audiences, then you are missing the boat. An easy way to start getting connected is through the industry and trade associations in which you have memberships. You  can also check out this Twitter post.
  6. Generate news consistently. Having a presence in local and online media can firm up your position as the brand leader in your industry. Not sure what to write about? Pick something that is related to your area of expertise and is of value to your audience. For example, an IT client of mine sends out press releases about their participation in industry conferences.
  7. Work with associations. Many of my clients are members of professional or trade associations that reach audiences who are prime targets for their services. These associations are always looking for sponsors for their websites, meetings, conferences, and webinars. Evaluate your trade and industry associations and consider investing a portion of your marketing budget in marketing through them if they have the right audiences for you.
  8. Commit to continuous learning. When you’re running your business day-to-day, the latest trends and advances in your industry can pass you by. Take advantage of your association memberships by attending face-to-face or virtual conferences to learn about industry trends, technologies and best practices. Commit to attending at least one webinar, industry meeting or conference quarterly. Then take your learning one step further by using what you learned to develop and market new products and services.
  9. Get out of your office. Make it a point to get out of your office a least once a month and meet a client or colleague for coffee. Focus on learning more about the other person’s business challenges. You’ll come away with a fresh perspective and it may help you uncover opportunities for your own company.
  10. Learn about SEO. If you do any marketing at all through your website – and who doesn’t these days? – then you need to understand how and why search engines like Google find your site, and what you can do to improve how easily your site is found.  Investing the time and effort to understand the basics of search engine optimization, or SEO, will help you develop meaningful content for your website – content that is picked up by search engines. A good source of SEO info for both beginner and expert is Search Engine Land. Check out the site’s How To articles.
  11. Clean up your website. Your company’s website can get cluttered over time, making it difficult for visitors to navigate easily. Content also gets stale, making it less likely that visitors will stay on your site or return again. Review your site pages and get rid of or revise content that is no longer relevant. Consider adding a blog to provide site visitors with valuable insights and information about your products or services. For more about creating engaging content for websites and blogs see my 15 Tips for Creating Content post.
  12. Manage your lists. When was the last time you updated your email or direct mail lists? List quality can mean the success or failure of marketing campaigns, so take the time to purge old names. You’ll also want to put a plan in place for acquiring permission-based contacts, whether from a list rental, Google Ad campaign or other sources.
  13. Add video. It may be hard to believe that YouTube is the second largest search engine behind Google. But video is here to stay and can be a major source of referrals to your website. By putting up videos, says Tim Ferriss, an angel investor and New York Times bestselling author, you open up a whole new channel for sharing and connecting to the biggest word-of-mouth platform in the English language.

What’s next?

Continue the discussion. What are you doing to improve your marketing in 2011? Please share your thoughts in the Comments section.

Get more information. Check out more of The Marketing Advantage blog and visit the rest of the Advantage Marketing website to learn about the marketing communications and social media services we offer.

Posted in Business, Marketing, Marketing plans, Marketing Strategy, Professional service firm marketing | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

Does Social Media Fit in Your Professional Services Marketing Plan?

Posted by advantagemarketing on December 7, 2010

By Loraine Kasprzak, CMC

social media for professional service firms“How can we use social media?”

That’s a question I often get from partners and owners of professional service firms. They think social media is something they should be paying attention to, yet they are unsure where to start, or even if they should start, using it.

For retailers and other businesses that market products entirely to consumers, social media marketing – through Facebook, Twitter or even YouTube – has become accepted practice. It lets them to get closer to their customers, provide better service and earn positive word of mouth.  But what about professional service firms? Is there value for you in social networking? If so, which of the many social media tools is relevant for you?

Thought leadership and social networking

If you run a professional service company, perhaps the greatest value in participating in the social media world is the opportunity to present your firm as a thought leader. You can do this by creating content that is useful to your prospects and customers – white papers, case studies, tip sheets, how-to videos, etc. When you share useful content in the social network, it helps your firm get known as the “go-to” experts.

