This document outlines 5 steps for effective marketing before spending money: 1. Accountability - Track marketing efforts to understand what's working and determine ROI. Use tools like Google Analytics. 2. Alignment - Ensure corporate messaging is relevant, consistent, and communicated throughout the organization via the elevator pitch. 3. Focus - Develop a clear brand platform with positioning, promise, personality and messages to focus marketing. 4. Capitalize - Implement programs to capture more business from existing customers like customer surveys, marketing, and advisory panels. 5. Evangelize - Encourage positive word-of-mouth through referral programs, social media, and review sites. Taking these steps makes paid marketing more impactful.

1. Marketing Smarter In
Today’s Economy

2. 5 Steps To Market Your Company
Before You Start Spending Money
On Marketing
Accountability
Alignment
Focus
Capitalize
Evangelize

3. When It Comes To Marketing,
“I Think This Is Working”
Is Never The Right Answer

4. Accountability
Knowing which tactics are driving sales/leads
helps you not only understand what tactics are
working, but if marketing is even the issue.

5. Accountability
Example - A client was having a significant decline
in sales. The blame immediately went to
marketing but after putting a tracking system in
place we were able to determine the marketing
was working but the inbound center was not
closing the sale.

6. Accountability
Tracking programs can range from simple to
sophisticated.
Asking How
Google Analytics
Promotional Offers
Discrete URLs/800 Numbers
Clipping/Tracking Services
Quantitative Research

7. A company who truly believes in
customer service never starts
a phone conversation with
“Press 1 for...”

8. Alignment
Ensuring that your corporate message is relevant,
consistent and communicated throughout your
organization.

9. Alignment
Relevance
Companies spend too much time focusing on
what they want to tell their audience not what
their audience wants to hear from them.

10. Alignment
Consistency
When you do decide how you answer what the
audience wants to hear, you must do so in a
consistent manner

11. Alignment
Consistency
Consistency of message in everything you do is
important, but it begins with making sure
everyone knows what that message is otherwise
know as the dreaded Elevator Pitch

12. Alignment
•The Consistency Test
Write down what you think is your elevator pitch
Have your employees write down what they think is your elevator pitch
Analyze the findings to see if everyone is on the same page
Be honest and do not infer what people mean to say
If everyone is on the same page, great
If not, you have a starting point to see what needs to be fixed.
If the differences are significant try to identify trends
Do the customer-facing people describe your company one way, and the back office another?
Do your long-time employees have a different perspective than your newer employees?
Honestly assess the findings and determine if your elevator pitch is the best one or does a better solution
exist.
Present the final elevator pitch to your employees and have them write down what it means to them.
Doing so will help them internalize the pitch

13. Alignment
Communicated Through and Through
Any interaction with your company must
communicate your point of being; for example
If you are known for providing tools to increase efficiency your
customers shouldn’t have to hold on the phone beyond two minutes
If you are known for operational excellence everything down to your
invoicing should be accurate

14. “All your marketing materials look
consistent” is not a compliment

15. Focus
A focused marketing effort is more than making
sure everything looks alike it requires a clear,
concise and compelling message

16. Focus
A Brand Platform is integral to a focused brand
A Brand Platform becomes that all your marketing
is measured against
A Brand Platform consists of:
Brand Position - How you want to be viewed in the mind of your
audience
Brand Promise - The expectation you set when you invite someone to
interact with your brand
Brand Personality - The tone in which you deliver you message
Brand Messages - Four or five key tenets of your business and the
benefits they provide

17. Satisfied customers are just those
you haven’t given a reason to be
dissatisfied

18. Capitalize
How much of your business is from repeat
business?
Since it is 7x more expensive to gain a new
customer than to keep an existing one, look at
what you are doing to generate repeat business

19. Capitalize
Programs that allow you to capture more business
from your customers and make them evangelists
Customer Marketing
Customer Insight Surveys
Transparency
Advisory Panel

20. Capitalize
Customer Insight Surveys
Know your customers better
How do your customers feel about you? Why?
Has this changed in recently? Why?
Are you their sole provider?
Are they aware of all the services/products you provide?
Do they use all of the services/products you provide?
This information allows you to put together a
more strategic customer marketing program

21. Capitalize
Customer Marketing
Inexpensive tactics to reach your customers
Must be educational/helpful
Email Newsletters - monthly tips on how to use your product better
Invoice Marketing - promote value-added products with your invoices
Web Site - most customers will continue to visit your company
website, so keep it current and make it valuable
Blog - A great resource to provide valuable, educational info
Phone Calls - when was the last time you called a customer to see
how your product was working for them or if they had questions
Twitter/Facebook - Let customer follow you on social networks

22. Capitalize
Transparency
Social Media is a great tool for transparent conversations with your
customers
Let them know what you are up to in terms of new products/services -
gauge their reaction and listen to their ideas
More people are asking for interaction with companies via social media
like Facebook or directly on your site
Negative comments are good and provides you the forum to respond
in a positive manner

23. Capitalize
Customer Advisory Panels
These panels allow you to hear what the
customers needs as well as test new product
ideas with them
Let’s them feel valued by your company
Does a great job of creating evangelists for your
product

24. Elated customers and unhappy
customers have one thing in common
- they’ll both talk about your
company

25. Evangelize
Word-of-mouth is cited as the most influential
form of marketing, so make sure your evangelists
are working for you

26. Evangelize
Encourage customers to talk about you
Formal Referral Program
From thank you notes to discounts - inexpensive way to keep
customers talking about you
Social Networks
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Spoke, etc provide many
ways to get customers talking about you
Review Sites
Kudzu, Yelp, etc are free resources where customers can talk
about your business.

27. 5 Steps To Market Your Company
Before You Start Spending Money
On Marketing
Accountability
Alignment
Focus
Capitalize
Evangelize

28. Once these 5 steps are in
place your paid marketing
becomes more impactful,
accountable, and
drives business

29. M is for Marketing is a marketing consultancy
helping companies increase their return on their marketing investment
without increasing their investment.
404.316.4820
a_abend@MIsForMarketing.com
http://smartermarketing.wordpress.com