Fresh Marketing Has a New Home!

Fresh Marketing has a new home on the updated Marketing Flexibility website. Follow us at http://marketingflexibility.com/blog/ for more fresh marketing insight and advice.

See you there!

Is Target Having An Identity Crisis?

I used to love Target. I could spend hours browsing the store to see what was new, and plan an entire day around hitting the nearest Target location.

Back then, going to Target was not just a quick store run- it was an experience. Target marketers did a brilliant job of differentiating the chain from other retailers, with trendy seasonal décor and collections from otherwise high-dollar designers. I was particularly jazzed when Target introduced The Shops, their limited time, curated collections of cool things from boutiques across the country. That sealed the deal for me as a Target lover. But recently, things have changed.

Target has a new marketing campaign this year, which has left me feeling a little flat. The Target Run campaign aims to, ahem, target customers who value coupons, groceries, and quick runs to pick up essentials. The trouble is, I already have sources for those boring trips. What I’m lacking now is a fun, trendy place to shop for non-essentials. It may sound crazy, but I just can’t get as excited about that curated designer collection when it’s across the aisle from macaroni and fruit snacks.  

Don’t get me wrong, the Target Run campaign is integrated and well thought out. There are coupon apps, expanded grocery selections, clever advertisements, and a redesigned website to support the new offers. The problem, for me, is a misalignment with the unique identity Target had created. The identity of being a destination and an experience for those looking for cool stuff at reasonable prices. With Target’s expanded grocery section, weekly coupons, and boring website, it feels akin to Walmart.

What do you think? Is Target having an identity crisis, or do you like the new positioning and offers?


Looking for insight to help position your business? Look us up at www.marketingflexibility.com.

3 Tips for Business Health!

I suppose a marketing consultant is a bit like a doctor for business. I’m called when the business isn’t as healthy as it could be. I visit the business, check the symptoms, conduct an exam to discover the underlying cause, and work with the client to develop a prescribed course of action. And, like a doctor, I feel disappointed when a client leaves with a clean bill of health, prescription in hand, and goes right back to their unhealthy habits.

It seems the most difficult habit for business owners to break is the urge to try new things, changing course monthly, if not even weekly. And I get it. It’s like the doctor telling me I need to exercise daily for three months in order to see improvement. At first, it’s easy, but then it gets easier to just go back to what I’m comfortable with. Or, get frustrated at the lack of improvement and try, desperately, to find what’s going to work in days – not months.

The truth is that strategy takes time to manifest into results. When a business continues to change course every week, they will never discover what works and what doesn’t. Here are some tips for effective execution of your strategy:

1.    Give it time! As a business, you should review your strategy on a semi-annual basis. Your strategy is the road map of your business, informing where you want to go and how to get there. You won’t get there overnight. It will take time and patience.

2.    Gather enough data for meaningful measure. As a marketer, I’m an advocate for testing variables to determine what works and what doesn’t. However, you need to allow enough time to gather a statistically relevant set of data. If you change a communication strategy every week, you’ll never really know what works for you.

3.    Separate business from personal. As a business owner, it’s sometimes difficult to see where you stop and the business begins. As a person, you’re always representing your business. However, your business should always represent the business strategy. The most common mistake I see is business owners who treat the business social media accounts as personal ones. Keep your business posts intentional, audience appropriate, and strategically aligned.

To stay focused on the course, I keep a copy of my market plan posted on the wall. I refer to it often to remind myself of where I need to be and where I’m heading next. If you could benefit from a business well check, email us at kris@marketingflexibility.com or visit www.marketingflexibility.com.

Stay well!

