Integrating "stuff" into your brand message and, more importantly, TIMING.
Lets face it...times are TOUGH. I have heard alot of conversation here and on the myriad other social network sites out there that sound something like "in down times like these, business owners MUST not turn their backs on marketing themselves". Whether you agree or disagree, I think everyone would come to the conclusion that for most business owners, there are fewer and fewer dollars available to spend on marketing.
So, what's a guy or gal to do? In my opinion, the objective is to FOCUS that spend. If you have less to spend, spending it wisely is paramount. I imagine a business owner/decision maker staring at the screen right now and wondering aloud, "OK, Mr. Smarty Pants, how do I DO that?" Am I right?.......
December is a perfect time on the calendar to spend some time thinking about 2009. What are your business objectives? Who are your target customers for next year? What do you know about them, and what MORE do you need to find out in order to make an educated sales call on them? There are dozens of these kind of questions, and gobs of ways to slice and dice both your existing customer base as well as your identified potential customers. Before you do anything else, get yourself together on the analysis of your data, and have some conclusions drawn about your clientele "groups".
Next, it's time to look at the 2009 calendar with the specific objective of understanding how you are going to time your marketing with respect to the analysis you've just done....can you identify key times of the year that make the most sense around which to organize your marketing efforts? Can you identify those same key times for your identified clientele groups? You should be able to if you really dig in.
I'll give you an example. As a Board Member of the local promotional products association in the State, we've identified that our prospective membership (promotional products salespeople) are of the demographic that like to watch and attend sporting events in a social setting. We also know that we need some time to generate buzz around the possibility of gathering those candidates for prospective membership in a social setting. One look at the calendar, and, BANG...March Madness....PERFECT! We've identified a key time of the year to organize our 1st social event. Make sense? Can you do the same for your identified clientele groups?
Let's have some discussion around this topic, and if it seems like I'm getting some traction, I'll continue the thread around how to incorporate "Stuff" into the mix, and continue an explanation of my example and how I'm walking what I'm talking.
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Focus is important, Roger, I agree.
It's really important to "know thy customer," even in good times.
If I had a dollar for every time someone came into my office and when I asked the question, "what kind of customer is your ideal customer that you work best with and make the most money off of" and the answer from the person was "everyone," I could pay for a stimulus package to all of MCC.
Alas, I don't get paid for being snarky.
Whether it's online or offline, I find it helpful to draw up some profiles - even give them names - and say "This is who we're going for."
Of course, there's variances and odd one-offs. But if you've been in business even for a little while, you know what kind of folks buy your product or service and which ones you wish that did; and then it's time for the gut check of asking "is your outreach working?" and if not, "what can I do different than what I'm doing now to make it work?"