Marketing - Much More Than Promotion

Strive for best in your category. It's the only sensible strategy today!

Your business depends on drawing accurate conclusions about every activity in the enterprise. To be able to accelerate customer interest, tell a great brand story and offer distinctions; companies must pay strict attention to these 5 marketing fundamentals.

Successful businesses continually:
   1.  Evaluate the product and service offering
   2.  Study the competition
   3.  Anticipate economic conditions and market trends
   4.  Improve operating systems
   5.  Profile first, then communicate important distinctions to present and potential customers

The essence of fulfilling customer expectations is accurately understanding market factors and engineering the purchase experience. The process begins way before your prospects learn about you and continues well beyond the time their checks clear!

Most small businesses and, frankly many of their marketing service providers, are only interested in a part of #5. They want to get a message out, create a “touch,” and make an impression!  Without the insights gained from investigating the other points, a company will be missing important details that can compromise promotional activities.

Being the best in every corner of your business is the only sensible strategy today. Your offering has to be superior and the manner in which you engage customers should be concierge quality.

Look internally and externally
Staying aware of what the competition is doing and what you suspect them to do is critical. You don’t need to emulate them, just anticipate them. Ask yourself, “If we do X how might they respond.”

Become more attentive to business cycles by paying closer attention to economic trends while anticipating industry consolidation. As well, your operating systems must be appropriate and lean. Every system that touches the customer must be optimized to assure a positive experience.

You don’t have to wait to communicate fundamental distinctions in your promotional messages but, you do have to first understand your customer. Know why they buy, where they live, what they like to do, what they need, want and how they perceive themselves.

Once you embrace these activities and make them a regular part of the process, then you’ll really be marketing!