3 Questions to Jump Start Market Opportunity Analysis

If you want to launch, grow or diversify a business, then you need to spend some time – a LOT of time – researching and understanding the potential market opportunity. Having tremendous talent or a really great idea just isn’t enough. You need to do some digging to answer the following questions:

How are people meeting this need today? Remember that not all competition is direct. Let me give you an example. I worked with a client who designed a new fastening technology. There was nothing quite like it on the market, so the client believed there to be no competition. In fact, there was a lot. The competitive offerings may not be a direct comparison, but people are fastening things down somehow. Really open your mind and consider how you attach and fasten things. We use bungee cords, rope, zip ties – and the list goes on. So, the question is not whether you have competition – because you do. The question becomes how people are meeting that need today, and whether your offer provides enough value for them to consider changing habits and potentially paying more for the solution.

Is someone else already filling this need? Now that you’ve considered how the need is currently met, think about your competition. Is someone else already doing this? If so, are you able to do it faster, better or cheaper? If not, then you need to consider how you can, so your offer is differentiated. Sometimes this means walking away from an idea as well. If it’s just not feasible and viable for you to make your offer faster, better or cheaper than the competition, the market opening may not be big enough for two (or more!) of you. Keep in mind that customer experience can be a huge differentiator, and your ticket to winning.

Is the opportunity financially viable? There is a lot more than product cost to be considered when determining price and profit (or loss). First, you should price your product or service based on the value it brings to the market and what people are willing to pay for that value. If you try to price based on the cost you have into it, you will likely be priced too high or too low for the market. Too high, and you’ll price yourself out of the market. Too low, and you’ve left money on the table. When considering financial viability, look at your total business costs. In addition to product costs, consider labor, equipment, utilities, buildings, marketing, tax obligations, supplies – everything. Do your homework to understand how much you have to spend to make and market your offer. If you look at just the product or service cost, you will end up with an unpleasant surprise when all of the other expenses add up.

Now that you’ve vetted your opportunity, you can make an educated decision about whether to continue into the strategy phase or go back to the drawing board. Marketing Flexibility is available to assist with your market research and analysis needs. Visit us at www.marketingflexibility.com or email kris@marketingflexibility.com for a free consultation.

What Does a Marketing Consultant Do?

I’m often asked to explain what I do. As a strategic marketing consultant, the work isn’t something I can display as easily as, say, an agency which creates advertisements. Here’s the best explanation I can offer; I help businesses find vision, clarity and direction, backed by solid plans for success. I ask really tough questions, force really tough decisions, and develop a roadmap for success. Here are the questions I ask and the answers I develop with business owners and managers:

What Is Your Best Market Opportunity?

The world is full of opportunity! The challenge is discovering current and future market needs which aren’t already being met. If someone else is already meeting the need, then how are you different? Can you do it faster, better, or cheaper? If not, we’ll explore better opportunities or discuss how you can differentiate yourself to compete.

What Do You Know About the Opportunity?

You have a great idea, and that’s a great place to start! Now, it’s time to be honest about what you know about the market and opportunity. This is your situational analysis, and it’s a lot of work. During this phase, we dig into market research and explore all of the things which impact your potential success. We look at your company structure and capabilities, your potential collaborators, your potential customers, your competition, and the context – or the world – in which you’ll need to do business. The context includes political, legal, social and economic factors which can impact how you do business.

What Does It All Mean?

Once we’ve uncovered the necessary information, we conduct careful analysis. It’s a lot like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. There’s a lot of data laying in front of us. We figure out how to piece it together to create a logical picture and make sound business decisions.

Where Do You Go From Here?

This is the fun part! Once you have a clear picture of the best market opportunity, we develop a strategic plan. This plan becomes your roadmap to success. In the plan, we clearly define the following:

·         Vision and Mission

·         Situational Analysis

·         Market Segmentation

·         Objectives and Goals

·         Positioning

·         Business Model Strategy

·         Product or Service Offers

·         Price Strategy

·         Place Strategy (how your offer goes to market)

·         Promotional Strategy

·         Key Risk Factors and Control Plan

·         Budget and Forecast

·         Success Metrics

How Do You Get It Done?

Implementing your plan is hard work. I’ll work with you to ensure you have the business processes, organization and key contacts necessary to successfully implement you plan.

