Kritik und Lob » on to another candidate for attention - D

Planning for Interim Success ? Part One Marketing Articles | July 4 Cheap Sheldon Rankins Jersey , 2008
This is the?first part of a review of some of the most common requests made to an interim marketer. This section includes a look at direct marketing, cost reduction and web marketing,?drawing on?the author's experience to provide a fewquick-fix improvements.


I was recently asked to compile a list of the ten most frequent requests from clients seeking help with their marketing. This started me thinking about how these customers approach the project and realised there was a common thread ? I often begin with a brief that is more ?back of an envelope? than ?strategic plan??.


Let?s face it, this lack of clarity is not a new phenomenon. When department store owner, John Wanamaker Cheap Alex Anzalone Jersey , reputedly complained that "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half ", his marketing team must have cast a weary eye over the jobs pages. We will probably never know what was in Mr Wanamakers?s original sales brief that caused his staff to feature in such a scathing (and public) commentary. I am sure, though, he and his senior execs must bear some responsibility.


So back to some of the typical themes that I have come across in recent times. Number one will come as no surprise ? whatever the description, it comes down to Increase Sales. ?A reasonable request you may think Cheap Marcus Williams Jersey , but to a marketer it?s not a great start when formulating a successful plan! And yes, we do get such a, shall we say, basic request.


Assuming that you want your marketer to earn their keep from day one, consider doing some of the preparatory work before they get there. Even the most basic analysis will kick start their efforts Cheap Ryan Ramczyk Jersey , whether it?s providing data on who is buying the client?s products, with what frequency or just identifying a pattern as obvious as ?customers who buy product A tend to buy product B six months later?. This will lead onto better use of facilities that feature in the following topics.


Next on my list is the first request that has a more focused approach ? Customer Data Management. Some clients question their knowledge of their clients, whether using a full-blown CRM system or a more basic PC package - ?we?ve paid a fortune to capture information and yet we don?t see any benefit from it. How can we convert raw data, possibly going back years, into something more manageable that can help drive sales??


The truth is many companies can?t answer even basic questions on customer profiling so how can we expect a marketer to intelligently target specific sectors? Remember that several years data is just that ? raw numbers ? and will need massaging into something approaching information before it can pay its way.


Of course Cheap Marshon Lattimore Jersey , this needs to be done in conjunction with the guys at the coalface. In other words, a quick bit of research into what the sales guys really want and will genuinely use is essential ? in my experience, you could provide everything on their wish list only to find that most of the features either don?t get used or deliver minimal improvement to the sales graph.?


As if generating sales wasn?t demanding enough, the next theme is considerably less popular all round - Reduce Marketing Costs. Often seen by staff as just a plan to cut projects (or personnel), in reality it means assessing its contribution to the sales bottom line. The challenge for the marketer is to avoid recommending a cut that can have serious repercussions elsewhere Cheap Cameron Jordan Jersey , such as reducing market research only to find that advertising becomes less focused, resulting in a down turn in the quality of sales leads.


Of course, it helps to have a detailed knowledge of how we got into the current situation. It?s sometimes the case that one or two obvious areas of inefficiency can be quickly classed under the category of ?we?ve always done it that way?, blanket mailshots being a typical example. Here an interim or contract marketer can provide a fresh perspective, having none of the historical ?baggage? hindering their opinions.


This leads on to another candidate for attention - Direct Marketing. I?ve sometimes begun a project to find a ?one-size-fits-all? attitude to DM. Whatever the mechanism Cheap Michael Thomas Jersey , hardcopy or electronic, this is a chance to use whatever market intelligence has been gained, allowing the customer analysis discussed above to come into its own. None of us like to receive a bland mailshot that suggests we, as individuals, aren?t really that important Cheap Alvin Kamara Jersey , so why treat our customers and prospects the same way?