MARKETING ARTICLES & TIPS

MARKETING: What is it?
And how do you "know before you go"?

A simple guide to the basics of promotion & marketing

I have had so many people ask me questions over 13 years of doing marketing, that to clear up the confusions they have on marketing I have written a series of articles that have been published into a book. The subject of Marketing is confusing to many people, and going into the New Millennium a business cannot afford to miss out.

First of all, WHAT IS MARKETING? This is the whole subject of taking anything, any person, any product or service to the market. This involves initial ideas, all the way through to getting something into the hands of the public, in good exchange for valuable recognition, money, etc.

Marketing is an ongoing continuous exercise strategically planned for the long term result and objective of your company. Within that strategy for the company are separate strategies specifically geared to achieving position and success for a product or a service. Marketing is not just a survey. Marketing is strategy, timing, packaging, publicity and a war against the competitor and his product and a battle for the attention of your client.

Marketing is a decision-making tool that provides one with factual data from which to make the decisions that will provide one with plans, programs and strategies. Hey, don't worry. It's not as hard as you may think. But there are exact steps, whether marketing yourself or your business, large or small. People are already bombarded with information, both on the Internet and in the media, so how do you set yourself apart from all this?

By the year 2002, half of the businesses in the U.S. will be home based. The advances in telecommunication make it even easier to conduct business from anywhere. All you need is a computer, phone, fax and modem. While the popularity of the Internet is growing, it is clear that this venue is a publishing medium and the wealth of information available opens up more communication lines to businesses all over the globe. To actually sell a service or product, the standard marketing actions still apply, whether it is via Internet or regular promotion. For any business, the challenge in the next millennium will be getting their message out and responded to despite the bombardment of information crying for public attention. The key way to ensure you are getting RESULTS from your marketing and promotion efforts is to "know before you go". The smart will conduct market research, surveys and impression testing on their promotion or ideas, before committing thousands of dollars a year on advertising. Even if it is an article on the Internet. Even more now than ever. With the information highway and more avenues of promotion, from cable TV to videos and more sophisticated direct mail, it is more imperative you know exactly what to do to get your message across and what message is best to reach the target public you are trying to reach.

Ask yourself these simple questions: Do you know exactly who the public is you want to reach with your marketing? Have you isolated your ideal customer? Do you know what they think about your product or service? Do you really know how they feel and what they don't like?

What are the personal benefits of your product or service, in your public's words? What forms of promotion do they actually respond to best and what do they simply throw out or ignore? How this is done uses precise marketing technology, from researching all past information to designing correct surveys, contact with trained professional to really get answers to questions, full tabulation and simple to read information as well as testing out promotional ideas. After the public is targeted (people you want to sell to or reach with your marketing plans) it is important find out what they think and GET INSIDE THEIR HEADS. How do you do this? Simple. You ask them!

There's a war going on out there. The assault is on your mind and the weapons used are words and pictures. The words and pictures have won when they have caught your attention and captured your dollars for a service or a product.

You may think that this kind of warfare is beyond you due to competitive factors of time, money, research and so on. Well, you can stop right there if you want, but there is a simple and effective way to continue---one step at a time. In marketing, you have to lay the foundation for success of any individual or enterprise with a good idea, service or product. You've probably all heard of the principle "know before you go." What you may not know is that this is the principle on which marketing is actually based. And there's a lot to know before you do go. Marketing actually involves surveys and research to lay out the priorities in a step-by-step fashion, find out the hot buttons and what the people you want to reach really think and want. Not just what you think they want. It works like magic, when applied and done right.

At Trendsetters we conduct full market research, surveys, positioning, and then develop workable promotion, write marketing plans and campaigns, including publicity articles & PR. This is what it takes to market any service or product, and each element should work together, in a strategically planned marketing campaign on or off the Internet.

What is PUBLIC RELATIONS OR PUBLICITY?

This involves what is strategically done to have effective results in the media & public attention. It is done to demonstrate a person or company's good works and what they are doing to succeed and be recognized by the public. This involves press and media coverage of what you want to present, how you want to present it, and what effects you really want to create.

The media... TV, film, radio & press...all give you information from their view, from the editorial policy of their publication or station, from direct or indirect information they gather. If they do not have the correct information, it will not get printed. It is up to you to provide them with the correct information, either about yourself or your business. The sources they use,

such as national wire services, local newspaper articles or reporters, may have out-of-date and incorrect information. The job of a PR (Publicist or Public Relations person) is to first contact the media appropriate to the client, survey or find out as much information on what they need and want as possible, and then deliver something to them that meets that criteria. It also has to align with exactly how you want to position a person or company in the eyes of the public. What is given to the press is exactly how you want to be presented to your public and to strategically present the very best points about a client, to get the best instant impression.

This gets into POSITIONING: Positioning is a sophisticated marketing technology, but boils down to "what is the instant impression and communication about a client that you want to present?" People think in terms of comparisons. An example of this is if you want to tell someone about a movie you just saw and compare it to "Rocky". They would instantly get an idea of the new movie. Or comparisons you hear every day, like "he has the eyes of an eagle", he is "fast as lightning" or "slow as a turtle" and she is "as quick as a fox" etc. This is utilized in positioning a person or business. This is a fascinating field, because what you communicate does matter and make a difference. It influences people, especially when using Celebrities. One of the key things omitted when doing PR, is in-depth research and surveys of the media you want to reach. This is very successful, when done correctly, and you can make media friends for life.

We have.

MARKETING TIPS COLUMN:

In each article I will give some marketing tips that can help any company. Here goes:

1. Take at least 100 invoices or more, a cross section over the last 3 to 6 months of business.

2. Write down in a tabulation exactly what areas the clients are coming from, including the zip codes or in some cases, types of businesses they are coming from. Keep track of the areas, ticking them off as you tabulate, to see what are the areas of heaviest concentration of customers. One or two will stand out.

3. Take a look at what kind of customer they are (i.e. male, female, cash, credit, etc...)

Get as much of a profile on your customers as you can, from invoices.

4. If you have other information on the invoice (which is a good idea to include, by the way) then tally up where each of the clients found out about your services or product. They may have come in off an Ad or coupon or newsletter or word of mouth. Most people hear about or see your company name several times, in several different ways before they actually show up. Get as much information as you can gather. You can even compare this to the general public that came in last year at the same time. Is there a difference? You may have changed something in your company or in your promotion. Check it out.

5. Next time you do promotion, target the exact areas that you have discovered in point #2 above, and use the data you have found in point #4 above to create promotion. When buying mailing lists or sending out anything, get those that fit the profile, in the right areas, and get lists that are geared to what you found in point #3. Don't buy general lists where you can't tell who is on there, what areas, income, type of public. The "little old lady from Pasadena" may not be your targeted public and general mailing lists often times are not accurate. Promote to the targeted people you know are customers. Whether you distribute flyers, place ads, send out referral letters or mailings, or use the Internet to send out a newsletter, you can INCREASE YOUR EFFECTIVENESS by targeting your public precisely. Demographics ( the study of population statistics) and adding up where your customers are coming from can help you do that. Try it!