Marketing Essentials for the Entrepreneur

Marketing is something many think they can do and very few do it well, yet, marketing is the cornerstone of any successful business or organization. You can have the best product or provide the best service but if no one knows about it, your dream will remain unrealized. The reason so many fail at marketing is because they confuse marketing with advertising. Advertising is a component of marketing but is not its sum total.

A critical component to successful marketing is market research, yet it is the aspect of marketing that is least utilized by business, especially small businesses. Market research is the key ingredient in truly knowing who your customer is and why they do what they do. Advertising is only as effective as the market research that supports it.

How well do you really know your customer? Once you get past the demographics (assuming your really know that) how well can you answer the following questions?

1) My product/service is purchased based on
 

a. Emotions
 

b. Logic

2) The biggest "pain" or need my customers experience that I am equipped to satisfy is ______.

3) The decision maker for the product or service I provide is ____________________.

4) The major influencer for the decision to buy my product or service is _____________.

5) I have a consistent process to solicit feedback from customers for future product development.
 

a. True
 

b. False

6) I know for every person that complains about my product or service, there are ______ who didn't complain vocally but did so by taking their business elsewhere.

7) I have identified the following buying trends of my core target market over the past
 

a. Six months
 

b. 12 months
 

c. 18 months
 

d. 2 years
 

e. Trend
 

8) My target audience is best reached by:
 

a. Radio
 

b. Television
 

c. Direct Mail
 

d. Internet
 

e. Flyers (if so, list where they should be posted)
 

f. Billboards
 

g. Other_________________

If you can provide detailed answers to all of the above questions, congratulations, you are now ready to develop a marketing campaign. If you were not able to answer all of the above questions, save your advertising dollars and spend them on market research.

From the market research you will be able to identify the next key element in marketing: what motivates the decision to buy. Most people think that logic is the catalyst for buying decisions and in a select few industries that is correct. Those making decisions on technology, medicine or something in the sciences will likely do so on the basis of logic. However, the average consumer makes very few decisions based on logic. A new car or truck purchase is not based on logic, it is based on emotion.

How will driving that vehicle make you "feel". Men may say it's the "hemi" engine, but they are not buying the engine - they are buying the emotion of masculinity, strength, power. A woman does not buy a dress based on the quality of the material but how it makes her "feel". It can be of superior quality and value for the price but if she puts it on and she "feels" fat, it will stay on the shelf. There are very few products purchased solely on logic. The main impetus for purchase is an emotional one that may then be supported by logic as the buyer compares competitors, but even then the competitive advantage will still lean toward the company that does the best job of hitting the right combination of emotion and logic.

Ok, so you've done your market research and you know what triggers the buying decision, now you are ready to begin making advertising decisions:

Copy - Advertising copy is a critical element of advertising and is often the most poorly done. Your ad copy must contain some key elements: Headline, Hook, Call to Action

Advertising Strategy - what is the best advertising medium to use? Newspaper ads? Radio? Internet? Direct Mail? Will you include a promotion (not the same as an advertisement)? The answers to these questions must be an outcome of the market research; without the research you may spend many advertising dollars in an area where your audience can't be found.

Budget - How much do you have to spend? What is the anticipated ROI? Do you have the resources to create and design the campaign or must that be factored into the budget as well?

Campaign - Research has proven that a consumer must hear (or see) the same thing a minimum of three times before it even registers. The more expensive, difficult or competitive the product, the greater the need for repetition.

Your logo, branding, customer communications, product design, promotions and advertising are all part of a marketing strategy that must be born out of your market research. True marketing consists of all of these elements.

Try this: over the next 21 days, analyze the advertising campaigns you see. Make note of what programs (for TV or radio) or pages (for print) specific products are advertised around. See if you can determine the target audience based on its placement. Then identify the "hook" in each advertisement and see if you can identify the emotion it is addressing. Then rate the advertisement, especially if you think you are part of the target audience. Just because an advertisement costs big dollars does not necessarily mean it is effective.

Marketing is something many think they can do and very few do it well...take the test and see.

Karen Hosey,President and CEO of Z.O.E. Consulting, LLC. has over 20 years experience in strategic planning, sales and leadership development. She currently assists businesses and ministries in achieving their vision through customized processes in strategic planning, and leadership, sales/customer service development. As a business coach, she guides leaders (and those aspiring to be) to fulfill their potential. She is an energetic, motivational conference and seminar speaker who uses her experiences to entertain and educate on a variety of topics that relate to business, management and self-improvement.

Visit our website http://zoeconsulting.net/ or

send an email to karen@zoeconsulting.net

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