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23.02.10 Part 2: The TLC Business Marketing Formula
This is the second in a five-part blog where we’re pulling apart the TLC Business Marketing Formula.
This is where it gets interesting. We’re talking about inspiration. Flair and imagination –yes, but it’s got to be careful, clear, precise and concise. It’s surprisingly difficult to get it right. And if you haven’t done your preparation (see part one) then you’re likely to be lost before you start.
It’s about taking the research, analysis, knowledge and understanding you’ve gathered and making decisions about the best way forward.
To start it’s about defining your unique position within the market, what will make you stand out. We’re talking USPs and MSPPs. Textbook stuff maybe but it’s surprising how many confused and mixed messages there are out there. Your MSPPs and USPs are things that need to be clearly defined, and understood by you and your organisation before you can start trying to communicate them.
It’s funny how widely misunderstood marketing is. For many, marketing means advertising; a costly marketing tool that is hard to get right and thus rarely delivers the desired results. Techonology continues to shape the marketing landscape and there are many new and exciting ways to reach out to and communicate with your target market that are relatively straightforward and inexpensive.
Be imaginative. This is the time to get creative; to come up with that quirky direct mail or e-marketing campaign that captures people’s attention and pushes all the right buttons. Be careful not to get carried away though. You might come up with what seems an exciting idea for an innovative marketing campaign, but if it isn’t tailored to your target market and doesn’t address their requirements then it’s simply not going to work.
Commit your ideas to paper and work them into a clear and logical plan of action that sets out exactly how and when everything is going to happen. Be realistic about time and money, and what’s possible with both.
Once you and your colleagues are happy that everything is in place it’s time to get on with the ‘doing’. But that’s for next time…
Rebecca Pash, Marketing Manager, TLC Business
16.02.10 Part 1: The TLC Business Marketing Formula
OK, so this is going to be a five-part blog where we walk through the five phases of the TLC Business Marketing Formula.
Today we start with ‘preparation’ - perhaps the most important, and most overlooked, phase of all. We know for a fact there are a lot of you out there who could really do with investing some time in a bit of preparation.
There’s always a lot of time spent ‘doing’ marketing – a lot of hard work – or ‘perspiration’ as we like to call it. Now there’s nothing wrong with that except all too often this perspiration fails to achieve the desired results.
It’s at this point we say STOP! Please don’t spend any more time or money undertaking marketing activities that are destined to fail. It’s time to take a step back and do some thorough preparation. It’s not about looking at the ‘how’ and putting a plan in place. This goes further back. It’s considering the ‘what and ‘why’ which will define everything that goes after.
It’s all about doing research, identifying your target markets and listening to your customers, whilst reviewing your current position. We’re talking competitor analysis, market research, customer surveys, SWOTs and PESTLEs; systematic and thorough research and analysis that provides solid facts on which to base marketing decisions.
It always surprises us how many businesses gloss over this phase and undertake a variety of marketing activities (that usually don’t work) based on assumptions or ideas; it’s a ‘if one thing fails, try another’ sort of approach and it usually results in a lot of time and money being wasted unnecessarily.
At TLC Business we place a great deal of emphasis on the sort of preparation we’ve mentioned and we will continue to stress its importance until we’re blue in the face. Investing time and resources at the outset, will save you both in the long run and will go a long way to achieving the marketing results you want.
You’ve heard it here, prepare or beware. The first rule of the TLC Business Marketing Formula.
Rebecca Pash, Marketing Manager, TLC Business
01.02.10 The Golden Rule of Networking
Today we’re off to a speed networking event, and we’re going smugly prepared, determined not to fall into that trap. You know how it is. You come away having met some great people, made some really useful contacts and then several months later you find a pile of business cards gathering dust at the back of your desk.
It’s a fact. A massive 95% of attendees will fail to follow up after a networking event. It’s easily done as we struggle with seemingly more pressing commitments, but no more excuses. None of us are in the business of wasting time so let’s start 2010 as we mean to go on. I’m not in the habit of teaching grandmother to suck eggs, but there’s no harm in a quick reminder here and there, especially when we’re talking golden rules.
1. SET OBJECTIVES: We know what we want to achieve. We’ve had a good think about the connections we want to make; the connections that will help us move our business forward in the next few months.
2. DON’T SELL: We’re not going to win new clients because nobody goes to a networking event to be sold to. If we happen to generate new clients, then that’s an added bonus but it’s not our prime objective.
3. BUILD ALLIANCES: This is what effective networking is all about. We’ve identified who we might be able to build win-win relationships with. They’re people with whom we can share experiences and ideas and build a referral and support network.
4. FOLLOW UP: Needless to say, networking events are a waste of time if you don’t do this. We’ve already set aside some time in our diaries for following up later this week. It doesn’t need to take long. Be selective and only follow up with the people who fit with your original objective for being there.
5. STAY CONNECTED: It takes time to reap the benefits of networking. It’s all about building long term relationships, so make ongoing efforts to stay connected. Set a monthly reminder.
So there we are, the golden rules of networking. I’ll let you know how we get on!
Rebecca Pash, Marketing Manager, TLC Business
© 2010 The Lifetime Company. All Rights Reserved