If you have more questions about what we do, or just want to bounce some marketing questions off from me, visit www.marketingflexibility.com or email me at kris@marketingflexibility.com.

SEO, Social Media, Web Design - Connecting the Dots

Businesses often outsource pieces of marketing, which makes sense when gaps in expertise or capabilities exist. The key to success in working with marketing vendors is knowing which questions to ask and results to expect. Here are some commonly outsourced services, and common pitfalls to avoid.

SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the art and science of selecting and optimizing keywords. The most common pitfall I see is excellent SEO in terms of driving traffic to your site, but in not converting those visits into paying customers. There is a science to selecting keywords which will actually convert visitors into customers. Likewise, content on your website should be written to provide a positive visitor experience, which pulls visitors through the buying cycle. If content is written only for the sake of saturating the site with keywords, it will not drive sales.

If an SEO provider is driving traffic which does not generate viable leads, you should reconsider.

Social Media

Social media is all about the number of followers you can generate, right!

 

Wrong! Just like SEO, the sole purpose of social media is to drive sales. If your social media provider is only measuring the number of likes, followers or posts, you should look elsewhere. A good social media provider will build a social media strategy which supports your business objectives and, ultimately, supports your sales goals.

Web Design

Web design and SEO go hand-in-hand. If you interview a web design provider who does not ask about your business objectives, online goals, target audience, key messages and SEO needs (at a minimum), you should reconsider. Beautiful websites do not sell products and services (although they should look great too!). Online strategy coupled with effective content, website architecture, compelling calls to action, and great SEO do.

There are many agencies which provide excellent SEO, Social Media and Web Design services. We would be happy to provide a recommendation or simply some advice on the types of questions you should ask when looking to outsource those services. Drop me a line at kris@marketingflexibility.com.


Marketing Flexibility, LLC
www.marketingflexibility.com

 

 

4 Types of Market Segmentation

If you looked at my Pandora radio playlist, you’d see a pretty eclectic mix of music. My stations include The Police, Bon Jovi, Pink Floyd, Sugarland, Nickel Creek and Crosby Stills & Nash. Like most people, I never paid attention to the occasional ads that interrupt my music stream, but something caught my attention this week. Some days, I heard ads from water parks and Chevrolet, and other days I heard from Mercedes Benz. And it occurred to me that each playlist was streaming ads appropriate for the expected listening audience. In marketing terms, Pandora had segmented their listeners into market segments, based on the typical demographics and interests of Bon Jovi versus Crosby Stills & Nash fans.

The goal of market segmentation is to separate the general market into categories, which can then be targeted and marketed to most effectively. There are four general types of market segmentation:

1.    Geographic segmentation separates a market into different geographical boundaries which can impact the marketing mix of product, price, promotion and channel to market. For instance, you may not sell many down comforters in Arizona, but the market in Michigan is pretty good. Ever been to Hawaii? The price of goods is substantially higher than the continental United States. And the way you promote and sell a product in southern California will be quite different from Vermont.

2.    Demographic segmentation separates a market by demographic indicators including gender, age, household type, education level and income. Simply put, the type of products we buy, how much we spend, and how we buy them are largely determined by demographic factors.

3.    Psychographic segmentation separates a market by lifestyle as well as values and beliefs. There are large target markets which fit psychographic segmentation, such as outdoor recreation and fitness.

4.    Behavioral segmentation separates a market by shopping and buying behaviors. Are you an online shopper or do you prefer to handle products in the store? How often do you shop? Do you research a purchase carefully before making a decision, or do you tend to buy on impulse? All of these factors determine how consumers are segmented and marketed to.

If you’re a critical thinker like me, you may be wondering about those people who fall in between, or are made up of a combination of, those segments. My experience on Pandora is a great example. Am I the Chevy or Mercedes demographic? Although market segmentation isn’t a perfect science, it will certainly get you closer to understanding your target audience and increasing your marketing return on investment.

 

 

 

For more information about Marketing Flexibility, visit www.marketingflexibility.com.

