Identify and Assemble Your Tools

The only way you'll ever get media to work for you is if you do your homework, make the right decisions, and apply everything you learn. You'll want to spend time studying and absorbing the next chapter, and you'll want to read everything else you can find on media strategy. Once you've boiled down the media that hits the basic demographics and psychographic characteristics of your market, it's time to take action.

Order media kits from all the media you believe may reach your target market. That includes checking into technology that may be used as part of your strategy. For instance, if you're thinking about the Internet, or broadcast fax, research those as well. Get information on  every aspect of that media as you can. For instance, if you determine that newspapers may be a good method for you to use, then also check into copywriters, designers, and/or advertising agencies who can help you develop effective ads.

The same thing goes for technological media. As we said before, not every media is appropriate for every market. For instance, if you are targeting a consumer market, then media like fax is automatically eliminated. Sure, a few households have fax machines, but at this time it's not enough to make it worth your while. So do thorough research on each media. Then, assemble all the possibilities (and eliminate all of the non-qualifying media). Match the demographic data about your market with the media.

Your first pass at determining which media truly reaches your target market basically locates your press list. In other words, basic demographic data is the only criteria you need to determine if that media will be included on your press list. Because you're not paying for ad space, you can keep this list a little more broad than if you were paying for advertising. The editor of the publication will determine whether your message is truly meant for his/her audience.

Once you've identified those qualified media, build your database.

Then, look more closely at other characteristics of the media's audience. Match up as many characteristics of the media with the detailed demographics and psychographics of your target market. Which media truly reaches your market best? Only after this process will you be able to make educated decisions on which media is feasible and may prove to be cost-effective for the purpose of advertising.

That may mean checking on whether they'll barter, work with you on a per sale basis, or other means that would allow you to utilize that source.

Remember, if you are considering direct mail as a media option, you should be researching mailing lists at this time as well.

This is also a good time to review what ads or direct mail pieces you have used in the past and what results each has generated. If you haven't tracked results by way of increased phone calls, traffic, or sales, then devise a method by which you will track these areas now and on subsequent marketing communications programs. You'll find help in this area with worksheets 33 and 34.

Put Tracking & Evaluation Systems in Place

Generating leads is only as good as your ability to manage the additional sales inquiries and turn them into new business. That means building the infrastructure of your business, or preparing for success. Most inexperienced marketers find it hard to believe when I say I can get them as many leads as they want. Getting leads is easy! Where most organizations fail, is in handling those leads correctly.

A computer isn't a luxury anymore, it's a necessity, and it's one of the best investments you'll ever make.

Now is the time to prepare yourself and your staff by purchasing a contact management software program, learning it, teaching it to your staff, and training them to be sure they use it.

The principals of marketing apply to virtually every product and service. And how those principals perform when applied specifically to your product in your market, is invaluable information. This market feedback, tempered with your knowledge of trends, competition, and historical financial data, help you determine the strategic direction that has the highest probability of success for your organization’s marketing program.

Your contact management system is your key. Only when you capture and analyze feedback from your market can you optimize your sales and marketing performance.

And you can systematize your data-gathering process, and manage it easily through an automated database management system.

This contact management system will help you:

• Improve sales productivity

• Increase sales activity

• Broaden your customer base

• Boost marketing communications productivity

• Identify market trends

• Imagine new applications

• Locate and develop new markets

• Enhance the accuracy of your sales forecasts, and

• Lead, instead of reacting, to the market.

By using a contact manager, source coding all contacts (ie. did you meet them networking, via PR, etc.?) and keeping critical pieces of data, you make it possible to:

• Automate inquiry management and follow-up

• Accurately forecast sales and cash flow

• Personalize follow-up materials

• Track and test different approaches

• Monitor media performance

• Measure ad message effectiveness

• Track salespeople’s performance

• Evaluate your product’s appeal

• Quantify inquiries per ad insertion & per ad

• Count the inquiries from each source

• Determine the percentage of qualified leads by source

• Calculate the percentage of qualified leads by product line, and

• Assess your cost per inquiry and sale.

