Is Your Marketing Kitchen Really Cookin
Is Your Marketing Kitchen Really Cookin
Marketing is pervasive - the often silent influencer of opinions, preferences and buying habits.
Not that I should be surprised. After all, most people don't think about marketing every day of the week like I do! But I have noticed that the marketing function is often mistaken for its component pieces - press advertising, personal selling, sponsorship, public relations, direct mail, Internet banner ad's etc.
These cases of mistaken identity run the risk of missing the value of marketing. The real power of marketing comes from the successful use of a combination of relevant marketing tools, tactics and procedures to provide an environment and opportunity in which to create a satisfied customer. To single out one aspect of marketing downplays the dynamics of the true marketing environment.
It's not really fair - or useful - to say marketing is just advertising, or just selling, or just… That's like saying a cake is just flour.
The value is in the cake, not just the flour. In fact if you lined up all the ingredients for the cake in front of you on the kitchen bench, odds are that you wouldn't want to eat many of them straight up (except maybe for the chocolate chips!). Marketing is often the same.
Many people have trouble getting the most from their marketing efforts because all they see are the ingredients of their marketing 'cake'. And in many cases the individual ingredients don't seem very palatable.
But take a different approach. Stop looking for the single "secret ingredient" to make your business rise, and look at how you are managing the kitchen.
Follow this tried and true recipe to get better value from your marketing!
Align marketing with business priorities - make sure that marketing activities are helping you to achieve what you want.
Use marketing tactics that make sense for your business - don't spend money (and precious time) on low yield marketing tactics.
Follow financial disciplines - know your budget, have a forecast, plan for 12 months, track expenditure regularly.
Include all parts of your business (e.g. purchasing, sales staff, finance) - other departments do have an influence on marketing. Stock must be purchased in time for promotions, advertising material must be coordinated with in-store selling, and financial impacts of marketing must be accounted for.
Make sure your people understand why - explain to the non-marketers in your business why marketing is necessary and how it benefits them. Tell them in advance of new promotional events. Let them know what you are doing for customers.
Give feedback - communicate progress of marketing activities, advertising campaigns etc. Let your colleagues know that marketing 'lives' in the organisation everyday, not just when something important happens.
Get your timing right - understand the market, understand your business. Make sure things happen when they should. Make sure stock is in-store before the new ad campaign starts, plan promotions for peak times, supply timely expense data to the finance gurus for future planning.
Deliver as promised - meet your commitments to customers, colleagues and service providers. Gain credibility.
If you don't think you have the culinary skills (or the time) to make your marketing 'cake', then get someone to help. Delegate within your organisation or call in a professional to help you out.
There's more to successful sales and marketing activities than meets the untrained eye. Make sure you have your marketing 'kitchen' in order so you can get the value you are looking for.
Is Your Marketing Kitchen Really Cookin - To learn more about this author, visit Stuart Ayling's Website.
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In discussions with clients and business associates, and during my work as a tutor with university students, I am often surprised at the lack of understanding of how ubiquitous the marketing function is within an organisation.
Marketing is pervasive - the often silent influencer of opinions, preferences and buying habits.
Not that I should be surprised. After all, most people don't think about marketing every day of the week like I do! But I have noticed that the marketing function is often mistaken for its component pieces - press advertising, personal selling, sponsorship, public relations, direct mail, Internet banner ad's etc.
These cases of mistaken identity run the risk of missing the value of marketing. The real power of marketing comes from the successful use of a combination of relevant marketing tools, tactics and procedures to provide an environment and opportunity in which to create a satisfied customer. To single out one aspect of marketing downplays the dynamics of the true marketing environment.
It's not really fair - or useful - to say marketing is just advertising, or just selling, or just… That's like saying a cake is just flour.
The value is in the cake, not just the flour. In fact if you lined up all the ingredients for the cake in front of you on the kitchen bench, odds are that you wouldn't want to eat many of them straight up (except maybe for the chocolate chips!). Marketing is often the same.
Many people have trouble getting the most from their marketing efforts because all they see are the ingredients of their marketing 'cake'. And in many cases the individual ingredients don't seem very palatable.
But take a different approach. Stop looking for the single "secret ingredient" to make your business rise, and look at how you are managing the kitchen.
Follow this tried and true recipe to get better value from your marketing!
Align marketing with business priorities - make sure that marketing activities are helping you to achieve what you want.
Use marketing tactics that make sense for your business - don't spend money (and precious time) on low yield marketing tactics.
Follow financial disciplines - know your budget, have a forecast, plan for 12 months, track expenditure regularly.
Include all parts of your business (e.g. purchasing, sales staff, finance) - other departments do have an influence on marketing. Stock must be purchased in time for promotions, advertising material must be coordinated with in-store selling, and financial impacts of marketing must be accounted for.
Make sure your people understand why - explain to the non-marketers in your business why marketing is necessary and how it benefits them. Tell them in advance of new promotional events. Let them know what you are doing for customers.
Give feedback - communicate progress of marketing activities, advertising campaigns etc. Let your colleagues know that marketing 'lives' in the organisation everyday, not just when something important happens.
Get your timing right - understand the market, understand your business. Make sure things happen when they should. Make sure stock is in-store before the new ad campaign starts, plan promotions for peak times, supply timely expense data to the finance gurus for future planning.
Deliver as promised - meet your commitments to customers, colleagues and service providers. Gain credibility.
If you don't think you have the culinary skills (or the time) to make your marketing 'cake', then get someone to help. Delegate within your organisation or call in a professional to help you out.
There's more to successful sales and marketing activities than meets the untrained eye. Make sure you have your marketing 'kitchen' in order so you can get the value you are looking for.
Is Your Marketing Kitchen Really Cookin - To learn more about this author, visit Stuart Ayling's Website.
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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