Where Great Marketing Starts
Where Great Marketing Starts
"I'm just about to print this brochure, can you give me your comments."
"We've done direct mail before, but we weren't happy with the response."
As a consultant I'm often faced with comments such as these. But it's vitally important to recognise that marketing is a process. It's not just an activity or two.
Most businesses that have marketing problems haven't fully considered their marketing process. As a result they focus on a short-list of marketing tactics that are often being used for the wrong reasons.
Great marketing starts at the beginning. And the beginning is the same as the end - your client.
Marketing is the process that attracts new clients, manages the process of client satisfaction, and keeps those clients coming back (or referring others to you). So the focus of great marketing is on the client, not just on the marketing tactic.
This means that to develop more effective marketing tactics you need to think more closely about your clients (or prospects). What should you think about? Try something along the lines of:
* What are their real problems?
* Who would they normally turn to for help?
* Why would they use your type of services?
* Where can you find them?
* How can you get your message to them?
* How can you help them, and in turn get them to recognise your business?
* What concerns would they have about using services like yours?
The answers to these questions will help guide you to a sensible choice of marketing tactics, and give you a better idea of what you need to include in your marketing messages.
Quite often simple marketing can be very effective.
For example, one of my clients had been advertising in a trade journal for around 12 months. Over that time they had zero response from their ad. Not one call. Of course prospects may have read the ad's, but there were no leads generated.
As part of a progressive marketing makeover for that client I designed another type of ad. It was very different from the previous one, and very different from competitors' advertisements. But it was very simple. It focused on the prospects needs.
From the very next issue of that same journal my client started receiving leads from the ad. They were happy. I was happy. They had improved their results.
Great marketing starts with your client. Without a doubt.
Where Great Marketing Starts - To learn more about this author, visit Stuart Ayling's Website.
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"I was thinking about advertising in this paper."
"I'm just about to print this brochure, can you give me your comments."
"We've done direct mail before, but we weren't happy with the response."
As a consultant I'm often faced with comments such as these. But it's vitally important to recognise that marketing is a process. It's not just an activity or two.
Most businesses that have marketing problems haven't fully considered their marketing process. As a result they focus on a short-list of marketing tactics that are often being used for the wrong reasons.
Great marketing starts at the beginning. And the beginning is the same as the end - your client.
Marketing is the process that attracts new clients, manages the process of client satisfaction, and keeps those clients coming back (or referring others to you). So the focus of great marketing is on the client, not just on the marketing tactic.
This means that to develop more effective marketing tactics you need to think more closely about your clients (or prospects). What should you think about? Try something along the lines of:
* What are their real problems?
* Who would they normally turn to for help?
* Why would they use your type of services?
* Where can you find them?
* How can you get your message to them?
* How can you help them, and in turn get them to recognise your business?
* What concerns would they have about using services like yours?
The answers to these questions will help guide you to a sensible choice of marketing tactics, and give you a better idea of what you need to include in your marketing messages.
Quite often simple marketing can be very effective.
For example, one of my clients had been advertising in a trade journal for around 12 months. Over that time they had zero response from their ad. Not one call. Of course prospects may have read the ad's, but there were no leads generated.
As part of a progressive marketing makeover for that client I designed another type of ad. It was very different from the previous one, and very different from competitors' advertisements. But it was very simple. It focused on the prospects needs.
From the very next issue of that same journal my client started receiving leads from the ad. They were happy. I was happy. They had improved their results.
Great marketing starts with your client. Without a doubt.
Where Great Marketing Starts - To learn more about this author, visit Stuart Ayling'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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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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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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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson'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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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager'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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