Oct
25
 2011

The marketing concept and marketing concepts

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Readers of this blog may have heard of the marketing concept.  Or may not have?

The traditional definition of the marketing concept it that is the ‘philosophy’ of a marketing strategy and assists in the process of doing what all marketing should do, which is meet the needs and wants of the target market.

In practical application, marketing concepts are generally put together as creative approaches to drive sales. At the heart of it, it is about being able to communicate the benefits of the product to the consumer so they will choose that particular product over competitors’ offerings.

At the end of the day, products need to appeal to the target market.  There must be a clear reason (benefit) why a purchase is warranted. If not, the target audience switches off.

From a marketing execution perspective, the best place to start when thinking about marketing and creative concepts is with some simple market research.

The following questions should be considered:

  • Is our target market specific enough?
  • Do we really understand what the needs, wants and desires of our target market are?
  • Does the product meet these customer’s needs, wants and desires? Can it meet them profitably?
  • What is unique about the product and what makes it more attractive than the competitors?
  • What makes your product stand out from the competitors? Why will a consumer choose your product?

Once this process is complete, the marketing and creative concept and execution strategy can begin.

It’s important to remember that collaboration is key to the successful execution of a marketing campaign. Feedback is crucial as is the right balance between strategy and creative executions

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Oct
19
 2011

Get SMART with your marketing objectives

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Making marketing objectives SMART

Marketing Objectives

It’s no secret that marketing planning is critical to the success of any business. One of the most important steps in the planning process is the setting of marketing objectives, SMART ones that is.

Marketing objectives define what you want to achieve through your marketing activities.  They should answer the question “what are we trying to achieve?” and be supported by measurable qualitative goals.

Here’s how to get SMART with your marketing objectives:

S is for Specific – your objectives must be specific about exactly what you wish to achieve. They should be results focused and include precisely what needs to be done and by who.

M is for Measurable – Objectives are far more effective when they have a measure. For example, if the objective is ‘to increase sales’ it has little effect, but ‘to increase sales by 20 per cent’ gives you a specific measure to work to and evaluate.

A is for Achievable  – Are your objectives reasonable in terms of what you can actually achieve? Are you attempting too much?

R is for Realistic – Can you realise your objectives? Do you have the resources, time, money and people dedicated to make it happen? The key here is to prioritise the order of your objectives; you may find that achieving one objective may help you achieve two or three others.

T is for Time – Make sure that you set deadlines and stick to them.  Using the above example, add a time frame to when you want to by. For example, your objective is to increase market share to 20 per cent by June 2012.

Marketing objectives are often confused with marketing goals, and it is important to know the difference. Marketing goals have their place in marketing planning, however they tend to be more vague and focus on the longer-term. Goals also don’t fit the SMART methodology either.

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Oct
11
 2011

Designers and Coding

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I am not a designer (graphic designer or the like) or coder – I am a Marketer.

However, I work with both designers and coders on a regular basis – especially for the clients I work with on an ongoing support basis.

 

What is becoming more clear to me over the past few months is that Graphic Designers need to learn code.  Period.

My thoughts were confirmed by this post here by Frank Chimero.

It is simply not possible ‘these days’ to be a print designer – the scale of design has moved beyond that and Frank sums it up perfectly here -

“While these skills aren’t necessary for every position, team or project, the knowledge does nothing but benefit the designer. Design decisions are not only affected by the characteristics of the content being designed, but also the qualities of the format. The best way to understand the characteristics of the web is to speak its language.” 

Agree?

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Oct
6
 2011

Email closing lines

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I admit it – I send too many emails! And yes, I am probably addicted as well.

What did make me think about emails more deeply is this post on email closing lines.

Mine are generally pretty boring and I perhaps over use ‘regards’ and ‘cheers’.

However now that I have this chart to refer too I am lost between natural, self conscious, unfamiliar and familiar.  Where to go from here?

What is your favourite email closing line?

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Jul
28
 2011

Next Marketing – Half Year in Review

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To say the least, it has been a big year in the Next Marketing office.

When I actually sat down and reflected (which was a rare spare five minutes), I realised it was a great case study for great marketing. Who would have thought? So I decided to put pen to paper (or type it up on my Mac) so I hope you enjoy!

New Initiatives at Next Marketing in 2011 –

  1. Website redesign – whilst the Next Marketing website was only three years old it needed a refresh. Which was, a very easy process. The new design was coded to the existing Content Management System. Quick, easy and inexpensive. Big tick.
  2. Blog – I ‘added’ this blog to the Next Marketing website in 2010, but hadn’t done anything to it. Truth. That changed in January 2011 and since that time I have been posting three to four times per week ever since. Whilst I don’t have many RSS subscribers, I don’t blog for that reason. I do it to give me another ‘creative outlet’ but really, the objective is/was, to get a better google ranking. Which has worked! (See Results below)
  3. Email newsletter – based on the new website look, the email template was redesigned and the format changed to be a wrap up of the blog. The readers still like it (read rates are high, around 40%) and very few unsubscribe each issue.
  4. Copy in website – a truthful moment here. Writing copy for the Next Marketing business feels like extracting teeth. So, I decided to take my own good advice and hire someone to write the Next Marketing website copy. What a breath of fresh air. I still get frustrated though that I can write for my clients so easily, but not for myself…
  5. Flying Solo – I have continued to appear regularly on Flying Solo and the hits back to the Next Marketing website have grown (along with the Flying Solo audience numbers).
  6. Anthill – I decided to get published in Anthill, which I believe boosted my SEO status.
  7. eBooks – I have published two eBooks, which have also helped SEO but to win over some new clients ☺

Phew! There is much more, but before you drift off, that gives you a high level summary.

Even though I am very proud of what was achieved, there are still things that are still outstanding on the ‘to do it list’ – specifically

  1. SEO keyword analysis – the ‘formal’ SEO analysis for the Next Marketing business is still, work in progress.
  2. Networking – I missed a few functions that I really wanted to get too.
  3. Catch-ups – Being the boss of a small team, there are times when some general catch-ups would be nice. I just need to figure out how to fit it into my diary.

The results!

Simple.

  1. No. 1 google ranking
  2. Several top four google rankings
  3. Shortened selling cycle
  4. 50% increase in website hits

Which is, in summary, more business for Next Marketing.

How is 2011 treating you?

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