EDWARD S. SUCHERMAN & ASSOCIATES LTD.

Don’t start with tactics before you have done a marketing plan – chances are, you will waste a lot of money and effort and be sorely disappointed in your results.

In a marketing plan, research determines the strategy, strategy determines the tactics, and tactics do the job. The tactics can change with the situation, but the strategy does not. That is because it is based on the research and the research is based on people. And human nature does not change.

Human nature also leads the heads of companies to believe they already know their customers. This is how most small to medium companies go wrong. The executives of these companies feel they know what their customers want. The only true way is to ask your customers, and let them tell you.

If you cannot afford surveys and/or focus groups (primary research), try applying printed data to your situation (secondary research). The Internet is loaded with information. For instance, what if you are selling multi-million dollar custom homes to very wealthy people who live along Chicago’s north shore (from Evanston to Lake Bluff). You could ask your Chicago Tribune representative to tell you about the average person who tends to purchase these homes in these zip codes – age, income, household income, how many people in the household, ages of the children, double family incomes, professions, education, etc. The Tribune and www.chicagotribune.com also knows the types of cars they drive, sports they play, clothes they wear, etc.

This gives you a customer profile. Using this profile, you can purchase mailing lists and some e-mail lists by zip code. You can create advertising targeted at this profile. You can also interpret how this profiled customer interacts with your products, how much he or she can buy, how often, how easily, and – this is key – what would motivate the customer to buy.

The research is best done by an outside, objective firm. With this information, you and your marketing firm can begin your situation analysis and your SWOT analysis.

The situation analysis includes environment, the economy, your company, your products, your competition, your price point, and your market. Write them all out. You should begin to see a pattern – the single thread that runs through all the fabrics of your company.

The SWOT analysis includes your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Again, write them all out. When you are finished, stop. Dream about all you have learned. Wait a few days. Let your subconscious work on it.

Then begin developing your marketing strategies, namely, your image, identity, brand, position, differentiation, and overall strategy. We’ll discuss them all in our next blog.

Ed Sucherman

The Marketing Machine

www.edsucherman.com

Tags: Marketing Strategy //