In my last newsletter, I talked about solving marketing problems and how having a marketing system help solve and address those problems.

Sometimes the biggest challenge in correcting your marketing problems is defining exactly what kind of problem you have. There are many kinds of marketing problems. Here are a few broad categories that may help you to better define, and therefore solve, marketing related problems you may face.

Problems related to marketing strategy, such as target market selection, development of your core message, and how you package services and products. One of the biggest problems related to strategy is not having one or just glossing over one. Other problems include thinking “everyone” is our target market, or trying to have one generic marketing message that fits all of the segments we serve.

Problems related to tactic selection. When we don’t give the proper attention to our marketing strategy, we will often encounter problems related to selecting inappropriate marketing tactics. As business people, we tend to want to “get things done”. This makes it easy to select the wrong tactic in an effort to “do marketing”.

Problems related to tactic execution. Sometimes we may know what to do but either 1) don’t get around to doing it or 2) don’t do it effectively. For instance, we may know that we should network, we may go to networking events, but we may not yet have the skills to have a conversation that helps us qualify who we should build a relationship with.

Problems related to follow up. More often than not, these problems are related the the lack of a follow up system. Your system can be anything from a 3x5 index card system to a full blown CRM system.

Problems implementing technical tools. We have more technology available to help us with marketing than ever before. Sometime this technology can provide a hurdle to getting started. Questions in this category include “How do I set up a blog?”, “How do I pick the right CRM system?”, “How do I collect email addresses and send out newsletters?” and “How do I get started with social media?”.

It is not uncommon for an initially perceived problem to be one or more problems in these different categories. By taking the time to define your marketing problem, you will have a better chance of identifying the skills, knowledge, and resources you need to solve that problem. Quite often, once we clearly define the problem, the answer almost presents itself.

Need Help?

Solving marketing problems is what I love to do, so if you need help, don't hesitate to call. With our Val-You invoice (see sidebar) you set the price you pay for these problem clarifying sessions.

That's all for this week. Best of luck in growing your business.

Bill
913.962.9261

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