29 October 2015

Good Marketing Isn't Always Visible

Lucy Hogarth
Written by Lucy Hogarth

Lucy Hogarth is the Co-Founder of The Marketing Centre and specialises in working with small and mid-size businesses. She has over 25 years’ experience working in clients and marketing agencies focussing on retail, telecoms, construction and financial services.

Often, the most important work is the work you don’t see.

Take Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt, for example. You immediately think of the gold medals, the finals, the world records, the cameras, the screaming fans, the glory. Bolt will be remembered for his showmanship on the track, his seemingly effortless victories and his speed.

He won’t be remembered for the intense training sessions, the hours spent in the gym and on the track, the sports psychologists, and all the years of hard work and effort that he put into building that success. But this work is the sole reason he’s successful.

And so it goes with marketing.

The interviews in local press, the well-made promotional videos or brochures, the insightful and shareable social media poststhe ‘gold medals’are all well and good. But this visible element, known as the promotional mix, is just the manifestation of all the planning, research and hard work that has already taken place. It really is the tip of the iceberg, to coin a phrase: the bulk is below the surface, invisible to your clients until they come to be involved with the brand.

Simply, there is more to marketing than meets the eye.

The definition of marketing

Today the prevalent view of marketing is the American definition, which the AMA puts like this: “Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organisational objectives.”

This view is in line with the 4Ps idea: product, price, place, promotion. However, this contention misses some important aspects of marketing and instead focuses on the loud, shiny stuff.

The UK’s Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing like this: “The management process for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.” This is a much more expansive concept that puts the values of the customer and how you are meeting their needs at the forefront .

Putting the work in

If marketing is more than just promotion, what other aspects are there?

Establishing your brand
  • Brand identity. One of the most important aspects of modern business: Who are you and what do you stand for? A strong identity is key to building a relationship with your customer base.
  • Company culture. A strong identity should permeate across the whole business. This leads to authenticity and ensures everyone is on message.
  • Development of your brand identity as your company grows doesn’t happen randomly, but through careful planning and sensing the values of your consumers.
  • Value proposition. A promise of value to be delivered and a belief from the customer that value will be delivered.
Lead generation
  • Understanding of the market. Key to this is building a relationship with your customers and learning what they value.
  • Customer segmentation. Strong marketing teams will know their target market inside out.
  • They will research all possible marketing channels and routes to market.
Sales process
  • Whilst marketing and selling are two separate entities, they are undoubtedly intertwined. It is important that the sales methodology is in line with the company's identity.
  • Putting together a sales team and the tools used for selling are very much part of the marketer's remit.
Customer retention
  • Customer service is more important than ever. Customer Relationship Management strategy is imperative for a modern business going forward.
  • Engagement. In order to make sure existing customers remain fully engaged with the company, a strong content strategy will need to be in place.

These areas aren’t necessarily elements you would naturally associate with marketing, but make no mistake, they’re essential to a winning strategy. Much as you can’t achieve gold medal success without putting in some serious training, you shouldn’t expect a marketing strategy to be all about the noise. The glory is great, but that can only be achieved by some seriously hard work which is, frankly, not ‘sexy’ at all.

But, as with Usain Bolt, hard work pays off. Often in spectacular fashion.

Do you have a winning marketing strategy? If you’d like a quick, easy and free assessment, take our Marketing 360 Healthcheck.

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