Rules of Marketing

Rules of Marketing: Old Vs. New

(The following article also addresses public relations -- the opinions in the article apply to both marketing and public relations. Note that many people would assert that public relations is a form of outbound marketing.)
Copyright Lisa Chapman

What is Marketing? What is PR?

You’ve likely heard it before – in the digital world, “The lines have blurred between Marketing and PR.”
What does that mean? How have the lines blurred? In order to answer these questions, let’s take a look at the OLD versus the NEW rules of Marketing, as proposed by David Meerman Scott in his bestselling book, The New Rules of Marketing and PR.

The OLD Rules of Marketing

The message was delivered ONE-WAY, and CREATIVITY was the secret sauce that commanded the audience’s attention. Among the fundamental concepts of the OLD marketing paradigm:

• Advertising was the core tool
• The advertising message was generally crafted to appeal to the masses
• Advertising INTERRUPTED the audience with a one-way message
• Advertising engaged campaigns for a defined time period
• Creators focused on creativity – and award-winning campaigns
• Advertising and PR were different specialties, run by different people

The OLD Rules of PR

The ultimate goal: Spin a press release to capture reporters’ attention, then get a clip of the story, to show that the message was viewed by the audience.

• Media comprised the toolbox, in order to get the message out
• A press release was the core tool
• Only significant news commanded the attention of the media
• It was all in “the spin” (or HYPE!)
• Quotes from third parties were an important element of a press release
• Press releases were meaningless unless a reporter decided that it was worthy of a story

The NEW Rules of Marketing and PR

Since the internet is now one huge publisher, ANYONE can learn how to create compelling messages and publish them. Getting found online is the science and art. A few of the new rules include:

• People don’t want “spin” – they want authenticity
• People don’t want to be interrupted anymore (it’s now called SPAM)
• People don’t want to be ‘told’ (push marketing), they want to be heard
• People want VALUE (content), which develops relationship and trust
• Marketing and PR can reach niche audiences online in a wider variety of ways
• Content is KING, and stays online, with no end to the campaign

The New TOOLS of Marketing and PR

It’s no longer TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, direct mail, etc. Meaningful, valuable CONTENT is the vehicle that captures audiences’ attention. It is now found on:

• Websites
• Blogs
• Microblogs (Tweets)
• Social Media platforms (Facebook.com, Myspace.com, etc)
• Article Directories
• Videos
• Podcasts
• Etc, etc etc!
  

Makin’ the Marketing Strategy Happen!

Copyright Tove Rasmussen
Implementing a marketing strategy is a multi-faceted activity. A good marketing strategy is driven by a clear, simple positioning statement. This makes it clear to your employees and market, where the company is superior to the competition. The marketing strategy encompasses the product or service offering, pricing, promotion and distribution – or delivery of the product or service to your customers.
So, the marketing strategy is all-encompassing. It drives product features, time from order to delivery, logistics, research and development, customer services — in short, it drives what is key for all facets of the business.
Consequently, implementing a marketing strategy involves so much more than marketing. It involves the whole company.
How you implement the marketing strategy depends who you are in the organization. Are you the president or the marketing director? If the organization has developed a marketing strategy, both need to be aligned with the strategy, on-board and enthusiastic.
The implementation of the marketing strategy can begin with the development of the marketing strategy. The organization can be involved or informed of the status of the development of the strategy. The input of operations, regulatory and sales can be part of the information that is used to develop the strategy.
Or the strategy can be developed by the management team, and rolled out to the company once it is completed. The extent to which each approach works, depends a lot on the issues involved with the strategy development, the culture of the company, and the buy-in to the plan by the company as a whole.
If, for example, operations was asked for an opinion, it is very important to close the loop, and let operations know what happened to the input. How it was used in developing the plan and, if possible, how the input affected the final strategy that was developed.
If the plan is being rolled out with no input, then it is critical for the department heads to consider the expected response from their teams, and to ensure the potential issues will be addressed. If unexpected issues are raised, it is critical to research these issues and respond to them. However, the key is to effectively demonstrate how the plan is in the interest of each department, in particular, the growth of the company. Information that provides confidence in this result is essential to provide, and an inclusive, enthusiastic, confident tenor of the meeting is important.
However, it is much more than one roll out meeting, or several roll out meetings. Implementation includes the informal discussions in the hall, during chance encounters, in regular meetings. People will absorb the information, and come up with excellent questions that need to be taken into account.
There is, of course, the formal implementation of the strategy as well. It will translate into objectives for performance evaluations, possibly organization shifts and changes.
As the company moves through the changes, focus on gaining some small wins first. This increases confidence in the new strategy and increases momentum. Keep it forefront in the company, stay positive and flexible.

