Marketing Matters: Why?

Imagine waving at a friend in the dark. You know what you're doing, but nobody else does. Good marketing and advertising can have a strong impact on a business' economic vitality. Bad marketing -- or none at all -- can reduce a business' pulse rate to the point of extinction.

Yet most business owners have a knee-jerk response to marketing. Simply put, they hate it. Or more precisely, they hate spending money on something seemingly intangible, and they view it akin to paying taxes and dying. Maybe they'll have to some day, but they'll try not to for as long as humanly possible.

The result of such negative thinking and lack of planning is costly. Many businesses, especially small businesses, tend to launch into marketing activity only when they notice their competitor standing brightly in the media limelight -- and they're left in the dark. Suddenly they begin madly peeling dollars and scattering them to the wind in a strictly reactive mode. Then they wonder why their marketing doesn't work!

The bottom-line goal, of course, is to understand and develop marketing programs that help your business maintain a strong body of satisfied customers while continually increasing this body with new customers. Each month this new column, Marketing Matters will attempt to bring you valuable information, insights and techniques for honing your direction and objectives, and developing your strategies and plans to build a more successful business.

Clearly it is a challenging time to be in business. As Michael Etzel, professor of marketing at the University of Notre Dame and chairman of the board of the American Marketing Association, astutely notes: "...Global competition, new communication technology, increasing accountability and changing customer expectations contribute to an environment that requires new solutions and flexibility." Techniques that used to work -- especially within the Southwest Florida marketplace -- are no longer effective. Managers are being directed to focus their efforts on identifying, satisfying and following up on the customer's needs -- all at a profit. Today's buzzwords revolve around quality and service. Assumptions of loyalty, reward for performance and longevity that once formed the fabric of business are being re-evaluated, redefined. The rules are changing.

For instance, the winners of the recent NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) National Sales & Marketing Awards show a dramatic change in how builders sell to their customers. Fluff is out. Information is in. Builders are now boldly telling consumers about tangible benefits such as how the lake and golf course amenities will enhance their lives. The trend has shifted away from mass marketing toward niche marketing and relationship marketing; zeroing in on select prospects and then taking the hottest leads and developing an ongoing relationship with only those people.

One NAHB award winner went all out to get the attention of prospects in the market for $2 million houses. The builder's marketing vice president first mailed a personalized letter and raffia-tied brochure to 20,000 prospects selected by age, income, ZIP code and personal interests. Each mailer included a response card asking prospects about themselves. Out of 3,000 respondents, only 250 were selected based on certain qualifying criteria to receive the next mailer consisting of a charming gift: kona coffee and mugs imprinted with a romantic painting. This kind of communication builds an ongoing relationship with key prospects and is extremely targeted. The campaign generated over 16,000 inquiries and resulted in steady sales.

A few basic steps for any business to follow in developing a marketing approach is to first determine the needs of the potential customers. Small businesses actually have a distinct advantage over larger companies in doing marketing research. Small business owners tend to be tuned in to their customers needs, their likes and dislikes, and therefore do not need to spend money on professional researchers to tell them.

The next step is to develop lists of competitive advantages or market strategy and then select specific target markets to serve. The final step is to determine how to satisfy those needs through a marketing mix combining various advertising vehicles, which may include television, radio, print, special promotions, direct mail, etc.

After the implementation of any marketing program, it is essential to evaluate its performance by addressing questions about increased sales volume, whether or not the combinations of target markets and strategy worked effectively and weeding out the ones that didn't.

Just as the marketplace keeps evolving and changing, so will this column to be reflective of the interests and needs of you, the reader. I encourage you to write to me with your questions and your own experiences, successes or failures. I welcome your input. You can reach me c/o Marketing Matters, Southwest Florida Business, 9200 Bonita Beach Road, #101, Bonita Springs, Florida, 34135 or on-line at PSealfon@aol.com.