Marketing ABCs

By Lana O’Hollaren
Special to the Coastal Point

Marketing is a lot like painting.

If you’ve ever done any house painting, you know how important it is to do the prep work — spackling, sanding, priming —before any paint goes on the walls. It’s tedious and labor-intensive, but skip the prep work, and you end up with a nice but short-lived façade without substance or lasting power. Sure, it might even look good in the beginning, but ultimately, it’s a big waste of time and money that you will only have to redo later.

The same is true of marketing. It may seem as though the first step is to do something to advertise or promote your business, but if you rush into executing your marketing effort without doing the necessary prep work, you may end up just wasting time and money.

What kind of prep work is needed before you market your products or services?

First and foremost, it’s crucial that you have your house in order before you reach out to the public. That includes all aspects of interaction between your business and your customers. You can promote great customer service from now until the cow jumps over the moon, but if your customers experience surly, or even indifferent staff, any money spent advertising service with a smile is wasted. Before you invest any money in marketing, take steps to ensure that your operation matches your marketing promise.

Another critical component in the prep-work category is identifying and learning as much as possible about your target audience. No matter what you’re selling, even products or services with wide appeal, there’s almost always a target group that will buy more product, drive the purchase from behind the scenes or be willing to pay a premium price.

How do you find these consumers? Research.

If you’re squirming in your chair at the mere mention of research and the dollars associated with it, relax. The more you can learn about your target market, the better, but it doesn’t have to be an expensive proposition. In fact, a good place to begin is with your current customers.

It’s not a scientific approach, but simply observing your customer base will provide clues to the characteristics of your primary audience. Better yet, why not ask them what they want? This can be accomplished economically by asking your customers to participate in a quick survey. To entice them, you can give them a small bonus gift or enter the names of everyone who participates into a random drawing to win a prize.

The point is that you need to know what your target audience wants and needs prior to launching any marketing program or you’re bound to spend a lot of money to fail.

OK — you’ve taken care of any operational issues, and you’ve identified your target audience. You’re on the home stretch, but it’s not over yet.

What’s your message or, as it’s sometimes called, your unique selling point? It’s all about positioning your products or service to help you stand out and to meet the needs of your target market. For example, if your competitor’s position is low prices, you should focus on another selling point, such as customer service or convenience. Use the information you gathered about your target market to position you as a solution for their needs.

Of course, there are plenty of other great things about your company, but be careful not too try to say too much. When it comes to marketing, it’s true that you can’t please all of the people all of the time. Trying to say too much will only confuse or overwhelm consumers, and in the end, they won’t remember any part of your message. Remember that you must be able to support your position operationally, and your position must have value for your target market.

Once you’ve done the basic prep work — matched your operational capabilities with your marketing promise, conducted research and defined your message — you’ll be ready to begin your marketing effort. The information you’ve collected while doing the prep work will help you determine what elements of marketing — advertising, public relations, direct mail, etc. — will work best for you.

Lana O’Hollaren is the manager of the Rehoboth Beach office of marketing, advertising and public relations firm Aloysius, Butler & Clark.