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Basics -- and Misunderstandings -- About Marketing

Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD

What is Marketing?

Before you learn more about marketing in the many links later on below topic, you should first understand what marketing is, because the topic is so often misunderstood. Marketing is the wide range of activities involved in making sure that you're continuing to meet the needs of your customers and are getting appropriate value in return.

How Marketing is So Misunderstood

Far too often, organizations try to develop a product to meet customers’ needs without ever really verifying what the customers wanted in the first place. Instead, those organizations make a strenuous effort to “sell” the product through rigorous, ongoing advertising, promotions and publicity -- through "outbound" marketing. These organizations may have built a beautiful ladder – but it may be entirely on the wrong roof! Far too often, that lesson comes from painful experience.
Experienced organizations have learned that it is not their opinion that matters most regarding whether their product is needed or not. The opinion that matters most is that of the customers. These organizations have learned that they might not know what they don't know about their customers. That precious knowledge about the customers comes from "inbound" marketing -- through market research to clarify customers' needs and what they are willing to do to get those needs met. If the inbound marketing is done well, the outbound marketing is particularly easy -- and effective.

Inbound Marketing Includes Market Research to Find Out:

1. What specific groups of potential customers/clients (markets) might have which specific needs (nonprofits often already have a very clear community need in mind when starting out with a new program -- however, the emerging practice of nonprofit business development, or earned income development, often starts by researching a broad group of clients to identify new opportunities for programs)
2. How those needs might be met for each group (or target market), which suggests how a product might be designed to meet the need (nonprofits might think in terms of outcomes, or changes, to accomplish among the groups of clients in order to meet the needs)
3. How each of the target markets might choose to access the product, etc. (its "packaging")
4. How much the customers/clients might be willing pay and how (pricing analysis)
5. Who the competitors are (competitor analysis)
6. How to design and describe the product such that customers/clients will buy from the organization, rather than from its competitors (its unique value proposition)
7. How the product should be identified -- its personality -- to be most identifiable (its naming and branding)

Outbound Marketing Includes:

1. Advertising and promotions (focused on the product)
2. Sales
3. Public and media relations (focused on the entire organization)
4. Customer service
5. Customer satisfaction

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Membuat Event Marketing Yang Baik

Dengan begitu massalnya komunikasi yang dilakukan melalui berbagai media massa, para masyarakat sebagai customer dari sebuah produk semakin merasa jenuh dan keterbatasan memorinya semakin membuat sulit mengingat keragaman produk, brand berikut dengan masing-masing pembedanya. Dalam strategi pemasaran sekarang EM dan MPR menjadi menjamur untuk mengantisipasi kejenuhan tersebut. EM yang kita ketahui sebagai Event marketing dan MPR sebagai Marketing Public Relations menjadi ujung tombak dalam berkomunikasi secara langsung dengan customer, karena hubungan yang terjadi adalah interaktif dan mendapatkan feedback langsung dari para customer, baik itu hal yang positif maupun negatif. Cara pengukurannya pun lebih mudah karena langsung terlihat respon yang dihasilkan dari para customer.

Event Marketing yang kian menjamur tidak dilakukan dengan sembarangan karena memakan biaya dan tenaga yang cukup besar, sehingga dalam proses perencanaannya sebisa mungkin matang dan tepat sasaran. Karena result dari sebuah EM akan sangat menentukan kredibilitas brand, hasil yang baik akan dengan cepat mengangkat popularitas brand dan hasil yang buruk akan membuat brand langsung terjun bebas di depan mata para customer.

Berikut di bawah ini beberapa pertimbangan yang perlu dipikirkan dalam perencanaan sebuah EM untuk mendapatkan hasil dan feedback yang maksimal.