6 Ways to Retain Customers

Sitting at home on Sunday, browsing the newspaper, one offer in particular caught my attention. $10 off haircut and style – new clients only. I had been to this particular salon in the past, so I wasn’t the new type of client they were looking for, and I couldn’t help feeling unappreciated. As a marketer, I also wondered if they knew customer retention is cheaper than new customer acquisition.

Studies have pinned the cost of acquiring a new customer at five to 30 times that of keeping current customers happy and engaged. The cost of new customer acquisition varies by industry, but in any case, it’s in the best interest of a business to keep current customers coming back. Here are six tips for customer retention:

1.    Deliver consistently on your promises. Business promises come in many forms, including not just specific product or service deliverables, but also consistent business hours and customer experience.

2.    Don’t get too comfortable. It’s easy to get comfortable and complacent with long-term customers, mistakenly thinking a missed deadline or less-than-stellar experience will be overlooked. It won’t go unnoticed.

3.    Invest in your customers’ happiness. Whether you’re selling advice or hardware, be committed to your customers’ success and happiness. When a customer feels cared for – as in, I care more that your sink is leaking than how much you’re going to spend to fix it – they will be back.

4.    Listen! We’ve all heard that feedback is a gift. If you’re lucky enough for a customer to express their concern, rather than simply walking away, take advantage of the opportunity to make things right.

5.    Invest in your employees. Often, relationships are formed between customers and individual employees. When a key employee leaves, there is serious risk that customers will leave as well. Invest in your employees and reduce turn-over to maintain a consistent customer experience.

6.    Appreciate your current customers! It’s fine to create an offer to draw new customers in, but don’t leave current customers feeling left out and unappreciated. If they can’t take advantage of your weekly deal, they may go someplace new – where they can use the coupon too.

It can be exciting to sign a new deal or kick off a shiny new project. Just remember to appreciate and care for your current customers while welcoming new ones.

Can You Substantiate That Claim?

As marketers, we make a lot of claims about product or service performance and how we make customers' dreams come true. Let's face it, it's just more fun to write marketing copy without worrying about the legality of it all. But the truth is, careful steps need to be taken to protect yourself and your company from legal issues caused by claims made in marketing content. I spent four years leading claim substantiation efforts at a large, global corporation. Here are some things I learned:

 

• Claim Substantiation is the process of proving and documenting that the claims you plan to make are true. You must have reasonable proof and appropriate documentation in place before you make a claim.
• Some claims are explicit, meaning you have directly said them. Other claims are implied, meaning you didn't say it directly, but a reasonable person would assume it based on other statements you have made, or images you have used.
• Marketers and lawyers generally have different agendas. A marketer's job is to sell products or services, while a lawyer's job is to protect the company. When in doubt, run claims by your legal counsel. If they have a concern, listen!
• Marketers often make claims without realizing it. A claim is any statement you make about your product, service or business in an effort to generate sales for your company.
• You may be called upon to provide substantiation (proof of evidence) by customers, the government, or your competition.
• The level of required substantiation may be dictated by the level of risk associated with your product or service offering.
• Claim substantiation is required by the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC). It is not optional.
• Businesses should have documented Claim Substantiation processes in place to ensure claims are tested, documented and reviewed before being published.

For more information about FTC requirements, visit the Truth in Advertising media center.

 



 

 

Kristina Marsh, founder of Marketing Flexibility, spent four years leading claim substantiation efforts at a large, global corporation. To contact Kristina with questions or to schedule your business process review, email kris@marketingflexibility.com. 

Looking for Some Holiday Sales Inspiration? Take a Tip from Major Retailers.

The holiday season is upon us, and shoppers are looking for more than a place to spend money. They want a holiday experience.

The major retailers have done their homework to determine what drives holiday traffic, sales, and the customers’ perception of the shopping experience. As a small business, you can leverage that insight to create a holiday experience your customers will enjoy, which means more dollars spent. Here are some tips:

·         Consider hosting a holiday open house as a way to welcome the community into your business. Set the stage for an enjoyable holiday experience with music, refreshments, holiday lighting, entertainment and special offers.

