Planning for 2012

November 1. Every year I intend to spend time at the beginning of third quarter planning for the next year. And every year when I flip the calendar from October to November, I recognize that, yet again, I am behind in giving serious thought to what must be done the following year to ensure success. Now, I do push my clients to plan early, but somehow I always end up behind!

When you own a business, it’s really hard to take a full day (or more) away from operations, so here is my plan:

• I am setting aside one afternoon without interruption to brainstorm about next year. Some of the questions I’ll ask:

a.       How successful were we at meeting last year’s goals?

b.      Where do we want the firm to go in 2012 (and 2-3 years beyond)?

c.       Have we integrated our message across all platforms well?

d.      Have we taken advantage of new marketing means and the tried and true?

e.      Do we have the right resources to get there?

f.        What can we do differently to help us succeed?

g.       Are we meeting the needs of our clients?

h.      Have things changed within the firm where we need a brand review (or do you have a brand image and message)?

i.         Without consideration to budget, what would I do?

• After mulling the answers to the above questions over, I’ll dedicate a second session to laying out a high level plan.
• Session three will have to include the budget. Love brainstorming, but not so much the budget process…
• The fourth and final session will be a more detailed planning session based on those pesky budget numbers and key benchmark goals.

Last but not least will be the old company meeting where we talk through next year’s plan and how the team can meet our goals. It’s a big task, but breaking it into manageable chunks works every time. Do you have a process you follow to do your annual plan? I’d love to hear what works for you and what doesn’t!

So what does your marketing firm do?

I've had several conversations with different people over the past couple weeks about what our Raleigh marketing firm (aka ad agency) does and what we do best.

My old answer would have been to list our services and talk about how we are great at reasearch and strategy. Not just the dry technical part, but how we make it work for real life marketing campaigns. I might have gone on to talk about how our creative director is amazing at what he does, media buying skills, etc. I'd have had a list of other things. But I'd have put the passion we feel about helping our clients solve problems much lower on the list. I would have been guilty of burying the lead.

There are a number of marketing firms out there that can do great creative, media buying, websites, research, etc, but that is only part of the equation. We tend to go a little deeper to help with business development. Where the magic happens is the thought, planning direction and working WITH the client to get the campaign done in the best way possible. I've realized over the years, while we provide a single source for many clients, there are others who have internal or external resources that can get the job done too. Working with all team members concerned to integrate the campaign and make it cohesive is huge.

Want just an ad? We may not be the right 'vendor' to do it. Want someone who solves problems in a thoughtful and strategic manner? Want someone who cares about your business deeply and works as a brand manager? That is us.

I've learned that I'm OK if we aren't the right firm for every client. That lets us concentrate our efforts on those who fit us the best. Then this amazing synergy happens. We get a psyched and our clients benefit from better results. We love what we do and it shows.

~ Jeanne Frazer

CRM Marketing Series: Part 2 | Relationship Building

In our recent article, To CRM or Not to CRM? Why Market to Current Customers? we challenged you to look at your business and evaluate how your company approaches relationship building and how well your employees build those relationships. We wanted to follow with more tips to make your CRM&M work for you!

Tip #1: Our favorite reminder—avoid the hard sell! If you communication is always about your business and products, people will tune out.

Tip #2: Let your personality shine through. Read the full article…

CRM & Marketing Series: Part 1 | Why Market to Current Customers?

That’s a great question. The best answer I can give you is that it costs 3-8x more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one. In today's competitive marketing environment, business owners and managers need every advantage they can get. Customer relationship management and marketing (CRM&M) keeps your business on the top of the mind of your customer. By doing so, customers are more likely to buy again, or upgrade to the next level, and the ‘reminder’ encourages them to be your advocates, and can generate referrals as your current customers recommend you to their friends and families.

There are both newer and tried and true methods you can utilize to stay top of mind with your customers. The channels you use will vary depending on your audience and what products or services you provide. Here are a few of our favorites:

1. Newsletters – newsletters are a popular way to educate and interest your clients. You may want to alternate printed and email versions. Read the full article...

See no evil. Hear no evil. Do no evil…. The monkey’s marketing lesson.

See no evil, hear no evil, do no evil. The three monkeys had it right in describing the 3 learning styles. And, like this famous image shows, we don’t all learn the same way. These primary learning “styles” of seeing, hearing and doing impact how an individual receives your marketing message.

