Nor Cal Marketing

Strategic Planning and Marketing

lisadrafall@msn.com (Lisa Drafall) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 20:37:00 +0000

The number one mistake that business owners make is not including a strategic plan in their marketing efforts – and not understanding that marketing is more than just advertising.

Marketing is commonly considered to be about the four P’s: Product, Price, Placement, and Promotion. However, the Holistic Marketing Concept goes so far as to say that EVERYTHING in your business starts with your marketing concept.
Let’s take Apple for example. It is safe to say that they have become one of the most successful brands in the world, surpassing Microsoft, through the brilliant marketing focus of Steve Jobs. A great way to view their marketing success is to plot it on the bell-curve of the sales/product lifecycle.

The typical product lifecycle goes through different stages:
• Introduction
• Growth
• Maturity
• Decline

At each stage in the cycle, a business owner must devise different tactics to grow sales. When it comes to marketing, one must determine if price is appropriate given the sales cycle, if new distribution (placement) can expand your customer base, or if a new product can stimulate revenue.

Apple has masterfully innovated with a new product each time a previous product has matured in sales. This means that Apple had to proactively plan for what their strategy would be when, for example, MAC sales matured and declined.
Apple has chosen to innovate, and the product lifecycle graph below shows how adding iTunes, than iPhone (and now, iPad…not shown) have continued to build on their existing brand and grow their revenue. Each new product launch was carefully construed, carefully marketed, and phenomenally successful.

What can a small business owner learn for Apple?

Well, among the countless lessons Apple teaches us is that planning for your next strategic marketing step will grow your business. Whether it is offering new products and services, expanding locations, reinventing a brand, PLANNING is key.

There are various ways to plan; the simplest is using the S.W.O.T.T. technique. S.W.O.T.T. analyzes Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats, and Trends. Recently, business experts have added “trends” to the S.W.O.T.T. analysis because businesses that miss industry trends get left in the dust. (Anyone remember BETA?)
Any quick Google search can yield an enormous amount of information on how to conduct a S.W.O.T.T. analysis on your business…the most important part is getting started today.

Writing Good Copy

lisadrafall@msn.com (Lisa Drafall) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 06:52:00 +0000

If you are going to spend time and money in producing an advertising campaign you must write good copy. Here are a few rules and tips to writing good copy that will help work with your creative team.

Rule #1

Write based on your objectives.

If you haven't created a marketing strategy yet, finish that before you even attempt to write copy. If your creative elements are not supporting your company objectives then you won't see results.

Rule #2

There is a difference between a good idea and an effective one.

Creative material should be just that, creative and compelling – it should appeal to your target market; however, there is a big difference between a good idea and one that will help you meet your objectives. Watch these award winning Suzuki commercials and you will see the merging of creative and a message that is on target. Suzuki's obvious objective? Convert Suzuki motorcycle enthusiasts to Suzuki car enthusiasts.

Rule #3

Use short, concise sentences written in an active voice.

There is so much you want to say about your product, but the job is to cover the "who, what, when, where, how and why" in 30 or 15 seconds. Each sentence must count. This means one must enter the writing process having carefully considered Rule 1 and 2.

Now a few tips…

Here is a three step process to writing effective copy that will help you create your first draft.

Write a sentence that clearly illustrates your marketing objective. If that objective is to increase traffic then a first sentence could be "Come visit (your business name here)."
Write a sentence that clearly illustrates the customer benefit. "With our diverse selection of unique gifts you'll find the perfect gift from you or someone else."
Write a sentence that clearly differentiates you from the competition. "When you shop (your business name here) you'll get great prices on amazing imports."

Now you may think that this is a really boring script, but remember those Suzuki commercials? They said "If you like our motorcycles, you'll like are cars because they're just as fun." Now that you have a clear, concise message you can play around with the creative elements to make a great and EFFECTIVE commercial. For example, you could take the same script and add interesting compelling graphic elements, eclectic music and an interesting story line.

The final product – A woman walks into the front door of the store and is transported to a foreign flea market or exquisite museum, she looks around in amazement, picks up an item and sees its only $19.99. This storyline coupled with a very simple script creates an effective advertisement that would stand out in the crowd.

What is Marketing

lisadrafall@msn.com (Lisa Drafall) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 05:31:00 +0000

Good marketing is a holistic approach to getting the right product to the right customer at the right price using the right message; a task that is easier said than done.

Traditionally, marketing focuses on the Four P's: Product, Price, Placement and Promotion, but the manner in which these P's create and achieve goals are varied from company to company.

Marketing is typically perceived as the advertisements one comes in contact with on television, magazines, radio and the Internet, but the marketing collateral the consumer comes in contact with is one small piece of a cohesive program aimed at getting the right product to the right customer at the right price.

My personal definition of marketing is, "The Who, What, When, Where, Why and How of bringing a product to market," broken down as follows:

Who is the product targeting?
What need does the product address in the market?
When and where does the customer consume the product?
Why should the customer need our product and why should we bring this product to market?
How does our company beat the competition in providing this product?
How will the right message in front of the right customer?

The deep roots a marketing concept has in the company can, and likely will be, the determining factor of their success.

Target Corporation is one of the world's leading retailers and their success is based entirely on their marketing program. As outlined in the book On Target a small Minnesota department store, called Target, set out to create a store that offered a quality product at a quality price. Target's, Expect More, Pay Less slogan is more than just a brand; it is how they do business. Starting with "expect more" Target's purchasing practices, customer service philosophies, store layout…even the color schemes of their products are all designed with "expect more" in mind. Their "pay less" philosophy drives the way in which they set up distribution channels, purchase from wholesalers, and structure their pricing. All of these larger business aspects drive their technology resources and their expansion strategies. Lastly, Target's innovative ad campaigns have reinforced the brand they have created through all of their business practices.

So, how does this apply to the small or medium sized business owner?

You must be more than a store front; you must be a strategic marketing vision.

Every aspect of your company – from the front door, to the pens on the counter – must breathe that vision. Traditional marketing – the branding you accomplish through advertising, can only inform and reinforce this vision to potential and existing customers. If you've been frustrated that your "marketing" isn't working, you may really be frustrated at your strategy, not the medium.