·         Create a holiday atmosphere, where customers can enjoy a leisurely shopping experience throughout the season. Music, lights, sparkly displays, and fragrance put shoppers in a nostalgic mood, increasing the spirit of giving (and spending).

·         Consider coordinating and promoting a charity collection point at your place of business. This will bring traffic into your location, and strengthen your position as a member of the community.

·         Increase traffic with limited time, seasonal offers. Consider new product launches, trunk shows, and product demonstrations as a way to generate excitement and get your event booked on shoppers’ calendars.

During the holiday season, shoppers are looking for personal connections and memorable experiences. After all, shopping is part of their overall holiday experience. Create a warm, enjoyable holiday atmosphere where they can linger, experience and reminisce.

A Professor and a Marketer Walk Into a Bar…

I love infographics! Those wonderful, visual graphics break down complex concepts and data into pretty pictures and one line statistics. What’s not to love?! So, imagine my surprise when I plopped a new infographic in front of a friend and she bristled. “I hate those things,” she said. Say what?...

Infographics are currently the little black dress of marketing – everyone’s go-to design. They’re everywhere, and I mean everywhere. Just enter “infographic” on a Google image search and you’ll see what I mean.

But here’s the trouble with the current infographic craze- not everyone is a visual learner. Marketers could take a lesson from professors who pay heed to adult learning styles in order to deliver content that’s meaningful to everyone. So, in the interest of continuous learning, here’s a breakdown of the most commonly recognized adult learning styles:

The Visual Learner

The visual learner absorbs information most easily from, you guessed it, visual sources, such as charts, symbols and graphs. Does this mean visual learners love infographics? You bet we do! About 60% of the population can be categorized as having a strong visual learning style.

The Auditory Learner

The auditory learner absorbs information most easily when it’s heard, spoken and discussed. Think of them as explorers of their environment. They listen, they discuss, and I’m guessing they’re lovers of music. About 25% of the population can be categorized as having a strong auditory learning style.

The Kinesthetic Learner

The kinesthetic learner absorbs information most easily with a hands-on approach. They learn by doing, so don’t expect them to read your instruction manuals. If your product requires instructions, you might take a cue from Ikea and keep it simple. About 15% of the population can be categorized as having a strong kinesthetic learning style.

The Read / Write Learner

A sub categorization of the visual learning style, the read / write learner needs to go beyond visual cues to application. You know the co-worker who still takes hand written notes in the meeting? Yep, they’re probably a read / write learner. I can relate. You can talk to me about something all day, but until I read it myself or write it down, it’s just not relevant.

So, what does this have to do with marketing? A lot! As marketers, a big part of our job is educating the target audience so they understand how great our products are, why they should buy them, and how to use them. If you’re only integrating one technique, you may be missing a large piece of your target.

The next time you have a brilliant idea for an infographic, go ahead and design it. But be sure to build a fully integrated plan around it to ensure relevance for your auditory and kinesthetic learners as well.

Curious to know your personal learning style? Take the free online VARK assessment.

 

It Takes a Village

I work daily to educate clients on the difference between graphic designers, marketers, copywriters and web builders. It takes all of those elements to create great marketing and it can be confusing to sort out just who does what. Some business owners expect to get it all from one person. In reality, the chance of finding someone who can do it all effectively is slim. Here is the most simplistic explanation I’ve come up with:

·         Graphic Designers are educated in art and aesthetics

·         Marketers are educated in business and strategy

·         Copywriters are educated in communication and grammar

·         Web builders are educated in technology and computer programming

Every once in a while, you’ll find that rare gem of a person who can do more than one of those things effectively. More often, it takes a village to create great marketing. What you don’t often see is what happens behind the scenes. A good marketer can set clear business objectives, analyze your market and financial data, research to fill the gaps, develop a strategy and plan to meet those objectives, and measure, measure, measure to ensure success. Once the strategy and plan are developed, other experts are brought in to effectively execute the plan. Copywriters write compelling copy, graphic designers create beautiful artwork, and web builders code that copy and art into functional websites.

