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Marketing
Strategy
Each organisation will have a unique
marketing strategy, one that may have evolved over time and with which
the organisation as a whole may be comfortable. An effective SWOT
analysis may still be relevant but in the changing world of
eBusiness though, status quo just isn't going to be good enough and
organisations have to think about what else needs to be done in order to
secure long-term future success and enhanced profitability.
The following questions can help to
highlight those areas of your business that are doing well – and where
need to take action that deliver results. Experience has shown
that if you are willing to spend a few minutes giving them serious
thought – the results can be spectacular.
You should be aware that each question you answer ‘no’ to probably
means that you are losing out on untapped potential. But the purpose of
this process is not to have you feel bad – it’s to motivate you to
make marketing a top priority.
- Can you and your team name three
things that set you apart from the competition?
- Do you communicate the benefits of
your product or service in all of your promotional literature,
websites, letters etc?
- Have you tested Telemarketing to
attract new customers? Did you accurately measure the results?
- Have you tested Direct Mail to
attract new customers? Did you accurately measure the results?
- Have you tested PR to attract new
customers? Did you accurately measure the results?
- Are your ads powerful direct
response ads that compel the reader to contact you – or are they
mundane like all the competition?
- Do you advertise in certain
publications just because your competitors do?
- When you speak to a potential new
customer, do you use words that set you apart from the rest and
immediately capture the customer’s attention?
- Have you tested pay-per-click search
engine advertising?
- Have you tested Internet
Advertising?
- Do you send regular email
communications to your customers and prospective customers?
- How much time each year do your key
team members spend learning leading edge sales skills?
- Do you have an excellent lead
generation process in place?
- Do you set up an ongoing
communication with qualified leads consisting of phone calls,
letters and emails?
- Do you obtain and use testimonials
from your best customers?
- Do you have an excellent referrals
systems in place?
- Did you know there are more than 90
ways of obtaining referrals?
- Do you offer something of value to
your website visitors in exchange for their contact details?
- Do you know how to write a press
release to instantly grab the attention of the person reading it?
- Do you personalise your email
newsletters?
- Do you know the most important piece
of marketing information there is – your clients’ birthdays!
- Do your team understand that the
best way to sell is to ask questions and to listen to the answers?
- Do you rent or purchase mailing
lists of your target customers?
- Do you take amazing care of your
current customers?
- Do you know why it’s important to
include a ‘P.S.’ in all of your sales letters?
- Do you communicate by mail, email
and telephone on a frequent basis with your current customers to
ensure they know what else you have to offer?
- Do you use just one or two ways of
marketing to promote your business? Do you know why you should be
using between six and ten?
- If you used ten ways to market your
business have you any idea how successful you could be?
- Did you know that if you follow up a
mail shot with a phone call you can increase response rates by 100
– 1000%
- Do you realise that your competitors
probably answered ‘no’ to even more questions than you did!
Now here’s a Free Tip. Pick any three
of the above, choosing the ones that are important to you and take some
action today to improve those areas.
Come back to the list in the weeks and
months ahead. You can use it as a very good way of measuring your
progress as you implement the marketing strategies that are going to
make a difference.
Contact your local Accredited Partner for more details.
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