I recently worked with D.G. McDermott Associates, a compensation consulting firm, to promote Bulletproof Your Compensation Plan, a white paper targeted at New Jersey middle market businesses. Our online campaign led to well over 40 white paper downloads, exceeding our goal. More importantly, over 40 companies became aware of McDermott Associates’ compensation plan expertise.  (What we did to keep these prospects engaged will be the subject of a future blog post.)

Engaging in relevant social media

It’s a good idea to do some research before selecting the social media tools you will use. You don’t want or need to be on every social networking site. According to David Meerman Scott, author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR, “For most people and organizations, it’s better to be active in a few social networking sites instead of creating profiles on dozens of them and being too busy to spend much time on any one.”

An easy approach is to ask your customers which social media they are using when they are buying or talking about services such as yours. Are they using Twitter? Reading blogs? Posting updates to LinkedIn or Facebook? Whatever they’re using should be part of your plan.

Professional associations often have websites with social networking capabilities and you should visit and evaluate these sites. For example, the Institute of Management Consultants has a members-only section where members can post profiles and share content with other members.

Although it might be considered heresy in the social media world, the truth is, some prospects and customers aren’t discussing your type of service online. It could be out of privacy concerns, or a lack of time or interest. For example, I have one client who offers executive coaching to Fortune 500 firms. Although there are countless Twitter and blog posts about executive coaching, it’s not the corporate HR Vice Presidents – who typically hire executive coaches – who are engaged on these sites. For this client, social media marketing is a much smaller component of his overall marketing effort.

In the next post, I will provide a simple framework for fitting social media into your firm’s overall marketing plan, and some tips for getting started in social media.

Does your professional services firm need help getting started in social media marketing? Contact the marketing experts at Advantage Marketing, we’d be glad to help.

Posted in Business, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Professional service firm marketing, Social media marketing | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

Another Reason to Hire a Certified Management Consultant

Posted by advantagemarketing on September 30, 2010

Certified Management Consultants stand out

CMCs stand out from a crowded field

By Loraine Kasprzak, CMC

Whether you need a management consultant to craft a marketing and communications strategy or redesign your warehousing system, there’s another big reason why you’re going to want to bring in a Certified Management Consultant™ – ISO accreditation.

Certification: the Gold Standard

Certified Management Consultants, or CMCs as we call ourselves, have demonstrated that we produce real results for clients, adhere to the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC) strict code of ethics (see the Advantage Marketing Code of Ethics), and manage our practices professionally. In essence, we’ve achieved the Gold Standard in management consulting and we perform to that standard for our clients.

According to Drumm McNaughton, CMC and IMC USA’s Chairman/CEO, “Earning the CMCis no trivial matter; it can be likened to an attorney passing the Bar examination, an accountant receiving a CPA, or an engineer obtaining a PE license.”

ISO Accreditation

Lately, with all the attacks on consultants’ integrity and performance – most recently in the Huffington Post – it’s no wonder that business owners and executives can be leery about hiring consultants. But now, thanks to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), prospective clients can select a certified management consultant with an extra degree of assurance.

IMC has earned the prestigious ISO accreditation (for the ISO-savvy: it’s ISO/IEC 17024:2003) for its Certified Management Consultant process. IMC is only the third institute to gain ISO recognition – so it means IMC must be doing something right when it certifies consultants.

But what does ISO accreditation mean for you?

Here’s what I wrote recently in the Institute of Management Consultants Connector newsletter about IMC achieving ISO accreditation for its certification process:

Certified Management ConsultantsIt shows clients that CMCs are at the top of their game. “American business demands proven experience and ethical behavior,” says Drumm McNaughton. “Organizations can be confident that consultants with CMCs have a history of excellent performance in delivering results, have met world class standards of competence, ethics and client satisfaction, and have maintained a level of professionalism through education and periodic certificate renewal.”

It reduces the client’s risk in hiring a management consultant. “ISO 9000 allowed purchasers to rely on a manufacturer’s quality process. Similarly, IMC’s certification process means our clients and prospects can purchase management consulting services and have an assurance of quality because of the ISO accreditation,” adds David Norman, CMC and IMC USA Vice Chair Member Value.

