It’s never enough to just present information to your audience.
Effective marketing is about relationship building that not only lets the audience know what you want them to think, feel or do but also lets them know “what’s in it for them”. How well you inspire confidence and address their interest will determine their response.
Your message needs to be on target and delivered through the right channels to reach the targeted audience, but the frequency and consistency also makes impact.
Development of materials and messaging to “sell” the brand internally and externally – The consistency of how you articulate and present the core brand message and contribute to understanding by your audience is essential. Printed materials, the website, marketing messages – all points of contact – should create a sense of recognition (Think Target and Starbucks). Visual consistency is a big deal. Material should be clean, purposeful and to the point with strong graphics. Less is often more.
Communicating your brand and other information regularly and consistently to your employees and existing customers is also essential to maintaining the relationship. Don’t neglect this effort because these audiences are the brand’s ambassadors of goodwill.
Management of the response – A strong marketing campaign will generate response. It should go without saying that the operations need to be prepared to handle the contacts. How those contacts are handled will affect the brand perception. It needs to be efficient, professional and should reinforce what the brand is all about. The follow-up also must be prompt and effective. This means that the marketing activities should be shared and coordinated with the operational side in advance. Another reason for good internal communication.
It also important to consider media interest in your marketing efforts and be prepared to handle inquiries and maximize the opportunity for exposure. Clear talking points, prepared in advance are a must and it is a good idea to have a designated spokesperson, who will be available and able to handle and interact with the media.
It’s also worthwhile considering that when you have a marketing campaign in progress, you will likely be contacted by numerous sales representatives from media entities that you are not using. Some of these contacts may be worthwhile hearing out but have a strategy for how to handle the contact in the interest of efficiency.
Evaluation and resetting of the choices and priorities – The effectiveness of any marketing campaign must always be judged on the quantitative and qualitative factors that demonstrate the value of the Return on Investment.
Marketing is a dynamic process. It is simply a good practice to evaluate and reset the choices and priorities, as appropriate, on an ongoing basis. A Communication Audit,conducted with the help of an objective expert, provides the necessary structure and discipline.