2007 Marketing Tips

How can I optimize my marketing efforts at trade shows?

First, let’s reinforce the basics. Most people know these, yet plenty of experienced trade show professionals fail at one of these behaviors. So it is always important to think about them at the beginning of every event.

1. Make eye contact with people and smile. Research shows that the single most important behavior that can increase tips for wait staff in restaurants is smiling to the customer. The same is true with trade shows. Looking someone in the eye and smiling is an invitation to exchange words.

2. Be courteous and friendly. Say “hello” as people pass by. Don’t be pushy or insistent, just inviting. And don’t be too informal. You want to convey a sense of professionalism and support.

3. Do everything you can to keep your booth space open and inviting. Don’t turn your back on passers by or allow booth staff to constantly talk to each other. Try to create an opening to your booth or space. Barriers keep people away. Be sure to pay attention to your body language so that your very posture – individually and as a group – suggests receptivity and openness.

4. Involve people in conversations, either in a group or individually. If someone walks up to a group of people who are conversing around your booth, turn to open a space for them and invite them to join in the conversation. Or, move away from the group and engage with the person individually. Letting a person who displays interest leave your booth without making contact is a lost opportunity.

5. Have the support information you need on hand. Take extras so you never run out of business cards, brochures or incentive items. If people don’t want to give you their information, at least you can make it easier for them to follow-up with you.

Now for something a little more advanced. How can you get a reluctant passer-by to open up and consider your offering? First, recognize that you don’t have to, nor should you want to, speak with everyone who passes by. Not everyone is a prospect. If a person isn’t interested in your product or service, it is not cost effective to spend time trying to sell them. Let those who are clearly just walking by walk by. However, there’s often the person who hovers near the booth, reads all the information, or listens in on other conversations. These people are probably interested but hesitant because they don’t want to “be sold.” You can take advantage of their interest and draw them in by opening the conversation with a comment or question that is targeted, but neutral. Make sure the remark is relevant to your business, not simply about the weather or the individual’s appearance. A throw-away question may get a response, but won’t stop them from moving on. Here’s an example: if you are at a trade show and promoting your bankruptcy legal services, you might ask the reluctant passer-by if they sell a service and, if so, how they make the intangible value of the service clear to their audiences. If not, you might ask them what convinces them to buy a service since they realize how different it is to promote a product. Or you could make a surprising comment that shows you are open minded, such as saying “Everyone expects us to recommend filing Chapter 11 or 13. They don’t realize our business is advising people for what’s best for them.” Again, the statement is non-confrontational, yet it counters a typical objection. It draws the person in without putting them on the spot. It creates an opening for a dialogue. It’s another way to open up an opportunity and start building a relationship that may lead to sales.

Is it ever appropriate to acknowledge clients publicly? When and how?

Recognizing clients can be a powerful form of customer support when it is appropriate, meaningful and genuine. That doesn’t mean creating opportunities to promote clients randomly or without justification, but acknowledging real efforts that are meaningful to your company and your client’s. Some companies have annual contests related to specific activities, such as paper companies that reward clients for effective use of their products in promotions. In some cases, there may be an individual circumstance you want to acknowledge, such as a client’s efforts over and above expectations to help a needy population. Here are some guidelines for publicly acknowledging your clients:

• Be sure to notify the individuals who are being recognized before making any public announcement. Not everyone likes public attention.

• Be specific about what you are recognizing the client for and why it is of value. This can be more traditional, such as acknowledging a client’s efforts in support of a community group, or more informal, such as the annual “favorite client” award to convey how much a specific client makes collaboration easy and allows you to do your best work.

• Write a letter to the person’s supervisor or company CEO explaining why you are recognizing the individual or group. This increases that person’s value within his or her own company.

• Make the “official” announcement when and where it provides both you and the client with the greatest impact. That may be at an public event or in a company newsletter, before media or at a private investor group meeting.

• Define objective criteria for any client recognition and put in writing so that everyone inside and outside your company understands what is considered important.

• Be careful not to provide any inappropriate rewards to clients, such as expensive gifts or money. Taking a client out for a celebratory lunch or dinner is fine, but don’t offer anything that may be perceived as crossing a line.

Should I outsource marketing management or staff it?

There is no right answer to this important question. And the answer may change over time. To evaluate the options, be sure to consider these issues:

• The volume and complexity of the marketing need. Does your product/service rely heavily on marketing for sales? Does it require one key strategy or an integrated campaign of strategies and tactics? Are you targeting one audience or a number of market segments? Greater volume and complexity suggests the need for a greater degree of professionalism and knowledge, which is best achieved through outsourcing.

• The balance of marketing and sales. Do you have a sales force? Is sales a necessary step in the purchasing process? To what degree does sales dovetail or overlap with marketing? If the product/service is sales intensive, you may need less marketing support, which means you can make the decision based on other factors. Like …

• The available budget. Can you afford to hire a full time staff person? Is there someone in the company who has the competency and time to manage that person? Will one staff person have the full range of knowledge and experience you need for your marketing efforts? If you have high marketing volume, a clear delineation of skill sets needed, the budget and someone to manage the individual, a staffperson may make more sense.

• Long-term viability. Are you sure of the marketing mix needed for your company, product or service? Will you always rely on a few, key marketing strategies and tactics as the foundation for all your promotional efforts? Will you need to add new strategies and technologies over time? A more defined marketing mix can be effectively managed by a staff person. But if you aren’t sure of the strategies and tactics that work, you won’t know what skills sets are needed. Outsourcing will probably be more effective in the short-term until your marketing is better defined.