If you’re staffing a marketing department, be sure to hire appropriately for the role and set expectations accordingly. If you’re searching for marketing resource, be sure to ask what kind of village is available to support the project. At Marketing Flexibility, we work with a talented pool of affiliates who are educated and experienced in marketing, design, copywriting and technology. We can put our village to work for you today!

A Picture Paints a Thousand Words...

If you’re a business owner or manager, you’ve likely faced the difficult decision of whether to invest in professional business photography. Hey, I get it. Professional photography can be expensive and budgets are limited. So why not just take those photos yourself? After all, everyone loved the photos you took on vacation last year.

Here’s the truth. A picture really does paint a thousand words, and if you’re not investing in professional photography, you could be sending the wrong message about your business. There’s a reason professional photographers get paid to do their job. A great image requires an eye for composition, light design, f-stops, apertures, and a whole lot of other things I don’t understand. Customers may not be able to explain why, but they know a mediocre product photo when they see one. It sends a message that your company isn’t professional, or simply isn’t established enough to afford proper photography. In either case, it doesn’t create an enticing call to action for potential customers or media.

So, put those iPhones, Droids, and Canon PowerShots back in the vacation bag. That professional light box kit you purchased online? Unless it came with an experienced photographer, you may want to rethink that as well. The investment in good photography will pay off in the brand image you gain.

"What's In a Name?"

“I read in a book once that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but I've never been able to believe it. I don't believe a rose WOULD be as nice if it was called a thistle or a skunk cabbage.” I believe Anne Shirley was on to something when she called Shakespeare out in L.M. Montgomery’s book, Anne of Green Gables. The name of your business has the power to make or break you – or at least cost a fortune as you work to educate people on what it means, how to pronounce it, and what exactly your business does! So, today, we’ll cover the basics of how great business names are born.

I’m a creative person, and I came up with some fantastic business names before finally settling on Marketing Flexibility. There were various reasons the others didn’t make the final cut. Here are some serious considerations to make as you decide on a name for your new business.

1.    Is the name flexible enough to evolve as your business grows and changes? Sure, the name needs to clearly articulate what you do, but getting too specific creates a risk of outgrowing the name.

2.    Is the name user and search friendly? Special characters, such as parenthesis, or creative spelling may feel unique and on trend, but trust me, it creates confusion for both your target audience and search engines.

3.    What is the connotation? Testing is critical on this one. Take your potential business name on a test drive with family and friends. Ask what the first thing is that comes to mind when they hear it. The answers will likely surprise you. If you plan to go global, make sure your test group represents other cultures as well.

4.    Can people pronounce it (without explanation)? I once worked with a global brand that hired an expensive agency to select a name. After five years in business, they spent tens of thousands of dollars on a campaign to educate people on how to pronounce it!

5.    Does the name clearly articulate what you do? I know that I’ve already said you shouldn’t get too specific, but the same is true for being too vague. There are businesses I’ve passed daily for 10 years, and I’ve just never figured out what they do.

6.    Is the domain name available? Yes, this is critical. If your business name and domain name are not the same, people will be confused. They’ll search for you online and end up on either a competitive website or one that’s unrelated altogether. Either way, they will be frustrated!

7.    Is the name available on major social media channels? Do a quick search on Facebook and Twitter to make sure someone else hasn’t already adopted the name.

8.    Is the name already taken? Make sure the name is available for use in your state of operations and is not registered as someone else’s trademark.

Naming your business can be an emotional roller coaster. There will be names you love that others shoot down (listen to them!), and names everyone loves that are simply not available. But the hard work and time is worth it when all of the pieces come together and you get it right. Sorry, Shakespeare, a rose by any other name may not smell as sweet!

Twitter and Facebook and Pinterest, Oh My!

