Five Steps to Unleashing Your Perfect Marketing Plan

1. Magnetize Social Media

Is your firm a magnet in the stratosphere of socail media?

Marketing in the industry means many things to many people and firms.  Everyone wants the same end result: New business.  While industry firms have jumped on the social media bandwagon, only a few have put it to their advantage.  Three clients last year finally agreed that they should have a blog on their website.  Why is this important?  If you want to succeed in social media, you have to magnetize your firm.

In other words, you have to create something that draws clients and prospects to you.  The illustration shows a relationship between your firm, the clients you serve and prospects you are trying to acquire. It also shows a series of different colored rings.  The rings represent the social media that is bombarding everyone.  Whether you are selective in choosing social platforms to participate in or take the shotgun approach, none of it will benefit until you become part of the conversation.

It can’t be like the conversation you have with a young child.  Every question is answered with a yes or no.  Your social media strategy has to be proactive.  It has to draw people to you.  Consider your website an electromagnet.  The electromagnet needs energy to work.  In order for your website to be more than an electronic Yellow Pages, your social media applications have to be energized.
Putting a regularly updated blog on your website is one way to energize your website.  Our 2013 seminar series will address the magnetizing of your firm in more detail, but this should get you started.

2. Cherish Existing Clients

Every firm has a pipeline, backlog, and existing client database when they begin the new year.  Too often these are treated simply as numbers in the marketing plan.  The planning is based upon reasonable assumptions that clients will have new work or additional services on existing contracts.  We have relationships with these clients and they might have appeared at our annual holiday party in December.  The question is, do we cherish them?  We can start by developing a better understanding of their business which will lead to offering assistance when a project is not the motivation.  How about interviewing existing clients and making it part of a video blog for your website? The interview doesn’t have to be about having the client pat you on the back for good service.  Focus on what this person has to say about his industry or her business.  If the client comments about the length of the relationship or trust, it pays double for your firm.  Finally, does your marketing plan get specific about what you will do for each client in the coming year?  When you think about your clients more than you think about yourself, the client relationship will strengthen and advocates will be born.

3. Acknowledge Your Competition

Does your 2013 Marketing Plan pay lip service to your competition?  Every firm knows the names of the competition, their principals and business development representatives.  But, how much intelligence do you really have about them? You might know the clients they have, but what about the relationship they have with those clients?  Do you know their expansion plans?  Is any of this important in your marketing plan?    Remember, these are the tips for you to reach the perfect marketing plan.

Vince Lombardi, the legenday coach of the Green Bay Packers, had this to say about perfection, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.”  Therefore, work to get as much information as you can about your competition.  If for nothing else, they will be doing the same thing to you.

4.  Listen to the Marketplace


Marketing has always been more about broadcasting the brand, services, expertise, talent and projects than is has been about listening to what the market is looking for.  Obviously, this tip points you to research.  On one level this dovetails with tip 2, but it must be expanded to achieve perfection.  Allied industry associations are goldmines, if you are active in committees and boards.  Simply joining an association and attending monthly meetings will do little to move your marketing forward.  Since even a blind squirrel gets a nut every now and then, attending the monthly meeting can provide a lead or two as well.  These leads will be the same as what your competition is receiving.  When you listen to the marketplace you have the chance to become a change agent.  People like change agents.  People trust change agents.  Now is the time to put some listening into your marketing plan.


5. Don’t Forget the Basics

What have you learned from clients over the years?  Have prospects given you any surprises.  How about your presentation strategies and the elements of your teaming process?  Is 2013 the year of the status quo or a time to build for the future by tweaking the past?  These are three questions that need to be contemplated as you complete your 2012 marketing plan.  What are the basics?  Start with strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT).  Bring your entire team into the discussion.  Everyone means administration to technicians.  When everyone has been asked to participate, it is amazing what you discover has been missing and what is not needed.
Hopefully, these tips have relevance for your firm.  Additional information can be obtained by contacting trystanderson@businessdevelopmentpros.org  or attending one of the 2013 seminars that will be scheduled in a city near you.