1. The publicitySebuah event harus mengandung nilai berita/publisitas. Hal ini tidak lain untuk menarik word of mouth dan liputan/penjualan berita yang lebih mudah ke berbagai media. Nilai publisitas ini akan semakin lama menurun pada sebuah konsep event yang diulang, dalam artian kalau dulu sebuah event yang masuk MURI dianggap wahh.. skarang hanya akan mendatangkan ohh… karena semakin lama semakin banyak event yang masuk ke MURI, atau kalau dulu sebuah event dengan hadiah BMW sangat digandrungi orang, sekarang menjadi biasa saja karena banyak event yang melakukan hal tersebut. Nilai publisitas dapat diangkat dari ide konsep yang fresh dan mengundang rasa ingin tahu serta yang terpenting adalah ketertarikan para target pasarnya.

2. Audiensnya adalah the target market
Kembali lagi pada tujuan diadakannya EM adalah pada akhirnya menjual produk atau mengangkat brand di mata konsumennya, maka para audies yang turut serta dalam event tersebut mutlak harus para target marketnya. Audiens ini bisa berkembang, antara lain mengarah pula kepada para pemberi masukan dalam membeli produk kepada para target pasar, atau orang-orang yang dekat dengan target pasar. Seperti contohnya mobil Kijang mengadakan event yang melibatkan seluruh anggota keluarga, sebenarnya target pasar utamanya adalah para ayah, tetapi ibu dan anak-anak adalah para pemberi masukan dalam membuat keputusan membeli mobil.

3. Deep connection between product and eventAdanya hubungan antara produk dan event sangat penting untuk mengangkat positioning dari brand itu sendiri, yang paling simple misalnya Rinso mengadakan lomba bagi para anak-anak untuk bermain di tanah, lumpur, dll. Hal ini tidak lain untuk mengangkat positioning Rinso yang menjamin bahwa para ibu tidak perlu khawatir, karena bajunya akan bersih dicuci kembali dengan Rinso. Event yang tidak mengangkat aktivitas yang berhubungan dengan produk akan menjadi wasting dan tujuan akhirnya akan sulit dicapai.

4. Use the promotion dan yang terakhir tapi sama pentingnya dengan keseluruhan proses konsep sebelumnya adalah komunikasi yang tepat sasaran dari event tersebut. Jangan sampai konsep event yang sudah sebegitu baiknya, tidak sampai di telinga para audiensnya. EM tidak akan menjadi sukses seperti yang telah direncanakan.

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Training Tips For Direct Sales Business

Entering thе direct sales party business аѕ a consultant іѕ a fаntаѕtіс way tο earn extra money, spend time wіth girlfriends, аnd hаνе fun. Hοw dіd уου enter thе home party рlοt business? Perhaps уου wеrе a guest аt a home party аnd fell іn lіkе wіth thе product аnd сhοѕе thаt уου mау possibly sell thе product. Perhaps thе consultant wаѕ inspiring аѕ ѕhе talked аbουt hеr home party рlοt success. In аnу case, уου аrе now οn уουr way tο working аѕ аn independent contractor аnd being іn business fοr yourself.
Being a direct sales party business representative саn earn уου extra money, bυt уου wіll hаνе tο work fοr thе money. Although thе product уου аrе selling іѕ a fаntаѕtіс product , whether іt іѕ candles, mаkе-up, purses, οr οthеr items, уου need party рlοt training tο succeed аnd tο receive home party bookings.
Direct Sales Party Business Success Tips
Whether thіѕ іѕ уουr first party аѕ аn independent representative οr уουr 100th party, еνеrу rep аnd consultant саn υѕе a few home party рlοt tips tο freshen up hеr οr hіѕ presentation. Success depends οn continued training!
1. If уου аrе рlοttіng уουr first party аnd аrе experiencing a case οf thе nerves, thеn уου mау want tο ѕtаrt small. Gеt уουr closest friend tο host thе first party. Hаνе hеr invite people уου аrе comfortable wіth аnd уου wіll find thаt speaking іѕ nοt ѕο tiresome.
2. Set a goal fοr each οf уουr friends tο host a party fοr уου аnd qυеѕtіοn thаt thе ones thаt dο invite аt lеаѕt three tο four people уου dο nοt know. Of thеѕе three tο four people, try ѕοmе party рlοt motivation tο gеt thеm tο host a party fοr уου. Each time уου wіll bе meeting nеw people, thus expanding уουr network.
3. If thе business уου аrе consulting fοr offers home party training webinars οr a party рlοt colloquium, bе sure thаt уου attend. Othеr consultants іn уουr business саn give уου invaluable hints аnd tips thаt wіll hеlр уου tο meet уουr goals.
4. Read уουr consultant handbooks. Thеѕе handbooks wеrе written bу thе best οf thе business аnd contain valuable home party рlοt info. Thе owners οf thеѕе companies want уου tο succeed, bесаυѕе іf уου аrе mаkіng money, thеn thеу аrе mаkіng money.
5. Know уουr product . Home party рlοt consultants ѕhουld lіkе аnd know thеіr harvest. If уου аrе аn expert οn уουr product аnd enthusiastic аbουt іt, thеn уουr lіkе аnd passion wіll shine through аt parties, mаkіng others want tο bυу frοm уου.
It іѕ аlѕο vital tο ensure thаt уουr presentations аrе fun. Consult wіth уουr hostess аnd mаkе sure ѕhе hаѕ plenty οf seating fοr everyone invited tο one οf уουr parties. Play a fun game аt thе commencement tο brеаk thе ice аnd tο hаνе everyone relax. Bе sure аnd point out аll thе free gifts аnd perks thаt уουr hostess іѕ receiving. Thіѕ ѕhουld encourage others tο book a party wіth уου. Having samples fοr уουr guests tο see іѕ аlѕο vital. Mοѕt importantly, hаνе fun аnd lеt уουr personality sell уουr harvest fοr уου.

