BUSINESS AND MARKETING ENCOUNTERS

Describe your past business or marketing efforts

Sometimes you can’t know where you are going without knowing where you have been. Every organization should look at what was done in the past to fully understand the impact marketing efforts had on business. By doing an inventory of what has worked and what has not, you can begin to strategize the functions that will most likely yield the best result for the short- and long-term.

Markets and audience behavior are constantly changing and marketing plans should be able to adapt to these changes. And while there will always be new marketing activities and tools to distract you, and some may be worth the try, if you keep to your core plan you’ll most likely yield the best results.

It is unlikely that a single marketing campaign will yield significant results. And sales impact may not be seen in the short-term because awareness and market share gains take time. And perhaps it is not the vehicle not working but the message or target audience is wrong. There are no easy answers to ROI but results should be tracked, perhaps quarterly but at least annually. Whether it positive sales, profits, market share and awareness -- even purchase intent -- these measurements will help you evaluate your return on marketing investment.

Write down what you have done for the last two to three years to market your business.

• Describe the things that helped grow your business. Be specific about the medium. Was it broadcast, direct mail, online, etc.? What was the length of run-time and how much was invested?
• Describe the vehicles that have not helped grow business. What was the marketing message? Did you get inquiries but they did not translate to end sales?
• Describe what has not been tried but might have help. Was there anything that changed that might have affected it? Would choosing a segment of your audience have been better? Was there another vehicle that could have been integrated to yield better results?
• Describe what the competition is doing to grow their business. What are the vehicles they are using? What is their marketing message? Is their sales force any different?

When you start a new business, you do a lot of research. You invest time, money and sweat-equity to get a business off the ground. After start-up, surviving and growing your business is a constant task. Marketing plans are more time, money and sweat-equity. While marketing generally does not produce a tangible assent, good marketing activities should contribute to the future financial health of a business. The next blog will give you guidance on organizing and describing your competitors.

As an advertising agency, Brigham & Rago is here to help businesses develop marketing communications plans to keep or capture new market share. We are ready to consult with you, then based on our experience and the information we gather, help put together a communications plan. We believe this plan will be a framework for a powerful marketing communications program. Our goal is to help you meet your marketing objectives by assisting in implementing and delivering a clear, consistent message. Call 973-656-9006 to set up a meeting to discuss your next communications project. Visit our online portfolio to see examples of work we’ve created for our clients.

PRODUCT AND SERVICES

Develop a good description of your product and/or service

It's simple! All a company needs to be successful is “having the right item in the right quantity at the right time at the right place for the right price in the right condition to the right customer”. But work needs to go into finding out what customers want, and identifying where they do their shopping. Then you need to figure out how to produce the item at a price that represents value to them, and get it all to come together at the critical time. That may not be that simple.

But it can be helpful to put together a detailed description of the products and/or services you are selling. Make the description clear, concise, factual and appealing. This will assist in getting the right message out about your company’s offerings. This will allow the marketing team to concentrate messaging on the strengths and answer any weaknesses.

They might start by asking "why" and "what if" questions. Why does your target audience need a particular feature? What if you drop your price by 5%? What if you offer more colors? Why sell through wholesalers rather than direct channels? What if you improved PR rather than rely on TV advertising?

With your target customer in mind, develop your product description.

• Describe the purpose of the product and/or service. What does the customer want? What needs does it satisfy? Does it answer a need in the marketplace?.
• Describe where buyers would find these products or services. Do they go to a specialty store or a large chain? Would they purchase it online? Or via a catalog? Is there a distribution channel? Or do you need a sales force?.
• Describe the features and benefits of the product and/or service. What features does it have to meet these needs? Are there any features you've missed out? Benefits Products may be described in terms of their features and benefits.  Features are product characteristics that deliver benefits; we buy products for their benefits. Stated another way: Features are product characteristics such size, color, horsepower, functionality, design, hours of business, fabric content, etc. Benefits answer the customer’s question: What’s in it for me?.
• Describe how you are pricing the product and/or service. Are you including costly features that the customer won't actually use? What is the value of the product or service to the buyer? Are there established price points for products or services in this area? Is the customer price sensitive? Will a small decrease in price gain you extra market share? Or will a small increase be indiscernible, and so gain you extra profit margin? What discounts should be offered to trade customers, or to other specific segments of your market? How will your price compare with your competitors?.
• How and where will the customer use it? What does it look like? How will customers experience it? What size(s), color(s), and so on, should it be?.
• Describe your product or services strengths and weaknesses compared to competition. Does your location provide strength or weaknesses? What the size of your resources compared to your competition? How does reputation differentiate you? How about services, personnel, etc..
• Describe any economic, legal, social, technical, seasonal or governmental factors that affect product/service or market..
• What is the current awareness level of product/service? What is the current perception of product/service? What is the sales or market share history?

