7 Steps to Marketing Success

Written by Kathleen Gage


Title: 7 Steps to Marketing Success Author: Kathleen Gage Email: kathleen@turningpointpresents.com Word Count: 1017 Copyright: © 2005 by Kathleen Gage Web Address: www.kathleengage.com

Publishing Guidelines: You may publish my article in your newsletter, on your web site, or in your print publication provided you include repparttar resource box atrepparttar 119955 end. Notification would be appreciated but is not required.

7 Steps to Marketing Success by Kathleen Gage

Inrepparttar 119956 past it didn’t take nearly as much marketing effort to build a business as it does today. Unfortunately, many people are holding on torepparttar 119957 belief that things are stillrepparttar 119958 way they were and are not doing what needs to be done to make their businesses succeed. Marketing your business is something that is a constant process and takes a considerable amount of focus and commitment.

Competition in virtually ever industry has increased. Additionally, there is no guarantee that once you do manage to attract a customer to your business they will keep coming back. We have a highly mobile and fickle society. This simply means it is more important than ever to evaluate what you are doing, why you are doing it, and what you must do inrepparttar 119959 future in order to stay competitive.

Here are some steps you can take to increase your chances of success in your business.

1.Get clear on your values and mission. I recently read a book called “The Path” by Laurie Beth Jones. She beginsrepparttar 119960 book with a story her uncle told her of his experience during World War II. According to her uncle, if an unidentified person appeared to a soldier and could not immediately identify their mission, they were shot on site. Wow! Would this ever make a person clear on their mission. It was literallyrepparttar 119961 difference between life and death.

This can hold true in business. If we are not clear on our values and mission it is easy to flounder and eventually our business could die. However, by being very clear on your values and your mission, you are assured more of a chance for your business to grow and thrive. Take time to write out what your values are. From there, create a statement that clearly defines what you offer your customers and clients. If you find that you are getting off track with what is important, simply take time to review your written statement.

2.Effective and realistic planning. I strongly suggest you create a solid marketing plan. As a result of completingrepparttar 119962 plan you will be much better prepared and know whether or not your marketing idea is feasible. Additionally, take time to fully understand how marketing works. Marketing is not a one-time shot or one size fits all. You must plan your campaigns. You must be committed forrepparttar 119963 long-term and test various types of campaigns as you move forward. The more solid your plan,repparttar 119964 more success you will experience.

3.Take action. Once you create a good marketing plan takerepparttar 119965 necessary actions outlined inrepparttar 119966 plan. More times than I care to think about, I have talked to business people who put together plan after plan after plan and yet, don’t take appropriate or consistent action onrepparttar 119967 plan. For whatever reason time is invested inrepparttar 119968 plan, but then very little, if anything, is done. Again, keeprepparttar 119969 long-term goals in mind as you take action.

Slice and Dice

Written by Jay Nagdeman


Many financial services power-houses—e.g., Fidelity, CitiBank, Merrill Lynch and MetLife, have adopted a marketing positioning strategy that portrays them as leaders in virtually all segments ofrepparttar market. As a result, their financial sales and marketing campaigns focus on casting a very wide net in order to attractrepparttar 119954 largest possible market.

The practices of these industry “Goliaths” have spawned many financial services “Davids” who believe that financial marketing success lies in followingrepparttar 119955 example of these behemoths. Unfortunately, these “me too” marketers are squandering a lot of their limited marketing resources since they can not effectively compete simply by mimickingrepparttar 119956 financial marketing practices used byrepparttar 119957 industry giants. For most financial services marketing organizations, trying to pursue every marketplace opportunity is futile. A much more pragmatic, cost-effective financial marketing approach is to maximizerepparttar 119958 impact of their limited marketing resources by focusing messages on onlyrepparttar 119959 most receptive markets. That focus is achieved through careful market segmentation.

Market segmentation isrepparttar 119960 process of partitioningrepparttar 119961 marketplace into customer/prospect groupings that have similar characteristics and are likely to exhibit similar behavior. As a key component of an effective strategic marketing plan, market segmentation can facilitaterepparttar 119962 insightful market analysis,repparttar 119963 discovery of underserved niches, andrepparttar 119964 use of approaches that achieve competitive advantage. The basis of successful market segmentation is well conceived market research that provides insights into meaningful customer traits and guides prioritization of possible target markets and marketing techniques.

General Motors offers an early example of successful market segmentation. Inrepparttar 119965 early 1920s GM redefined its marketing strategy by segmenting car buyers into price/quality brackets. They then differentiated their offerings by focusing products, as well as their advertising and marketing promotion, to meetrepparttar 119966 needs of each class of buyers. Thus beganrepparttar 119967 renown family of GM products—Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac. Ford, which offered its standardized Model T in “any color as long as it’s black,” was caught flat-footed and was forced to close its main River Rouge plant for nearly a year to retool in an attempt to regain a competitive stance.

Asrepparttar 119968 GM example illustrates, implementing an effective market segmentation strategy does not require that a firm alter its products or services. What it does require is thatrepparttar 119969 company:

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