Masonry Magazine January 2003 Page. 48
Marketing 101
What is Your
Marketing Message?
By Cathy Lee Taylor
Principal, Creative Communications
Orange County, Calif.
Forward
Marketing is creating the impression people get about your company and its products and services. It happens through many forms of communication, including things as basic as how your phone is answered, what your marketing collateral looks like, including business cards and letterhead, to the even more crucial direct contact of sales and customer service personnel. Your impression, whether first or continuing, better be good and crystal clear. To make sure it is, let's outline the basic steps you need to consider as we enter a new year.
Develop a marketing program
A marketing program not only tells you where you want to go and how you want to get there, it reminds you of that path when the going gets tough. It is critical to develop a detailed marketing program with solid deadlines and revise it at least once a year. Your company's vision, goals and priorities will establish how to most effectively utilize your marketing budget. When this plan is complete, you will know how to answer the questions: "Who are we? What do we want to accomplish? Exactly how do we plan to get there?"
Be consistent in your communications
Part of successful marketing is setting a goal and not deviating from it until you achieve it. Marketing is repeated, proactive communication describing what you do best. Once you decide how your company is strategically positioned in the marketplace, including competitive comparisons, you can develop the formula that will tell people what you have to offer that is unique and directly fulfills their needs they have a problem, you have a solution and your marketing should show them just how easily that process works.
Strategic positioning
This comes from asking, "Why did you get into business in the first place? What do you do better than any related firm?" The answers you get are the beginning of the message you want to repeat to your prospects and customers until you gain significant mindshare.
It's important to communicate just how cost-effective your company has made stone construction, for example. Remember, benefits are what your customers want to buy. Then you add in other benefits, such as durability, strength, aesthetics, ease of maintenance and quality. Show how the quality of your work force and the advent of new technologies make masonry the informed choice. Define, articulate and emphasize what each of these benefits brings from the unique perspective of your target market - the architects, engineers and general contractors. And last, but certainly not least, don't forget the people they serve the end consumer, the owner.
Now that we have discussed three of the main ideas behind marketing your business, let's now take a look at the ways to "get the word out."
Print Media
The first step in any marketing program is building your corporate ID package. The image, or "look and feel" you want to portray, gets designed into a logo for business cards and letterhead. This representation must be carried through to all printed material such as brochures, data sheets and sales presentations, advertising, and even the fence sign at the soccer field where you sponsor a team.