You should always provide good, practical information on the products and services you sell. Give your readers what they will need to evaluate the product or service. Make sure they know exactly what you are trying to sell, the need you are filling, how well you are filling that need and why your customers will buy from you and not someone else. Alright, now that you have an idea of how to structure your product and/or services description, let's see how you'll start fitting your product or service with the rest of the marketing plan. The next blog will help you put together your past business or marketing encounters.

As an advertising agency, Brigham & Rago is here to help businesses develop marketing communications plans to keep or capture new market share. We are ready to consult with you, then based on our experience and the information we gather, help put together a communications plan. We believe this plan will be a framework for a powerful marketing communications program. Our goal is to help you meet your marketing objectives by assisting in implementing and delivering a clear, consistent message. Call 973-656-9006 to set up a meeting to discuss your next communications project. Visit our online portfolio to see examples of work we’ve created for our clients.

TARGET CUSTOMERS

Develop a profile of customers you would like to target

After analyzing the customers currently being serviced by the company, the next section of a marketing audit is where you describe the customer audience you would like to target. The retention of current customers and acquisition of new customers are the underlying concepts of business development and what marketing should support. The potential for increasing sales and raising awareness can be just around the next corner.

By understanding the total sales of a market and what your current customers represent to that market, you can begin to see your market share. After understanding your current customer, you can research if this is a developed market or if there room to go. Are there untapped customers still to be targeted in that market? You may see lateral markets as a way to increase sales. There also may be niche, unsaturated or growing markets worth putting marketing dollars towards. Fringe markets may be ones you have a smaller percentage of customers but see the need to raise awareness and could be worth developing. The need to increase marketing budgets, to help achieve these increased revenues and market share, may reveal itself.

By developing a data-driven marketing plan, it allows for definition, measurement, analysis and improvement throughout the execution. And ultimately, giving you control and the ability to report on the results.

After some research and conclusions, develop your target customer profile.

• What is the title of your target customer? What is their job function? One way this information might be used is in developing a messaging addressing their job responsibilities and challenges.
• Describe the industry being targeted. Apply Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) or North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes to industries. How a particular industry receives its information could help shape the vehicles chosen.
• List the geographic location of your target customers. This demographic can further reveal communications vehicle correct to reach these potential customers.
• Add the size of the company to your target profile. How many employees, sales volume, number of locations.
• List other information that may be used to describe demographics, ethnicity or behavioral issues. All of the above information can be used to help define the audience size of your target customers. Demographics can be refined to keep reach attainable.

As an advertising agency, Brigham & Rago is here to help businesses develop marketing communications plans to keep or capture new market share. We are ready to consult with you, then based on our experience and the information we gather, help put together a communications plan. We believe this plan will be a framework for a powerful marketing communications program. Our goal is to help you meet your marketing objectives by assisting in implementing and delivering a clear, consistent message. Call 973-656-9006 to set up a meeting to discuss your next communications project. Visit our online portfolio to see examples of work we’ve created for our clients.

CURRENT CUSTOMERS

For a marketing audit, develop your current customer description.

The next section of a marketing audit is where you describe your current audience. If you are a new company, you could describe whom you would like to target. These descriptions can also become part of guiding questions used later to develop marketing messages. By knowing your customers, you can develop your unique selling proposition, differentiating yourself from the competitors.

Most companies have different kinds of clients, so subgroups will most likely occur. By developing a description of who the users of your product or service are, you may see how to put these customers into subgroups. You will be able to identity which group your primary customers fall into as well as who are your secondary markets.

