For a very long time, I have had a tenuous relationship with marketing activities and expenses. Primarily, I think, because there is no direct correlation, or rather measurement, between activity and outcome.
I was often enough the beneficiary of marketing expenses though, and fondly remember a marketing conference to the Kariba Dam on the Southern Belle. Peter Parkes and I would enjoy Meerlust Rubicon until very late and get up very early to do some fishing. Needless to say, by mid-afternoon, we would display a serious attention deficit.
GrowthWheel has in the meantime given me a much better perspective on the dynamics of marketing as such. I will, however, continue to question why Lemmer had to buy the front row tickets to the Bon Jovi concert back in my Sappi days.
Marketing is not selling – but achieving sales should be a direct result of good marketing. The costs involved in marketing must be seen as an investment, so while the cost of placing advertisements, or running a promotional campaign can appear expensive, the result of good marketing is the creation of earnings.
As we discussed in a previous post, what you deliver – what you sell – must satisfy a market need. You have to know your market and understand their needs to fulfill that. Marketing is thinking about your business in terms of putting out the right product, at the right price, at the right place and at the right time. And to ensure your promotional activities develop a demand for your offering.
Every entrepreneur should have a plan and strategy to attract, grow and retain a customer base. It is widely recognised that in successful, established businesses as much as 60% of sales come from existing customers, 30% from referrals or word-of-mouth and 10% from new customers attracted by marketing efforts. This is a good statistic to use when planning your strategy and deciding where the investment should be made.
Very often cash and time resources are limited –and careful thought needs to be given as to how you market your company to get the most bang for your buck. The first step is to set the precise objective of your marketing campaign. Usually, this is to increase the business’s turnover and will determine whether your marketing efforts are to be aimed at new or existing customers. Once these objectives are set consider what marketing mix is going to work best for your strategy – advertising, direct marketing, social media, billboards, telemarketing, sponsorships etc. The right mix is seldom a question of choosing one channel, but rather choosing several so that you employ a mix of media and methods.
Essentially, marketing is about establishing trust, about developing demand for your product by fulfilling customer needs, not about getting customers to pay for your product.
Your customer has 4 fundamental questions illustrated hereunder that must be addressed, and doing so in your marketing efforts will pave the way for a smoother sales journey.
So say the bosses
“Selling concerns itself with the tricks and techniques of getting people to exchange their cash for your product. It is not concerned with the values that the exchange is all about. And it does not, as marketing invariably does, view the entire business process as consisting of a tightly integrated effort to discover, create, arouse and satisfy customer needs.” – Theodore C. Levitt, Harvard Business School
Marnus Broodryk advocates finding a good digital marketing agency to add expertise and insights to your strategy and execution. And I wholeheartedly agree, we at Sologix have done just that.
The Sologix solution
GrowthWheel has developed an excellent range of tools to help us better plan and execute our marketing activities.
The marketing fan categorises various marketing activities to help us establish the mix of methods to achieve the objectives of our campaign.
The customer survey ensures that we develop a clear understanding of our customer’s needs, preferences and buying process. The marketing message helps us comprehensively address the 4 fundamental questions that a prospective customer has, before and during engaging with them. The detailed marketing activity plan helps us plan and track our marketing activities. And a well-crafted elevator pitch not only informs a prospective customer clearly and succinctly what we do; it is also a tool to ensure our efforts are aligned with our mission.
Engage with Sologix to help you improve your marketing efforts. Join an online course or contact us for personal business coaching by sending us an email here.
