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Posts Tagged ‘PR and Marketing’

Marketing Plans | When They Work, and When They Don’t

May 19th, 2010
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Marketing, like public relations, sales, advertising, etc., is a tricky area to master. As such, it’s hard to define a “formula” to use for each new marketing campaign or plan. To help you to create your own method of creating an effective marketing campaign, here are some tips:

  1. Don’t use the same plan you used last time. Your company, the environment/industry in which you operate, and your customers have all changed. People are consistently changing their tastes and worldviews, and you need to keep up. This means that for every new venture or marketing goal you set out to reach, you must create a new marketing plan. Even if all things were the same internally and in the industry, you would have to cater to your customers in a different manner when it comes to different aspects of your product or services. Know that what worked last time may not work this time.

  2. Avoid implementing without first knowing your objectives. Tactics are nothing without accompanying strategies. Your strategies must stem from your company objectives, and before you can implement tactics, you have to know the destination. While you cannot predict what the road will look like on the way there, you can map out where you are now, the desired goals you have, and the vehicle (pun intended) that will take you from Point A to Point B.

  3. Delegate responsibilities. This helps to keep everyone on the same page and also helps to make everyone accountable for the success or failure of the planning and the actual implementation of the plan itself. This can also help to encourage people to work together, enhance their strengths (or weaknesses, depending on what area they work on), and to create a collective ownership of the plan.

  4. Research, research, research. This step can help you to craft your objectives and goals and can also you to define the vehicles and methods that will be helpful to you in this marketing plan. Additionally, at the end of the marketing plan’s life, you can research where you went wrong and what went well so as to create an even better plan the next time around. Really evaluate the results of the plan to get an idea of what happened and where.

  5. Integrate other aspects of business. Marketing and PR are closely related, and with the help of the Internet, the defining line between the two is become more blurred as the months go on. That means your marketing team will need to work with the PR team to ensure things aren’t being done in an overlapping manner. For example, PR and marketing should both be using social media, and if one team hopes to use the same social media tool for a different reason than the other, there could be some disastrous results.

Just remember that marketing and PR plans need preparation and, well, planning. It’s a team effort that requires participation from everyone since there are different skill sets even within a small team.

Author: Ashley Categories: Marketing Tags: , , , , ,

Public Relations and Marketing | Your Online Presence

May 7th, 2010
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Marketing and PR have merged, thanks to the wonders of the Internet. As such, businesses should have some sort of presence online, whether it be a website, blog, or network ID to comment on other blogs or forums. Instead of letting others dictate what your name means online, get involved. It is a great way to reach the people that are looking for your services and products, as more and more people are online. As these online, savvy consumers search for answers, reviews, and tips to convince them to make a move, your company can answer that call. David Meerman Scott, author of “The New Rules of Marketing and PR” writes, “Content drives action”.
My father is a small business owner who is often troubled by months with little business. He is a contractor who more often than not works outside, and as such, he is inundated with business in Summer, and sits idly in the cold Fall, Winter and early Spring. I’ve suggested to him that a website or blog would help with his attempts at filling empty months. Despite there being a great deal of seasonality in the industry he works, extending his reach may guarantee work in the slow months.
What a website could do for him is immeasurable. He realizes that he will not be able to do the work he does for the rest of his life. It’s tough, manual labor, and he really ought to consider expanding. He first needs the demand, which is where the Internet comes in. But simply having an online presence won’t guarantee that you reach more customers.
Scott wrote about an experience he had when looking for a new car, a similar process I am now going through. He was put off by the big car companies and their lack of person-ability on their sites. I asked myself, “Why would a company with such a large, real-world presence, not want to offer the things that customers seek out most, like reviews, pictures, forums, and other ways to really learn about the products they sell?”
Why do we assume that big companies need boring and often times stale websites? It seems to be protocol to have a clean, professional website that is devoid of any actual content from customers. It is an advertising portal for companies who are trying to get our attention. Like Scott stated, if we are already at your site, you have already captured our attention. There is no need to inundate visitors with advertisements, TV commercials, or pitches. Offer some networking capabilities, some real, live, personal touches, and your website will no longer be an advertising portal, but a useful tool for potential and current customers to network, talk about your products, and probably sell more of your product than your advertising may have ever done.
The Internet has greatly changed the way Marketing and PR are done. Being personable, real, and a resource to consumers will help your online (and offline) journey as a business.
Author: Ashley Categories: Public Relations Tags: , ,

Public Relations Basics | The Importance of Niche Markets

April 30th, 2010
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As I’ve mentioned many times on this blog, the Internet has created an amazing amount of potential for PR practitioners and marketers. There are many benefits (and a few drawbacks) that the Internet has provided, but the main change that has come about is the ability to reach niche markets. These niche markets were often ignored markets that dealt with what the mass majority was being marketed to with, and at times found their particular needs met by a small brick-and-mortar company who took the time and accepted the risks that came with catering to a niche market. Because of the risk involved in targeting niche markets, these markets were often forgotten and never catered to. Now, these markets can get the attention they’ve long been lacking.

Niche markets can be a great potential market for your company to enter. They attract customers from the mass market they belonged to before their needs were unmet; they also help the larger market to grow. The more customers’ whose needs can be filled in a niche market, the more demand there will be for those products, thus encouraging companies to continue catering to niche market needs.

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The best thing niche markets can do you is to give your company a entrance into the market. If you have a new product you would like to introduce into the market, start by focusing on a niche market where you can provide the best support you can. This will create a customer base who can give testimonials and recommendations. After catering to the niche market, you can move on to other parts of the larger market (or other small niches) and do the same thing. You can also group your product with other services or products from other companies to make it more applicable to the larger market. From there, outperform the competition; take over their niche market share; and offer something better.

This process can lead to market domination. If your end goal is not to dominate a market, then stay in your niche. With reduced costs, the Internet provides the ability to reach more and more people with less resources and in less time than traditional marketing or PR. Niches can be reached because they can be sought out; they can also find you. The Internet makes it possible for customers to come to you who offers exactly what they’re looking for. Niche markets can be infiltrated more easily than in the past, making your entrance to the larger market easier and faster. So take advantage of the reduced costs; take on that small risk to cater to a niche that you may have particular interest or expertise in and see where that can lead you.

What other reasons prove the importance of niche markets?

Author: Ashley Categories: Public Relations Tags: , , , ,