Here is a suggestion of the type of information needed to develop of a customer profile.

• What is the title of your customers? What is their job function? This information can reveal their responsibilities and challenges.
• Describe your customers industry. Apply Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) or North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes to industries. Additional market research can be performed to tell you how many companies there are in these industries.
• List the geographic location of your current customers. This is a demographic that can reveal your service areas are as well as find potential customers.
• Add the size of the company to your customer profile. How many employees, sales volume, number of locations.
• List other information that may be used to describe demographics, ethnicity or behavioral issues.
• Ultimately you should be able to state your current customer audience size.

As an advertising agency, Brigham & Rago is here to help businesses develop marketing communications plans to keep or capture new market share. We are ready to consult with you, then based on our experience and the information we gather, help put together a communications plan. We believe this plan will be a framework for a powerful marketing communications program. Our goal is to help you meet your marketing objectives by assisting in implementing and delivering a clear, consistent message. Call 973-656-9006 to set up a meeting to discuss your next communications project. Visit our online portfolio to see examples of work we’ve created for our clients.

MARKETING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

How do you describe your marketing goals and objectives? Think in terms of long- and short-term and put them in priority order.

The second portion of a marketing audit is where you describe your marketing goals and objectives. Divide your goals and objectives in two categories: long-term (things that might be accomplished in 24 months or more) and short-term (things that might be accomplished in 12 months or less). You should also put them in an order of priority with 6 to 8 goals in your long-term section and 3 to 4 goals for your short-term.

By writing these down they can be continually evaluated, measured, and enhanced so they can be successfully achieved. Goals and objectives should be precise about what is to be achieved. You should also quantify when the results are to be accomplished so it is measureable. All goals and objectives should be reasonable. Make sure that you have the resources to make them happen. Ask yourself if you have the men, money, machines, materials or minutes to achieve these results? Don’t attempt to do too much.

Here are some examples of quantitative goals and objectives to consider for your marketing audit:

• increase company visibility or advertising awareness from 12% to 25% in 24 months
• increase market share or audience size by 20% end of 4th quarter
• differentiate from competition by making preferred luxury brand within 36 months
• increase sales dollars or sales units from $200,000 to $400,000 in 24 months
• generate qualified 5 – 10 sales leads or new distribution channels in South American region in next 12 months
• maintain market share through next six months
• increase usage within existing customers by 10% within 12 months.

As an advertising agency, Brigham and Rago is here to help businesses develop marketing communications plans to keep or capture new market share. The marketing audit process can help your company analysis and evaluate your approaches, activities, aims and results achieved. We look forward to working with your company to develop a powerful marketing communications program to meet your business objectives. Call 973-656-9006 to set up a meeting to discuss your next communications project. Visit our online portfolio to see examples of work we’ve created for our clients.

Brigham and Rago Marketing Communications, Morristown, NJ
Visit our Website: http://www.brigham-rago.com
Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/nrago
Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BrighamRago

SITUATION ANALYSIS

How do you begin a marketing audit? Start by doing a situation analysis about your company.

A marketing audit is a self-examination companies can use to collect their thoughts on activities and needs, goals and objectives, business and marketing descriptions, competitive intelligence, and communications planning.

A place to start is with an overview of the company. Start by writing down details like locations, sales history, and mergers, as well as how aware and perceived the company is among buying influences. This is the beginning of a situation analysis that will help define your market dynamics and begin to identify current position in the market. Begin to see your company from an internal and external perspective.

Here are the basic facts about your company to collect for the situation analysis portion of a marketing audit.

• What is the company’s incorporated name? Do you have a “Doing business as” or a DBA name as well.
• What is your company’s location(s)? List the headquarters as well as any others that might be significant to the marketing process like manufacturing and sales locations.
• What is your company’s website address? Do you have product websites as well as company?
• Do you have a company profile on LinkedIn? Do you maintain Twitter or Facebook pages?
• What is the date the company was established?
• What is the annual sales history for 3 – 5 years? What is the current number of employees?
• Who are key personnel? List any that are stakeholders in the marketing decision process.
• Is there a chronology to the company’s events like mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures?
• In 50 words or less, can you state the company’s business philosophy?
• What is the current awareness level of your company among buying influences? Are you known for your price? Performance? Quality? Service? Availability? Features? Etc.
• What is the current perception of your company among buying influences? Do they have a positive or negation perception about your price? Performance? Quality? Service? Availability? Features? Etc.
• Begin to organize the 4P’s (product, price, place, and promotion) of your company.

