Marketing and Science Start with Observation
Scientists begin their process by observing their environment. Good marketers do the same thing, studying industry trends and market conditions to identify new opportunities. A S.W.O.T Matrix is often used to organize and analyze the information they observe. The S.W.O.T Matrix This tool outlines the factors (both internal and external to your business) affecting your success. A S.W.O.T analysis is the starting point for the development of action plans: capitalizing on your strengths, compensating for your areas of weakness, taking advantage of marketing opportunities, and addressing...
read moreScience of Marketing
I have seen many definitions of marketing, but my favorite is this one: “Marketing is a social process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want.” What appeals to me about this definition is what is missing. There is no mention of selling, advertising, promoting, or any activity on the part of the product or service provider. This definition is about the customer, their wants and their needs. It captures the very essence of what marketing is really about, the customer! The Marketing Process connects your product/service to a potential customer’s needs and wants....
read moreLifeTime Value of a Customer
I recently taught a workshop with Howard Cox of Sommerset CPA’s. The central theme of the class was building an ROI based marketing budget. To do that, you must begin with a look at the numbers behind your business. Why? Because when it comes to marketing, it is all about the numbers. How much does your average customer spend? How many years does a client stay with you? How larger is your referral base? How good is your closing ratio? Use this worksheet to help you analyze the “numbers” which should drive your marketing decisions! Click here to download the...
read moreMarketing Organization Begins with a Budget!
About a year ago, I wrote a post about a Marketing Organization Chart which looked at the four key elements of your marketing plan: Strategy, Lead Generation, Conversion and Customer Service. While all the pieces are important, I would like to take a closer look at the impact of customer service on your overall marketing budget. Many firms make the mistake of spending the bulk of their marketing funds on new customer acquisition, and very little on retention. In most cases, this is a huge mistake. Why? If you have existing customers, people who know and like you these are the people...
read moreCommon Goals Drive Actions
When I was Vice President of Creative Services at Conseco, we were always out of literature for key products. ( In the insurance business literature is all you have to sell, so these outages would cripple our sales team.) Our back-order list was close to 300 different items and climbing. There had been numerous meetings on the subject, but very little action. So I stopped talking about procedures and policy and asked a simple question. If our goal was a back order level of 100 what would we do? The defined target gave a focus to our discussions. It was no longer a vague...
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