Government agencies have already begun requesting CMCs on certain RFQs. Department of Transportation (DOT), Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Commerce Department are among those agencies that look for CMCs for their consulting projects.

It is an independent third-party validation. Results of a study authorized by the IMC and conducted by an independent research firm clearly state that clients value an independent third party certification, such as the CMC designation, over internal corporate certification programs which are viewed as self-promoting or pat-on-the-back.

So for your next consulting project, big or small, look for those consultants who have their CMCs. A good place to start is the IMCUSA website.

Posted in Business, Marketing Strategy, Traditional marketing | Tagged: , , , , | 3 Comments »

Letting Your Customers Have Their Say

Posted by advantagemarketing on September 17, 2010

Strengthen customer relationships

Establishing ongoing conversations with customers can benefit your company in more ways than one.

By Loraine Kasprzak, CMC

At my son’s track meet one Saturday, I got to talking to Alex Palacio, who is one of the track dads and also a partner in a web-based retail business called WebUndies.com.

“We have lots of customers,” Alex told me. “but we really don’t do much with them after the initial sale. We need to start building relationships with them.”

Companies across many industries face the same challenge – how to build and strengthen customer relationships so that both sides benefit. 

As a marketing management consultant, I believe one of the best ways to create and build a relationship with your customers is by establishing ongoing conversations with them. This gives them the opportunity to have their say about what is good, what is bad, and what they think you should do next with your products and services.

Trendwatching.com, a Netherlands-based trend-tracking agency, has dubbed the trend of seeking direct customer input “customer-made”.  This trend involves companies creating goods, services and experiences based on what they learn from engaging their customers at a very deep level. “Customer-made” can influence many facets of what the company does – from product development to brand building, from advertising to selling.

One of my past clients, for example, had developed a new software program and had several of its customers beta-testing the new product. Although the company owner was in touch with the beta-testers on a regular basis, they mostly talked about product functionality.

Having customers as beta-testers is a golden opportunity to build relationships with the people who could have a very strong influence on new product sales.  Together my client and I developed an interview guide covering a much wider range of topics, and I chatted with each of the beta-testers by phone.

Although several important “AHAs!” came out of the interviews, I believe the process itself of asking for feedback led to a strong core of committed users. These customers continue to be source of referrals and are driving product development for my client.   These customers knew my client was listening and responding to them.

There are multiple ways, in addition to phone interviews, to get an ongoing conversation started with your clients. In the online world, webinars, interactive sessions, blogs, surveys, and emails can help you learn from your customers. You may also want to try social media tools such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. These are popular among consumers, and are growing in usefulness for  business owners.

Offline, you can use more personal means, such as customer round tables, one-on-one meetings, and periodic telephone contact.

Whatever means you use, be sure that you are asking questions that get you meaningful feedback. For example, “What can we do to improve your experience with us?” and “How would you change our product/service?” are always powerful questions that can yield insightful responses from your customers.

What is your company doing to connect with its customers? Share your tips with us in the Comment section.

Photo attribution: Andy Piper on flickr.com

Posted in Business, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Social media marketing, Traditional marketing | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

7 Secrets to Marketing in an Economic Downturn

Posted by advantagemarketing on August 26, 2010

Powerful ideas for getting more from your marketing

Marketing opportunities

Look for marketing opportunities in the economic downturn

By Loraine Kasprzak, CMC

Change your pitch. Conspicuous consumption is out. Buyers today are looking for more than just brand image, they want to know the value they are getting for their money. Your website, social media pages, marketing literature and sales team should communicate a clear value proposition for your products and services. Demonstrate with examples, testimonials, and case studies how buyers will get more for their money when they buy from you.

Conspicuous consumption is out. Buyers today are looking for more than just brand image, they want to know the value they are getting for their money. Your website, social media pages, marketing literature and sales team should communicate a clear value proposition for your products and services. Demonstrate with examples, testimonials, and case studies how buyers will get more for their money when they buy from you.

