TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction Planning Establish Reasonable Objectives Your Target Audience Positioning Implementation Eight Cost-Effective Marketing Strategies with Fast Results Post-audit Evaluate What You've Done A Bonus Tool The Synergy of Mix and Match Appendix About the Author About MarketingProfs 3 5 13 14 17 19 19 30 31 32 33 35 37 38
INTRODUCTION
Effective marketing campaigns dont necessarily require big-company budgets. By being smart in the up-front planning stage, you can maximize the greatest value from your budget, regardless of its size. In this How-To Guide, we explore the three stages of effective marketing, how you can determine which approaches will give your company the greatest short-term bang for the buck and how you can create a lasting positive impact from all your marketing efforts. We also include eight specific low-cost tools you can implement immediately to give your marketing program an instant shot in the arm. Every marketing effort should include three distinct stages: Planning Implementation Post-audit
PLANNING
There are six independent variables that help determine the most costeffective strategies for any business. Before you jump to a solution, its a good idea to spend a few minutes to ensure that you have thoroughly analyzed your situation and understand each of the variables as they relate to your company and its objectives situation. Think of it as a mini-situation analysis. If you do a careful job in this review, youll minimize the chances that you will spend hoursand a chunk of your marketing budgetimplementing a flawed strategy. Objective. The single most important planning step is to be clear about what it is you want to accomplish. Is your goal to generate qualified leads? If so, how many, in what timeframe and what is the value of the leads? Do you want to position your company so that it will be top of mind when new prospects are ready to buy? If so, what is it that you want them to remember about you? What is the trigger that will evoke your company name? What is the timeframe? And how will you know if youve accomplished the objective?
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You might consider setting up your questionnaire with one of the popular online-survey toolssuch as Survey Monkey or Zoomerangand invite your target audience to click on a link to participate in your short survey. You might offer them a small incentivea downloadable white paper or how-to guideto thank them for their participation. Just ensure that you have thought through the objectives, and avoid using the research as a thinly disguised sales pitch.
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If you like the ideas but dont have the time or expertise to do the job properly, you can hire a market-research professional to coach you, or you can outsource the project entirely. The cost will vary by how much work you expect the researcher to do, but its usually quite reasonableand worth every pennyespecially if youve never done something like this or dont have the time to learn the ins and outs.
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IMPLEMENTATION
Quite often these up-front activities use 10% to 20% (or more) of the marketing budget if you have not dealt with them explicitly before. We cant emphasize enough the importance of doing the homework before you begin to develop specific strategies and plans. Once you have, its time to consider your options for fast-acting, low-cost tactics that can really make a difference to your business NOW. Following are eight areas that offer ripe opportunities for cost-effective marketing with fast results. 1. Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising New mediaemail marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and Web site designare all vehicles that can have a significant impact on short-term marketing results. SEO takes longer to be thoroughly effective, but if you do everything else properly, you may get a good organic search ranking with minimal additional effort after a few months. Perhaps the fastest results come from PPC advertising. Open an account with one of the search engines, pick specific keywords, write three-line ads and youre in business within hours. More important, you pay only when someone clicks through the ad to your Web site.
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EMAIL MARKETING
All you need is great copy, an attractive offer for immediacy, a list of target-audience opt-in addresses and a mailing service to handle the implementation. All these are available for a price, and its surprisingly affordable.
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5. Traditional advertising There are a number of examples of low-cost ways to reach your target audience with radio, television, direct mail and print advertising. Historically, the cost of traditional advertising has made it difficult for small businesses to compete. But in recent years the tide has turned, and there are a number of cost-effective ways for a small business to advertise to niche audiences. One way is via local cable TV. Cable companies often produce a simple commercial at no charge if you buy a minimal schedule on stations that cater to your target audience. B2B companies often find that their business customers respond to this kind of advertising. Dont make the mistake of assuming that just because youre a B2B company with a limited budget that cable TV isnt right for you. Look into the possibilities, and you may be pleasantly surprised.
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8. Trade shows and events Trade shows, conferences, symposia and other corporate events present a conundrum for marketers, because the costs are high and the time demands are even higher. Moreover, it is difficult to measure effectiveness, and the planning, implementation and follow-up can be time-consuming. That may be one reason that online seminars, or webinars, and virtual conferences, podcasts and meetings have become so popular with both sponsors and attendees. They dont require elaborate travel, extravagant booths and non-stop staffing with talented sales professionals. Its just solid and valuable interaction between buyer and seller.
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HOST A WEBINAR
Showcase your expertise and important product features by sharing what youve learned with interested prospects. Invite them to an online event, or webinar, that addresses the issues that are important to them, and provide really helpful information. Theyll thank you with genuine interest in your product or service. (Dont forget to include an incentive to get additional information if theyre really interested.)
As with most of the low-cost and cost-effective marketing ideas, you can always hire professionals if you dont feel comfortable executing on your own, or if your time demands are such that it makes sense to outsource the project.
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POST-AUDIT
The previous section was a quick sampling of some popular and cost-effective tools. It covered only a few of the areas in the traditional marketing mix. For example, we assume that sales salaries, commissions and expenses are not fair game for these quick-hit marketing campaigns. We also assume that pricing and the product/offering elements are shared responsibilities (with general management, R&D and so forth), even though they are very much elements of the traditional marketing mix. And weve not addressed the longer lead-time items such as packaging and long-term brand building. Its not that these elements are not important; they are. Its simply that its not easy to demonstrate the cost effectiveness of activities in these areas, and they typically are not considerations when you need a fast marketing solution.
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If you cant measure effectiveness and efficiency, any marketing program will be less effective and efficient than it could be. And that affects the bottom line directly. The synergy of mix and match If youre like most people, either your eyes are glazing over at this point because the total task looks too daunting, or youre starting to think youd like to do everything at once, so you can get to the destination of a perfect marketing plan as quickly as possible. Relax. Neither of those extremes is going to be a winner. Instead, pick two or three marketing ideas and put them together into an integrated campaign. Implement the campaign, and then evaluate the results. If it worked well, repeat it and test another combination to see if it
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APPENDIX
Here is a short list of resources to consider for elements suggested in this guide. PPC advertising www.pepperblue.com www.rimmkaufman.com Local television advertising www.reachlocal.com www.blueherondesignstudio.com Email marketing www.myemma.com www.cheetahmail.com www.reggiebrady.com www.ruthstevens.com One-on-one customer interviews www.alliumresearch.com www.dialoguemarketinggroup.com Market-research surveys www.zoomerang.com www.surveymonkey.com www.alliumresearch.com
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ABOUT MARKETINGPROFS
Founded in January 2001, MarketingProfs is a publishing company that specializes in providing both strategic and tactical marketing know-how for marketing and business professionals in organizations worldwide through a full range of online media. With more than 300,000 members and 300 contributors, MarketingProfs provides marketers with practical tools and information in many forms, including: articles, online seminars, templates, benchmark survey reports, buyers guides, a discussion forum and a blog. Updated weekly, MarketingProfs content helps professionals to stay current and effective.
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