One, two, three: Take action marketing
by Jane SecciReports of the death of classic marketing may be premature.
So if you think Web advertising trumps print or that cable television leaves networks in the dust, you may have to take another look.
“Print Ads Still Work” and “What is the Payback on Web Advertising?” are emerging themes in business publications. Is this wishful thinking on the part of marketers with business interests in classic tools and techniques? Or is there evidence that the jump to new media and markets just isn’t working?
Perhaps we’re asking the wrong questions.
No matter how hard marketers and academics strive to measure the efficacy of marketing expenditures, the data fall short of providing a definitive answer to every business owner’s core question: “How exactly should I spend my marketing dollars?”
While there’s no shortage of advice, businesses in every phase of the marketing cycle – startup, growth and maturity – grapple with their marketing strategy. “Can I use a formula Web site?” “Do I really need a print brochure if I have a Web site?” “Won’t radio and television ads consume my entire ad budget?” “Can’t I skip this year’s trade show?”
In the midst of complex decision-making, some businesses halt all marketing activity; others overspend as they grab on to every idea conceived by employees, marketing professionals and friends. Of course, the middle ground works best – spend the amount needed to position your product or service and send a compelling message to your target audience.
Step One: Market Research
Where do you start? The answer is found in classic marketing.
Marketing success is grounded in your business or service concept. No amount of advertising or public relations will grow your business if your product or service is inadequately described, defective or undifferentiated from what your competitors offer.
How do you know where your product or service stands?
The key is market research that encompasses a 360-degree view of the marketplace and includes a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis of your business. Although many businesses feel market research slows down the action, it actually speeds up the process – you have the data to make informed decisions.
Step Two: The Marketing Plan
Businesses are often reactive, especially in the startup phase of an entire business or a new product or service. It’s so tempting to take on any business offered, whether or not it fits a company’s business model. As a business grows, it may allow a single client to usurp its production capacity. For a mature product or service, there’s a temptation to freeze all spending. After all, why spend on a product or service that’s on its way out?
Avoiding such pitfalls in all phases of the marketing cycle means adhering to a creative and well-constructed marketing plan. A sound plan is tied to the company’s strategic plan and delineates marketing objectives, target audience, marketing messages and strategies, tactics and the resources required to implement the plan.
It’s harder to get sidetracked by well-meaning but misguided marketing advice when you adhere to a marketing plan custom-designed by you and your chosen advisers.
Step Three: Evaluation, Analysis and Redirection
Effective marketing means balancing strategy with the need to change direction.
Political, social, economic and technological forces are awhirl in our marketing environment. Marketing cycle also has an impact.
Startups often change directions all too quickly, amid conflicting advice and a shortage of capital. Businesses experiencing rapid growth often stick with plans as employees become overburdened with work and don’t want to spend time rethinking decisions.
Mature products and services often cause inertia. When change is proposed, the employee mindset frequently is “We’ve tried that before and it doesn’t work.”
Since effective marketing means balancing strategic planning with intuitive business sense, every business requires a process for reviewing strategic plans, evaluating tactics and redirecting marketing activity.
Research, planning and evaluation are classic marketing tools that will never go out of style. They are requisites for knowing how to spend your marketing dollars, whether on classic or new media.
Originally published in the Nov/Dec 2006 issue of Cape Business
Jane Secci Jane Secci, Ph.D., is a public relations and marketing executive. She directs Suffolk University's Cape Cod Program Department of Communication and Journalism. 