You may want to compare the capabilities of some of these programs, such as "Gold Mine," "Act," and "Action Plus Contact Management Suite." Check them out. See which one most closely matches your needs. This isn’t a decision you’ll be wanting to make again for a long, long time, so choose carefully.

Because follow-up is at the very root of marketing efficiency (or inefficiency), do the planning necessary beforehand, to make your system work well for your organization.

In other words, think through your normal sales cycle, determine the appropriate action taken at each step, and have all of the sales tools necessary to get through each step. Research the following questions, and build your system around the information you gather to increase the effectiveness of your inquiry management process. Most contact management software already has built-in fields for capturing much of the data needed. You can customize the remaining fields of an off-the-shelf program to capture the additional data you require.

Invest the time now, so you can truly shorten the sales cycles and close more sales for your organization in the future. Here’s what you need to know to do so:

• The length of your sales cycle.

• Who performs follow-up actions? Someone from your office? Someone in a partnering organization?

• How many follow-ups come from your office before the inquiry is turned over to people in the field?

• What are the common buying objections? Does the sales staff have adequate tools to overcome them?

• Are follow-up materials and letters professional, accurate, and honest?

Be sure you ask any other questions about your sales process or management, which may be unique to your particular situation.

Once you have completed your assessment, build your prospect management program to optimize your sales performance potential. We'll talk more about that in Phase 3.

After you’ve determined your strategy, written follow-up letters, and assembled any necessary accompanying materials, appoint someone—perhaps a marketing support secretary— to process inquiries, respond to requests for information, update the database, and pass on leads to the appropriate salesperson or manager, all within 48 hours of the initial inquiry.

Take Inventory

If you're going to generate leads and sales, you'll have to have some promotional materials with which to do so. Now's the time to pull out everything you ever did, ads, brochures, public relations pieces, etc. What results did you get when you used these materials originally? Oh, you don't know? That just makes my point about testing, tracking, and evaluating results on every thing you do. So next time, you'll know whether you made or lost money on a particular approach to the market.

Before you start this process, it may be helpful for you to have a couple of things on hand: a three ring binder with plastic sheets, post it notes, and a dozen or so stack trays.

Dig out all your ads or other materials.

Place at least one copy in your three ring binder chronologically. Use your post it notes to record the results of each piece you have.

When you find materials that have been effective and still have a life, determine the quantity you have and organize them in a stack tray.

Do you have articles that were written about you? If so, clean them up (remove smudges from originals and make copies to use later.)

Identify mailing lists you have.

Start with your customer list. It is by far the most valuable list you'll ever have. Is it on a computerized database? If not, arrange for it to be entered into one.

Check for other promotional media like TV ads, radio ads, promotional tapes, slide shows, etc.

Once you have identified all the potential media and lists you have in-house, make a complete list of what you've got that is still usable.

Now, make a list of what you've identified at this point that you need to fulfill your marketing strategy as it is in this early phase. You'll be adding to this list as your strategies and plans continue to evolve.

What postal permits...

...do you have that are still valid? You may include some direct mail in your marketing program, and it's always a good idea to include a business reply card.

If you are like most people, you probably have a lot to develop.

Developing marketing materials is easy. Developing effective marketing materials requires you to really focus on some very important areas of communication: directing your message toward your audience's self interest, and using the appropriate media at the right time.

Poorly conceived marketing communications cost most businesses money in several ways. First, you have the development costs of the materials you're using. Second, you have the lost revenues of a promotion that failed to generate sales. Third, you have the cost of the media itself.

All this adds up fast. And, in spite of my best efforts to educate business people in this area, most find it difficult to learn how to write effective marketing communications materials. Take heed. There are rules you can apply. But if you are like most people, it will take considerable practice to learn to apply the rules well in every instance.

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