The world of social media is vast, and it can be tempting to respond in one of two ways. Some businesses ignore social media completely, retreating into denial of how critical a presence is. Other businesses go all in, opening 20 different social media accounts, only to find they can’t possibly manage them effectively. So, what is a small business to do?

There’s no doubt the number of social media channels is overwhelming, even for large businesses and social media experts. My best advice for small to mid-sized businesses is to do your homework. Figure out where your target audience is hanging out online. Likely, the 90/10 rule applies here, with 90% of your target audience engaged with only one or two social media channels. Once you determine which channels those are, you can focus on getting a really great presence there, with effective and timely engagement. After all, social media is all about building relationships, and relationships take time to nurture.

So how do you figure out where your target audience is spending their time? Here’s a list of ideas to get your gears turning.

1.    Ask them! Most people won’t mind sharing which social media channel is their favorite.

2.    Consider their interests. If you’re a wedding photographer, I would bet your brides are hanging out on Pinterest, pouring over dress and décor photos. If your target is a ‘car guy’, I would bet they’re on You Tube, looking for videos on how to repair cars.

3.    Do a little research. Just search “social media demographics” and the results are staggering. The research has already been done for you. If you’re more of a visual learner (like me), search “social media infographic”.

So, now you’ve pinned your target audience down to one or two social media channels. Now what? Manage those channels well! The only thing worse than having no social media presence is to create more channels than you can effectively manage. Consider how bad it looks when a customer finds your Instagram or LinkedIn account, only to see it has been abandoned for two months. Hmm, maybe this business is out of business?

Do some research on the most effective frequency of updates too. For example, studies have shown that businesses that post Twitter updates between two and five times per day get up to 300% more retweets or shares than those who tweet more or less than that. Optimal time per day for tweets? 4:00 p.m., but don’t forget about time zone differences. On Facebook, five to ten posts per week is shown to be optimal. Post less than that, and you lose the connection with your followers. Post more than that and it begins to feel like spam.

Remember, you only have to be a social media expert on the small number of channels your target audience is using. Of course, Marketing Flexibility is here to help if you find yourself retreating into denial!

Demystifying the Marketing Process

At Marketing Flexibility, we believe there are five building blocks to great marketing. Thousands of books have been written on the subject of marketing, making it all feel a little (or a lot!) confusing. Here is all you need to remember to get started: DRASE. Don’t you love a good acronym? Let’s get a little more specific:

Discover

What is your market opportunity? Simply put, this is a market need or desire which is not currently met. Sometimes your discovery is inside-out, meaning you go looking for it. Other times, your discovery is outside-in, meaning it comes looking for you!

Research

What do you know about your opportunity? What do you need to learn? Your research can be primary, meaning you’re the one asking the questions and getting the info firsthand, or secondary, meaning good information already exists, and you simply need to find and read it!

Analyze

Now that you’ve created or found the information you need, it’s time to analyze. In other words, what the heck does it mean?! You’ll need to think critically about how this new intelligence impacts your opportunity and strategy. Sometimes, sadly, you even need to know when to fold ‘em, in the words of Kenny.

Strategize

Strat-e-gy (noun): a careful plan or method. Clear as mud, right? Basically, your strategy is your market attack plan. Your strategic plan will create a road map which details what and who you are targeting, your goals, and a specific and measurable action plan to get there. Be sure to include your full marketing mix in the strategic plan – details about your Product, Price, Place (channel to market), and Promotion – also called the ‘4 Ps’.

Execute 

Now it’s time to execute your strategy. Remember that even the best laid plans are subject to change. It’s essential to have a solid promotional plan (how you’re going to reach and convince your target market to buy), but markets and life are dynamic. Stay flexible. Oh! And make sure you’re committed to the plan before starting. It’s better to not start something than to start and let it fizzle (we’re talking to you, abandoned Facebook and Twitter pages)!

Now that you’re a marketing guru, go forth and conquer! If you need a little more guidance, the Marketing Flexibility team is here to help!

DRASE Building Blocks