• What are my products? Do I make a thing or provide a service? Does your product have the right features? What is the quality of this product compared to the marketplace? List all products or services produced, with brand names if they have them.
• What is the pricing of my product compared to the competition? Do you need to sell large or small numbers to produce profit?
• What is the place my company sells it’s product? Can your target audience get it easily? Is it for use by consumers or businesses? Do you distribute it through resellers or direct?
• How are they made aware of the existence and availability of product? What promotional factors should be considered between seller and buyer? What might influence, inform or persuading the purchaser? Put in order of importance of the promotion mix: personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing, public relations or demonstration.

As an advertising agency, Brigham & Rago is here to help businesses develop marketing communications plans to keep or capture new market share. The marketing audit process can help your company analysis and evaluate your approaches, activities, aims and results achieved. We look forward to working with your company to develop a powerful marketing communications program to meet your business objectives. Call 973-656-9006 to set up a meeting to discuss your next communications project. Visit our online portfolio to see examples of work we’ve created for our clients.

ANALYTICAL VEHICLES

How can you better understand your audience? Introduce analytical vehicles into your communications plan.

Analytics can help marketers begin to understand their market position and target audience because you can measure just about anything. The information might help you see what is working and what is not. You might see how to tweak your communications plan and create a roadmap for areas of future improvement.

You might also begin to see what kind of “return on investment,” or ROI, your marketing plan is yielding. You can come one step closer to the holy grail of marketing -- proving that marketing communications is linked to sales. In a down economy, marketers are focused on every dollar spent and have higher performance expectations. They don't want to spend their budget on wasted programs that don't deliver results.

But the popular saying attributed to John Wanamaker, "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half," illustrates how difficult it is know what is working and what is not. Internal and external variables can make measurement a complex assignment. Marketing analytics are part art, part skill, and part science. It’s whether you have enough data and the right variables to measure. Tactics differ widely and across many different levels from awareness, interest, desire and action.

Here are just a few suggestions of how to approach different analytical vehicles and what variables you may want to measure.

• Database analysis of variables like name, address, SIC/NAICS codes and transaction history can yield information like: current customers base, customer behavior, target prospects as well as geographic considerations. You might go further down data to company size and customer retention, for example. Ultimately, the information yielded can allow for targeted communication to a customer that will be of interest and benefit to them, and yield a better result for the marketer.
• Market research gathers, records and analyzes data about issues relating to marketing products and services. The questions could be about competitors, market structure, government regulations, economic trends, technological advances, and numerous other business environment factors. Marketing communications could use this data to craft a consistent message across multiple media platforms. The message will hopefully be attention getting, well branded, and have the proper motivational points to yield results.
• We know that for every marketing action, there is a reaction to track. Tracking the marketing results of your communications plan is where you can begin to measure the ROI and each individual vehicles performance. What were your set objectives? Where they met? Can you track the results of your advertising and promotion programs? Public relations? Other types of data tracking could be number of online clicks, offline calls, online and offline revenues and inquires, tradeshow attendees, inbound responses, and market share.
• SWOT analysis is a situation analysis tool used to help marketers understand their Strengths and Weaknesses, and look at the Opportunities and Threats they face. This information can be used to shape communications from a strategic perspective. It can help in the development of positioning and key messaging. What is your unique selling proposition? What are your deficiencies or problems? What are the opportunities to exploit your strengths or turnaround your weaknesses? Are there external treats that could impact you negatively?

As an advertising agency, Brigham & Rago is here to help businesses develop marketing communications plans to keep or capture new market share. We are ready to consult with you, then based on our experience and the information we gather, help put together the analytical vehicle portion of your communications plan. Our goal is to help you meet your marketing objectives by assisting in implementing and delivering a clear, consistent message. Call 973-656-9006 to set up a meeting to discuss your next communications project. Visit our online portfolio to see examples of work we’ve created for our clients.