13 Nov Good marketing is a process, not an event

I think that it was a former boss of mine at Intel who coined the phrase “Marketing is experimental.” You can’t always predict how members of your target market will react to a new marketing campaign or a new product or service launch, so you need to be prepared to tune your messaging based on feedback you receive. Much depends on how you initially position the news, but much also depends on how one adapts that positioning in response to feedback. So you need to continually engage the marketplace in a dialog. Some things to remember:

Be relevant…

Ultimately, positioning, like branding, is created in the mind of your prospect. So you need to communicate in terms your prospect understands, and with a value proposition that is relevant to your customer’s needs. Often saying less about a product, but choosing your words carefully, may make a better impression. Stop talking long enough to get feedback.

Be uniquely advantageous…

Your information needs to compete with the other information and must stand out against the noise. It’s a fact that “me too” messages don’t attract attention. Good marketers redefine the playing field so that their product or service can stand out as a leading choice by their target audience. Avoid the siren call of prospects who say that your product or service is great for someone else.

Keep it up…

Messaging needs to be communicated consistently. Just about the time you may get tired of your story, your prospect may be just starting to “get it.” Related to this is the need to stay active in your proven channels of communication. If your social media campaign is generating interest, then keep adding fuel to the fire. If you find that editors are interested in your technology or examples of your customers’ use of your technology, then keep providing them. Momentum builds momentum. Your salespeople will have more success in the trenches if their marketing organization is continually providing content “air cover.” A corollary to this is the fact that if you don’t control your message, someone else will.

Everyone is impatient for results, particularly corporate execs who must bankroll marketing campaigns. But it’s important for all to understand that you can’t get a sale until your prospect is ready to buy, and until your prospect is prepared to buy what you have to offer over someone else’s. These things take time…