Bear Brook

“You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can not get them across, your ideas will not get you anywhere.” —Lee Iacocca

Marketing is how you reach your audience, engage and retain them, and motivate them to act. Failure to invest in marketing is not an option. In the long run, your organization will suffer. The question is not whether or not to market, the question is how best to market your company and product. Following are five tips to ensure your survival in today’s economically challenged marketplace.

1. Clearly Position Yourself

Today’s marketing plans need to work across all points of contact. Successful marketing means reaching your audience with an integrated marketing plan. Your message needs to be consistent in print and online. When clarifying your message, the key is to look at your company as someone else might, someone who knows nothing about you. Here are a few easy ways to solidify your positioning to make sure your message gets heard:

• Be specific. Make sure your marketing communications clearly state what your product or service is.
• Be unique. What differentiates you from your competitors? What do you offer that is special and valuable?
• Be brief. The more concise you are, the better the results.

2. Identify Target Markets

Sounds simple enough—talk to those who want to hear what you have to say, those who are looking for what you are selling. It’s not about finding the biggest group of people, it’s about finding the best.

To find your target market, start by refining your target audience. Look at the customers you have now and ask a few simple questions:

• Who are your best customers?
• What are their typical age, gender, education, special interests, and income?
• What do they have in common?
• Where can you find others like them?

Once you have identified your core market and created a profile, you need to speak with a voice that will resonate with them. Develop marketing communications based on their wants, needs, and motivations. Don’t be afraid to ask them; make it a two-way conversation with continuous feedback.

3. Spend Efficiently

Print advertising, direct mail, email marketing, brochures, and other forms of marketing collateral are all necessary components of your outbound marketing plan. With marketing budgets being slashed, you need to evaluate your materials, prioritize them in order of efficiency, and always be looking for more cost-effective options.

Where can you economize and what can you use instead? Many marketers are turning to electronic solutions. With online tools like Brandopoly, materials can be updated frequently and created on demand, avoiding costly print runs and warehousing.

4. Strategic Inbound Marketing

Content-rich, CMS (Content Management System) websites, search engine optimization, blogs, video, podcasts, webinars, social media sites—these are some of the inbound marketing opportunities available. Each should be examined and evaluated in terms of your organization’s needs.

Creating a sustainable website that is rich in content is the single most important thing you can do to reach your audience effectively online. A CMS empowers companies to keep their content current and relevant, and gives them the ability to update it often. Not only does this give you credibility, it improves your search engine optimization. A good CMS is also one that is modular. It allows you to add blogs, video, RSS feeds, and other integrated media components.

Social media is one of the hottest marketing topics of today. Before diving in, it’s important for you to define your goals and identify your target market. Is your market B-to-B, or are you targeting consumers? If so, what is the age of your target demo? These are just a few of the questions that need to be asked. Social media is important, but it is also very time consuming. Start by determining what level of participation makes sense for your organization.

5. Brand Unity

With the wide variety of choices that consumers have today, brand recognition is mission critical. You need to establish and maintain a strong brand presence across all points of contact. Consumers absorb powerful messages about a brand from visual triggers. Your brand works best when it is transformed into a symbol that is easily recognized—it’s faster than words and more memorable.

Take a look at your organization’s entire inventory of marketing material. Are you representing yourself consistently? Does your branding accurately reflect your positioning? Does it speak to your target demo? Is it resonating with your audience?

Remember, to survive in today’s economy you need to keep your audience engaged and motivated with smart marketing. Using these methods will improve your chances of success and help your business when the economy begins to improve. Make sure your organization not only has a plan, but most importantly, implements it. It’s the key to survival.