Marketing is nothing if you don’t actually talk to people. You may think this is obvious but marketing implementation is essential.
Communicating your proposition to your target audience is the essence of effective marketing. The problem is that taking the plunge and putting your message out there also exposes a business to failure. What if we don’t get the response we hope and planned for?
It’s the same as the old story about the sales rep who never lost a sale. Actually, they never closed a deal. Sure, they never lost a sale – but they never won one either! The fear of rejection was so great that they were happy never to win an order – so long as no prospect ever turned them down. The outcome was inevitable. They lost their job. Somehow this can be put down to being on the receiving end of someone’s else’s decision. Not my fault. I couldn’t do anything about it.
This is the world of marketing in many SME businesses. There is a lot of planning and other ‘marketing development‘ but actually pushing the button and doing something can be a long time coming.
New ideas are great – but beware
An attractive distraction from getting on and doing marketing can be to learn about marketing tools – maybe there is a better option for my marketing communication?
Don’t get me wrong, learning about new are alternative marketing tools can be really useful and give insight into how you might go about your marketing but don’t let your learning distract from the business marketing fundamentals of what and why. You can get drawn into how good something looks without really considering how it will benefit your business
How will it help you to reach your goals?
If you are talking to a marketing services supplier about their great new offering, be careful to stay focused on your own business needs rather than being diverted to the needs of your potential supplier – to sell you their services.
You can find yourself committing to moving ahead with a new option (and the expectations of what you hope it can achieve) as avoidance of looking at the real priorities – i.e. what are your core business goals and how do you aim to achieve them – i.e. what is your PLAN?
Implementation and meaningful learning
I started this post by saying marketing is nothing if you don’t actually talk to people. This is the heart of it. Yes, you need a plan but a plan is not a document on a shelf it is a set of joined-up ideas and actions focused on achieving a defined goal. Marketing come to life when you do stuff and take action; when you implement.
Get out there and communicate your proposition to your target audience. Your activities may not be perfect but you are doing something and that gets results!
Even if the results aren’t what you expected, you are learning from your market all the time. It is important that you measure what you do so that whatever the outcomes, you can explore why and how you are getting the results you are getting. Through this process, you will learn and your growing knowledge will help you adapt your plan and make it better.
Don’t be the sales rep who never lost a sale. Get out there and implement. Tell your market about your great products and services. What’s the worst that can happen? You never know, they might even want some!
What to make things happen? Give me a call