What does this mean to you as a marketer? Your approach may need to integrate elements of the three learning styles to be more successful. This same theory applies to combining marketing channels to conduct a more effective campaign (a.k.a. integrated marketing).

Within the “seeing” group, some individuals are more drawn to your content and want to read all they can to learn. This group may ignore your graphics; the ad creative is not as important to them as the written word. Others are drawn to images, layout, and information delivered in short chunks. Think USA Today.

The “hearing” group learns best when they have auditory messages. This could come on the radio, recorded messages (on hold, website), music (web background), and also video which combines images, movement and sound (website, TV, in office, mailed DVDs or CDs, via smart phones).

The final “doing” group likes things “hands-on” and might be approached best with a free sample that they can touch, taste, or smell (depending upon your product!) or product demonstrations (live or on the web).

Whichever method or media you choose, don’t forget to include a “call to action” (i.e., what do I want the prospect to do with the advertisement, commercial, blog, sample, or video). Here are some ways you might combine techniques to effectively target these learning styles.
• In a printed marketing piece, position graphics and headlines to provide the highlights, then include more detail (if there is room) or add specific website information for those who want to learn more. As an option, offer a free newsletter for signing up via email (this allows you to capture key prospect information as well).
• If you produce a video, include written captions, a link to an information-filled website or blog, or offer a downloadable whitepaper or tips sheet with more information. Post segments of the video on your website and YouTube.
• Offer video viewers the option of subscribing to future videos or signing up for a written (e-mail or printed) newsletter or blog (or both).
• Sending a targeted direct mail piece for a new software product? Provide each user with a personalized link to a demo of the software that allows them to go hands-on and see how it works.
• Promote a new food product line using social media – offering free samples with a coupon that can be either printed or stored on a mobile device to show to the cashier!

Take a look at the ads you see over the next few days and see if (and how) they combine techniques and channels to reach more than one learning style. There’s not one “right” way to do this—it takes some thought, planning and testing to see which methods will work best for your target market. Begin thinking about how you can take these ideas and use them in your marketing. Good luck!

Making your Marketing Explode

Remember the really cool science experiment to make a volcano? You use simple ingredients like baking soda and dish soap. On their own they work for baking and cleaning, no wow factor. But when you combine the two you get a volcanic eruption. Pretty cool.

Marketing works in much the same way. If only one channel or technique is used to promote the business, firm, or product, many find they get so-so results and come to the conclusion that whatever channel or technique they used didn’t work. Unfortunately, this happens all too frequently and some marketing gets a bum rap.

The magic with marketing happens when you take an integrated marketing approach. Much like our volcano experiment, when you combine the right ingredients (marketing channel or technique) you’ll see an eruption in your results. Research shows that consumers must be exposed to your message multiple times before they notice you. It also helps to reach people in more than one way, as integrated marketing’s use of various channels and means to deliver your message also helps to reach people who have different learning styles. Someone may see an ad and have it barely register in their subconscious, but when they see a detailed description or recommendation through another source it clicks. Somehow they remember hearing about the product so they know it and now they have another message that hits them to ignite the volcano. Magic.

What does this mean? When you are working on your strategic marketing plan, you must expand your horizons. Look closely at the channels used by your current customers and those you would like to be customers. Even though integrated marketing requires multiple channels, you should only include as many channels as you can do well and consistently. This will vary based on whether you are a B2B or B2C company. The demographics of your customer base will also have an impact, with younger age groups more likely to respond to social media and mobile marketing channels.

Plan campaigns that will touch each person a minimum of 4-6 times and use more than one channel. Many people run to the web, social media, TV, direct mail, newspaper, or radio first. These are all good options depending on who you are trying to reach. But don’t neglect to have a strong, consistent Customer Relationship Management & Marketing (CRM&M) campaign, it is one of the most cost efficient marketing tools to increase business. If your business is referral based, also include a Professional Relationship Management & Marketing (PRM&M) campaign.

Be consistent with your branding and message. To make magic, your message and brand must be recognizable from channel to channel so people can make the connection in their minds. Monitor campaign effectiveness; don’t be afraid to adjust campaigns that are not working as well as you’d like. Converting new customers is frequently a numbers game—it all comes down to planning and effectively executing on those integrated marketing plans.

Think about how you can incorporate these ideas into your marketing strategy to improve your results. Questions and comments are welcome. Please share any success stories or challenges as well.

Follow up note: This article was picked up by the B2C Marketing Insider and appeared on the front page of Social Media Today!