Develop lower-cost alternatives to your existing lines. One of the worst things you can do is cut your pricing to boost business. When the economy turns around, you will be stuck with more price-sensitive customers and less profit. Try selling alternatives to your existing lines at lower price points. These “value lines” can offer fewer features and benefits and won’t impact the positioning of your premium products.

Prioritize your spend. This is the year to reevaluate and reallocate funds, making your marketing budget work harder. For example, is all that money spent on event sponsorship or trade shows resulting in more sales? If not, it might be time to invest those dollars in building a compelling company website – or better yet, new-to-you social media tactics – to attract new clients.

Find the opportunities. In a down economy there can still be opportunities to grow your business. One good place to look for the silver lining is in your current customer database. Analyze revenues by customer to uncover who is still buying. Learn more about those companies and their industries to find growing market segments.

Build relationships with current customers. You don’t have to spend big bucks entertaining your customers. Simply ask them what they need from you. Care for them and they will be even more likely to stick with you as a trusted source.

Collaborate and cross-market. Reach out to your network and find another business or two that sells to a similar customer base. By collaborating and combining your marketing efforts with another company, you can both achieve greater impact.

Stretch your budget with social networking. More businesses and consumers are interacting online through blogs, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media. Using these media doesn’t have to be expensive and can be a great way to build visibility for your business. Check out how Internet retailer WebUndies.com uses Twitter to draw more customers.

What are you doing to get more from your marketing budget? Share your ideas in the Comments section below.

Photo attribution: Donna Grayson on Flickr.com

Posted in Business, Marketing Strategy, Social media marketing, Traditional marketing | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

What’s Your Marketing ROI?

Posted by advantagemarketing on August 23, 2010

What's your marketing ROI?

Analyzing ROI can reveal which tactics are working and which aren't

By Loraine Kasprzak, CMC

A retired executive who is starting up a new company recently asked me, how does a business owner know if they are getting a return on their marketing investment?

This results-oriented entrepreneur isn’t the only one asking how much advertising, social media, email campaigns, and direct mail will impact his bottom line. Businesses of all sizes – from Fortune 500s to the corner coffee shop – have begun paying more attention to measuring the performance of their marketing programs.  They are realizing that analyzing the return on investment (ROI) for marketing can help them prioritize projects and invest their marketing budget more wisely.

Choose the right metrics. A good question to start with is, “Is what I spend on marketing improving my revenue growth and market position?” Answering will give you insight into which performance measurements are most appropriate for your business.  You might track, for example, dollars spent per sales leads generated, browser-to-buyer conversion rate, or change in average order size.  You should also track revenue to expense ratios, or a similar measurement.

Another tip: you’re better off tracking a few key metrics that you can act on, rather than getting bogged down in data.

Not everything can be immediately measured.  Building your brand, for example, isn’t always easily or inexpensively measured. The results from such efforts usually pay off over time as prospects become more aware of what your brand stands for, and are more willing to grant you a sales call or visit your store, website, blog or fan page.

Build metrics into your marketing campaign.  Branding aside, many marketing tactics do lend themselves to measurement if you plan ahead.  A good rule of thumb here is that if you aren’t going to measure it, then don’t do it.  For example, if you don’t plan to capture and track the leads that result from a LinkedIn or magazine ad that you want to run, then don’t run it. You’re wasting your money.

Follow through.  Communicate with your team so that they are aware of the performance measurements, and agree to a system for tracking relevant data. Let them know how much the campaign depends on their accurate tracking. And when the campaign is completed, share the results with them, to build understanding and goodwill for your next efforts.

Analyze for insight.  Review performance against your plan. Did you achieve your targets? Why or why not? If that LinkedIn or magazine ad, for example, didn’t result in any leads, does the ad’s call to action need tweaking?  Or perhaps you need to look at a different tactic for reaching that target market.  Feed this knowledge back into your marketing planning to help you achieve better results next time.

What metrics do you use to gauge the success of your marketing campaigns? Tell us about them in the Comments section below.

Posted in Business, Marketing Strategy, Social media marketing, Traditional marketing | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

 
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