A company should be able to find ways to listen to their customers and understand how they see your company. This is crucial because at the end of the day it’s the customer who will define your marketing program.
The marketing strategy is the big idea which is driving your company’s success and the marketing program is based on it. All the coordinated activities that make up the tactics to implement a strategy is called the Marketing Program. They are two distinct things and they have to be clearly divided. But let’s not go into deep, intense theory models… there are simpler things you can do in order to leverage your marketing activities into a successful program.
The first thing you must do is find your influence points. Think on behalf of the customer and identify the components of your marketing program. These will include everything the customer sees, hears, talks to and overall interacts with. Each of these is an influence point, where you can build customer interest and loyalty. In large businesses the marketing department is separate from product development, but customers interact with the product which means product development is a key component of the marketing program.
Some people who sell your product might not even be on your payroll. A distributor, wholesaler, or any other person which delivers, represents or repairs your product is on the marketing team from the perspective of the customers. These people represent the product. They should be representing your business and product in a professional manner that fits your marketing program. They have to be likeable personas with a consistent personality in line with your strategy and marketing program. If these people don’t fit with your marketing program, ways must be found to improve these people’s impact on the customer, even though you may not have authority over them. Talk to them about your concerns and expectations. Be friendly and offer them help by using demonstrations, training, presentations, product information etc.
Keep in mind a true leader does not win employee loyalty by exploiting fear. A true leader leads, talks and engages with their employees. Now that we covered this aspect, we can get into a very important chapter of marketing which is called the “five P’s”. These must be thought about and analyzed. The five P’s are: product, price, placement, promotion and people… critical aspects in a business. Failure to perfect these aspects will lead to low sales and probably the collapse of a business.
Hope you found this information interesting. Thank you for tuning in.
