MARKETING MATTERS: PLANNING FOR EFFECTIVE MARKETING PART 3--THE WHAT, WHERE & WHEN

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS AND GROWTH

By Rama Beerfas

September 1, 2009 (San Diego’s East County) - We’ve covered the why (the goal) and the who (target market) of a marketing campaign. Now, it’s time to talk about the “what,” the “where,” and the “when” of a successful marketing campaign.

The “what” is the action part of the plan. Will you place an ad, exhibit at a tradeshow, hold an event, send a mailing? Perhaps you will have a combination of these actions or do something entirely different. Whatever action you choose to implement, it must be something that will speak to your target market. Remember, just because it appeals to you personally, does not mean that it will appeal to your them.

“The where” is the location of your action. If you go with a paid ad, do you place it in a newspaper, online, on the radio, or on TV? Do you have a live event at your facility or take it on the road? Do you go into the community where your target demographic lives, works, shops – or, do you invite them to your facility or to an event at the beach? Where is your target likely to go or look so that your message gets seen, absorbed and the call to action answered?

“The when” is the timing of the action.It can correlate to bringing a new product or service to market, or the time of day an ad should run, or which season is appropriate for a particular marketing push. (I could never figure out why the best sale on potato chips happens the week before Superbowl Sunday when sales of potato chips are pretty much a shoe-in.)
 

These three components are inextricably linked. If you have the right what, but deliver it in the wrong venue or at the wrong time, you are just as likely to miss the mark as if you had picked the wrong what.
 

The time to put ego aside and look at your action plan through the lens of the affinities and habits of your target market demographic is when you are planning the what, where and when. If you cannot put yourself in their shoes and think the way they do, then you must consult with someone who can; otherwise, you run the risk of developing an amazing outreach effort that will touch no one at all.
 

Rama Beerfas is the Chief Solutions Specialist of San Diego-based Lev Promotions (www.levpromotions.com ), offering marketing consulting and promotional product programs. Rama also offers seminars and training in topics related to marketing and customer service. She can be reached at (619) 697-2045 or at rama@levpromotions.com. Please submit requests for column topics to the above e-mail address.