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7 Sales Techniques to Differentiate You From the Competition

You have a choice. You can stand out or blend in with your competitive landscape. Differentiation doesn't come naturally, blending in does. We all want to fit in with the crowd, we want to be like everybody else, and we've been that way since we were kids. As a professional sales representative you should focus on what makes you different because the similarities will take care of themselves.
When selling there are three principle things you can differentiate: You, your products, and your company. My observation is that most sales representatives do an adequate job of differentiating their products and their company. They neglect, however, to develop a personal brand. Before a customer considers buying your products, they must buy you.
Here are seven ways to separate you from the competition:
1. Your appearance matters. Look the part because your appearance influences your image. You are walking billboard and how you look is what your prospects see first. Belts and shoes should be the same color. Shoes and shoe heels should be shined - every day. When it comes to your wardrobe buy less and spend more.
2. Prepare an effective e-mail signature. Your e-mail signature of course should include your name, a keyword a short phrase - describing your expertise, a telephone number, and your web site. Also periodically include a P.S. and a P.P.S. to emphasize new product introductions, special sales, and special events. In this way, every email provides a branding and promotional opportunity for you.
3. Getting people to return your telephone calls is challenging for everyone. Using a different approach can make all the difference in the world. Mike, a client, shared this with me and it's guaranteed to be different. If someone very important is not returning your telephone calls use this approach. Buy a coffee mug and print these words on the mug. "Let's talk business over a cup of coffee." Put a packet of Starbucks coffee into the mug and include a note with your business card and the times you'll be available to take his telephone call.
4. Here's a business card idea. Why are business cards printed one side? Use the blank side of your business to differentiate yourself. You can stamp an inspirational quote. You can stamp the 7 reasons why customers like doing business with you. Use red ink to make it stand out.
5. This is a small tip though it's an effective one. Most promotional literature is produced on standard size 81/2" X 11" paper. Since most people are overwhelmed by the amount of work on their desk - they simply create stacks of sales rep literature. Go to an Office Depot and buy brightly colored 9 X 12 paper. Affix your literature to the 9 X 12 paper and it'll standout in any stack of literature. Use the open space on the colored paper to write a note, a reminder, or even your phone number.
6. Visibility is more important than ability. Every contact counts. Develop a (one-two-three) follow-up system every time you meet and/or talk to a new prospect. Here's my recommendation - within 24 hours send an e-mail, within 72 hours send a handwritten note, within 10 days send a handwritten note with an article to your prospect. Within two weeks you have a total of four exposures with your new prospect. Now that's impressive.
7. Prepare creative organizational charts for your biggest proposals. In your business, if you do proposals especially for larger deals, consider using a very creative organizational chart. Think about the five to seven people in your organization who interact with your customers; you, your sales manager, your Vice President of sales, customer service, technical service, you get the picture. Create an organizational chart using boxes and include in each box the following: name, title, telephone number, fax number, e-mail address, and a digital photograph. This introduces your entire team with photographs to your new potential customer. It's easier for a prospect to say no to a salesperson than it is to say no to the entire team.
The real difference among salespeople is what's inside their heads - their ideas. To offer generalities when customers are begging for specificity misses the mark completely. Don't permit generalities to skewer the real differences between you and your competitors.
Being boring, bland, and benign won't cut it in today's very competitive marketplace.
If you want to make a difference you have to be different.

