Are you frustrated with spending money, but not getting results?  Or have you stopped spending because of prior marketing failures.  We understand!  We’ve talked to many business owners who want to grow their businesses, but don’t know the “right way” to invest in marketing.   Marketing is creating awareness, credibility and demand for your offerings, which you have to do with limited time and money.  There are so many reasons why marketing fails to meet expectations, but as in anything, before you can find a solution, you must first seek to understand WHY you’re not getting results you’re expecting. 

Here are just three typical marketing scenarios that are far too common, along with recommended solutions and reading suggestions.

The “One-Off” Mailer

Typical Marketing Scenario:  You have a great idea for a direct mail piece.  You work hard to put together the creative and the copy, and proudly you send it out the door.  But what happened? No results?!  Sadly, that’s typical today when customers are deluged with marketing messages.  No one will remember your company from one phone call, one email, or one letter.    

Solution:  Take your “great idea” and develop a series of touch points so that your target audience receives the same message multiple times.  To maximize impact without breaking the bank, make your target list smaller or use online messaging (emails, newsletter sponsorships, etc.) wherever possible. To maximize results, build in personal contact points, like hosting a seminar or being a conference speaker so that your target audience can put a face behind the company name.

Recommended reading:  Nurture Marketing by Jim Cecil. & Your Marketing Sucks! By Mark Stevens

Recommended service:  Marketing Campaign Management

 “Follow the Herd”

Typical Marketing Scenario:  Your marketing starts with something like “We’re your local Microsoft partner.”  Well that’s good, but probably only the baseline of a customer’s requirements. It doesn’t narrow the field down nearly enough.  You have a LOT of competition, and it’s probably hard to win business without lowering your price.  For example, if you sell Microsoft CRM with the typical “know your customers” type of messaging, you can be guaranteed of getting into a pricing war with the reseller down the street.  But if you sell Microsoft CRM and can also offer a deep knowledge of real estate brokerage companies, you’ll win more deals and protect your margins.

Solution:  You need to break away from the herd. Strategize to find a niche.  Value proposition comes through your company’s domain expertise, which should be a seamless transition from sales to your professional services group.  You can have multiple domains of expertise – but don’t spread yourself too thin, or your messaging won’t be credible.  By developing a niche, your team can repeat what they’ve already learned, reducing the learning curve and bringing in more valuable billable hours.  At the same time, you’ll build your reputation as a “go-to” industry leader, and will be brought into more deals from the outset. 

Recommended Service: A Tornado Sales Funnel Strategic Planning Session

Recommended Reading: Selling the Invisible by Harry Beckwith

“We Can’t Afford Marketing”

Besides, our sales team does a good job – once they find a qualified opportunity.

Solution: You can’t afford not to be marketing!  You just have to be smart about how you spend those precious marketing dollars.  Marketing isn’t just high-ticket glossy mailers and brochures.  It’s about creating credibility and awareness. Your sales team is probably working double-time, trying to do marketing and sales at the same time. You may have a very capable admin helping out, but your sales team is at high risk of turnover and burnout.  Plus, realistically you are probably spending significantly more in payroll – not to mention opportunity cost – on having your sales team cold call lists, than you would on marketing.  Imagine how well your sales team could do if they had more time to be closing sales!  You need to feed the team some leads!

Recommended Solution:  Start with a Marketing Assessment.  Consider hiring us as your Outsourced Marketing Director. 

Recommended Reading: Why People Don’t Buy Things by Harry Washburn and Kim Wallace

But of course, we’ve already read all these books, so if you’re short on time, you could call us instead (hint, hint). Here’s our phone number – 949-357-6356. We’ll help you get your marketing back on track.  We promise!