How To Put All The Right Pieces - In The Right Order - Part 2
We said yesterday that you need to put all of your marketing pieces in the right order. Here's how:
To avoid that mistake in your business, here's a brief description of the SIX Components of any marketing or sales effort:
1. Targeting: You have to be talking to the right crowd of people. Yes, this is obvious, but you'd be surprised how often it gets messed up. Realize that you may want to sell the same thing to different targets...and that you will have to use different messages. For instance, we have to use different approaches to sell the same marketing programs to start-ups than we do to existing business owners. Just make sure your cognizant of who your trying to reach.
2. Vehicles/Media: There are at least 25 different media you can use to get your message out to a highly targeted market. But, there are usually 4 or 5 that will work best for a given project. If you're trying to sell computer consulting using a classified ad in a Doll Collector's magazine, you may have trouble.
3. Techniques: Each vehicle has its own techniques that make it work the best. For instance, in direct mail, there are 17 components that every letter must contain. Leave any one out, and you'll soon be flirting with the pan-tig-ator.
Be Aware! Most business books and consultants will only talk about targeting, media, and techniques. We talk about them a lot, too. BUT for your marketing to really take off, you have to master the last three components.
4. Articulation: What you say is only fractionally as important as How you say it. Let's say you get a technique right, and put a headline in your newspaper ad. The way you articulate your headline could mean as much as 21 times the results. Articulation is difficult to learn, but it is the essence of expert marketing. Test different articulations - often.
5. Execution: The greatest plan in the world will fail if incompetent people are executing it. Most marketing plans are under-executed.
6. Systematization: Tying it all together. Each marketing effort must be consistent with the others, be delivered at the right time, using the right medium, and with the right message - exactly the same way - to every prospect and customer.
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