Discover the 12 Best Sales Questions To Ask Customers. When you ask these sales questions, you won't be selling you'll be solving your customer's problems.
You'll close more sales when you ask these 12 clever sales questions.
And your sales will take-off!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4536

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30 Tips For Creative Sales Prospecting

One of the challenges that sales people are constantly faced with is finding a steady stream of incoming potential contacts to talk with. On the Manta Q&A board, members are always asking questions about new ways to find leads, getting email addresses so that they can perform email blasts, buying the right kinds of names from list brokers, and finding the right “get prospects quick” schemes to try.
However, most of time, the problem of finding new prospects lies in our own behavior. We get stuck in a rut and fall back on comfortable behavior. We get used to doing what works, and we continue doing it until it becomes a habit.
In short, we fall prey to our own success.
In order to have a breakthrough and get different results, we need to change things up. We need to break out of our established behavior and try something new, even if it doesn’t immediately provide the results that we are looking for.
Sometimes, we need some type of idea generator to get us thinking in a new and different direction.
Below, you’ll find 30 ideas to get you started in a different direction. Use these ideas to stimulate your thinking when you are prospecting, cold calling, and looking for places to find new potential contacts for your services:

1. Call from the road—if you see a billboard or a phone number on a truck, call and ask for more information about its product or service.
2. Give a talk or presentation at a networking event, a conference, local service organization, or industry meeting. Have plenty of business cards on hand for distribution, and raffle off a prize at the end of the event to collect business cards from the audience.
3. Read the paper and look for promotions, press releases, new product announcements, awards, etc. Write congratulatory notes or send a relevant current article with a personal note.
4. Establish yourself as a local or online resource.
5. Create a business card that stands out from the rest.
6. Attend and participate in local seminars, workshops, and networking events. In today’s environment, there are quite a few online networking events that offer participants the opportunity to share information in joint chat rooms.
7. Develop interesting, unique, and enjoyable questions to stimulate conversation and qualify prospects.
8. Develop compelling cold calling scripts to introduce yourself, get an appointment, leave a voice mail, overcome objections, get through the gatekeeper, ask for a referral, etc.
9. Use creative and dramatic follow-up techniques.
10. Change your cold calling times and call during off hours.
11. Ask champion customers to take you to one of their networking events and introduce you.
12. Instead of asking for a referral and calling the referral yourself, have the customer make the introduction.
13. Have a customer set up a conference call or meeting that involves him or her and supports your product or service.
14. When getting a referral, ask your customer for details on how to make a favorable impact on the referral.
15. Check out registration lists or name badges at networking events and target those you want to meet. Ask the event coordinator to introduce you.
16. Revisit old prospects, old customers and accounts to see if needs have changed.
17. Introduce yourself to VIPs and speakers at networking events or conferences. Tell them what you know about them, give them a sincere compliment, and tie in the value of your product or service to something you heard them say.
18. Treat event sponsors and exhibitors as prospects.
19. Arrive early and stay late to networking events, seminars, workshops, etc.
20. Offer to help with a prospects next event or meeting.
21. Offer to exhibit at a trade show or sponsor an event at a prospect’s convention or conference.
22. Ask for advice on an important issue or decision.
23. Ask the prospect what his or her ideal customer, vendor, or employee is and then refer prospects, vendors, or job candidates.
24. Invite the prospect to lunch.
25. Give your prospect a referral.
26. Volunteer for a committee or board.
27. Suggest delivering a joint seminar.
28. Offer to co-author a magazine article.
29. Use seasonal and holiday promotions.
30. Offer special discounts with an expiration date.

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