Is your marketing all about advertising and sales? Successful marketing needs a more comprehensive plan founded on good insights.
When I speak on marketing I always ask my audience the most basic question, “What is Marketing?” The answers are always the same – Sales or Advertising. And unfortunately for many people that is their marketing. But they probably aren’t getting the results they want and need by only looking at one tiny aspect of what should be a much bigger program.
To keep things simple, lets look at marketing as a big umbrella. Under the umbrella are your customers, products, distribution, pricing, and the promotions. The handle that holds up the umbrella is the research needed to determine the best mix of all the marketing variables
Understanding your customers through solid market research will take the guesswork out of determining the marketing variables. When you know and understand your customer you can achieve much more targeted and effective marketing through strategies that work. It’s easy to come up with great ideas but great ideas with a positive return on investment don’t just happen.
I always love the question, “What do you think I should do?” This is usually prefaced with a very cursory overview of a marketing conundrum. This is similar to asking your accountant how much tax you owe without giving them your financials. Or asking your physician to give a diagnosis without running any tests.
With marketing we have a lot of strategies and tactics, but wouldn’t you rather use the right strategies and tactics to achieve your marketing goals? This is only done through good research, insightful planning, and measured results.
Marketing is part art and part science. Do it correctly and make it rain without getting all wet!