Ultimately, you may decide to execute a hybrid system, with an internal marketing expert managing outsourced professionals for the execution of a variety of marketing strategies and tactics.

What percentage of my total budget should be allocated for marketing?

Within the marketing profession, the rule of thumb is that an established business should be expending between 5 and 8 percent of its total annual budget on marketing. However, this number may be higher if you are a start-up, introducing a new product/service, expanding into a new market or selling a commodity item. In these cases the percentage may be closer to 10 to 12 percent of the total budget. In some situations, such as commodity consumer goods products are being sold (like fast food fare), marketing may become a vital component in the process and could represent as much as 25% of your total budget. However, if you are not expending at least 5 percent, you probably haven’t realized the full potential marketing can have to drive more business.

Are there affordable sources of business and marketing intelligence I can access?

Thanks to the Internet, there is almost no limit to the amount of information you can easily access from your office. The best information is generally costly – either customized reports or industry overviews with exceptional detail related to your product or service. However, there are plenty of other sources of valuable information you can find with a little determination and patience. First, go to websites for the trade associations representing the industry. Most of these organizations do some publishing and collect annual data about the industry. Some trade books may be relevant as well, which you can then acquire from your local library. Next, check out the websites for some of the major management consulting and accounting firms, like Accenture, McKinsey or Deloitte. Each of these firms has areas of expertise in certain industries and they do extra research and publishing (e.g., articles, white papers, presentations) within their target industries. Much of this information is available free of charge from their websites. Third, review the annual reports for leading companies in the industry. Companies provide a good summary of their performance and strategic direction in annual reports from which you can glean some clues related to what your market needs. Fourth, check out the research available from leading research firms specific to your target industries. For example, Gartner and Jupiter are leading Internet research firms and Technomics is well known in the food service industry. Most of their resources can be pretty costly, but they may have an overview piece that is affordable (less than $100) or they may offer one- or two-year old reports at a significant discount. As long as nothing major has changed in the industry, these less timely reports will probably serve your purposes. Finally, look for presentations on the web given by professionals from research firms or public entities. For example, you can gain a lot of valuable economic insight on a local level from presentations you can access from the Federal Reserve. Take your time and be perseverant and you can find lots of useful information to help you with your marketing efforts.

How can I respond to different cultural groups in my marketing?

At times, a cultural orientation can affect the perceptions a target market has about their need for your product/service and the issues that influence their decision making. Knowing a culture’s orientation to the values associated with your product or service and the market’s decision-making criteria is critical to crafting the right message. This is particularly true for consumer goods. Some cultural differences may be associated with the health or economic status of the population. When you do appeal to a group based on cultural dimensions, make sure you understand the market, its cultural beliefs, its taboos and its language. Be sure to vet the language you use so it reflects meaningful and appropriate connotations for the target market. Otherwise, you may inadvertently offend a cultural group instead of appealing to them. Have someone who knows the culture check any references for accuracy. You wouldn’t, for example, promote a positive image of your company if you emphasized 2007 as the Chinese Year of the Monkey when, in fact, it is the Year of the Pig. Finally, remember that no group is entirely homogeneous. Sometimes there are distinct market segments within a culture. So make sure you understand when a cultural orientation requires a segmented strategy before assuming that the group buys your product/service differently than other consumers.

What is the relationship between sales and marketing?

Some people say that sales is a part of marketing. Others argue that marketing is a part of sales. Regardless of which perspective you take, the two disciplines go hand-in-hand along a continuum. Marketing encapsulates a variety of strategies and tactics that are indirect, meaning they don’t have a personal component. Advertisements, brochures, websites, coupons, in-store offers can all attract attention when they promote the right factor to the right audience. But their messages are not individualized or personal. Sales refers to activities that involve a person communicating with a prospect around that individual’s decision making. It can be one-on-one, face-to-face or in groups and by telephone. The key is that the prospect’s questions are answered and the sales representative conveys the values that reinforce a relationship between the prospect and the product, service or company. Marketing is a cost-effective method for building awareness and pre-qualifying leads – activities that occur early in the sales process. For some products and services. like commodity items or products/services that are uncomplicated and/or have a low price point, marketing may be all that is required to win the sale. But for many products and services, like high-ticket or complex items, sales is needed to respond individually to a prospect’s objections, build trust and secure the purchase. So, be sure you understand where your product/service falls on the marketing/sales continuum before you begin planning your marketing strategies and budget.

How does strategic planning inform marketing efforts?

Fundamental to every marketing campaign or effort is a clear statement of objective. You have to know specifically what you want to achieve before you can figure out how you’re going to get there. Strategic planning defines business goals and priorities. This direction establishes the boundaries for operational activities over time, including marketing efforts. A strategic plan often delineates target markets, which products/services to emphasize, desired revenues and growth and where the sources for greater profitability. Prioritization, in particular, is an essential part of the strategic planning process that helps all staff balance multiple goals and objectives. Strategic plans also identify the resource commitment that will be allocated to marketing. These parameters are critical building blocks for developing effective marketing strategies and tactics. In other words, strategic planning plots the business’ course toward a particular goal. The horizon it defines points marketing in the right direction. Then marketing strategy defines the roadmap of activities that move the company toward achieving that end.