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The Marketing Communications Action Plan |
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The Marketing Communications Action Plan |
In developing a communications action plan, it is imperative to remember whom we want to influence and with what message.
First of all, we must define our prime targets as tightly as possible.
It is important that we segment these types of prospects further according to their order gestation period —
Active prospects are those we can turn into buyers quickly. They are searching for the products or services we offer, having moved along the path from preference to action. Tactics to impel purchasing include —
Definition of a Mooch
A mooch is a fellow or lady with a photo of our company founder on their bedstand. Additionally, he or she determines for his/her organization what brand of the product or service we offer that they plan to buy in the next six months. The money is budgeted.
Short-term tactics will be used to get their money quickly into our coffers.
Mid-term tactics will be used to turn those knowledgeable about our offerings into mooches.
Long-term tactics will begin the process of guiding those who should be mooches along the pathway to ultimate moochdom.
Long-term Tactics
These tactics identify and qualify prospective mooches for further sifting and winnowing, turning passive prospects into active prospective consumers of our product. These are the classic communications tactics of all mass marketers.
With these tactics, we are developing brand awareness, creating a perception of leadership, differentiating our product from others and increasing the awareness of the general category of product or service we sell (i.e. pontoon boats, vacationing to a guest ranch, or scheduling software).
General market advertising. When successful, advertising creates a positive impression of a brand and suggests how that brand can help the prospect. It changes the opinions of those not interested in or unfamiliar with our brand and guides those that are familiar to preferring our brand.
Advertising should not be used to create leads. It is far too expensive to efficiently create leads at a decent price plus general advertising is incapable of qualifying leads for a sales close.
To be successful in the long run, advertising is mandatory. To be successful in the short run, it is not.
Symposiums, conferences and trade shows. We can argue whether these are long-term or mid-term tactics. It’s really dependent on the event. However, the primary goals of such events are more related to that mentioned in the advertising section than in other sections. We are attempting to find prospects out of masses in order to sift and winnow them into mooches.
Internet. This is an area we all must study. It should only be employed when you are sure your targets are using the Web to learn about and buy products and services in your market niche and when you have the resources — money and manpower — to do it really well. Then, it must be promoted to prospects and customers alike.
Mid-term Tactics
These tactics sift and winnow prospects into non-qualifies and mooches. This is where our tactics change from mass market techniques to niche market techniques.
Specific Market Advertising. Leveraging your success with one customer type in a publication devoted exclusively to others in that industry, occupation or demographic is a transitional marketing tactic. If your product can be direct ordered, you go directly to short-term.
Industry/Partner Newsletters. Providing input for industry, association and partner newsletters turns readers learning about your market niche into mooches for your brand.
Editorial Development. This is a major undertaking. Follow the editorial calendars of all pertinent publications read by prospects and customers, pitching the appropriate editors to include discussion of your brand.
Press releases inform editors and, when printed, their readers of news at your firm. If it’s new and useful to mooches or prospective mooches, we should announce it.
Brochure. A newsletter could be done on brochures. In fact, we did one. If you want it, call us.
Short-term Tactics
Segment your short-term prospects on the basis of the amount of profit they are capable of delivering. In classic marketing, the brand with the most high profit and loyal customers wins. Present customers provide you with the greatest, easiest, most profitable growth. The more loyal the customer, the more he will pay. The key to customer loyalty is customer involvement. Involve your customers in shows, articles, users groups and as references.
Customer Newsletters. Create a 4 to 6 times per year customer newsletter. The goal of your newsletter is to entice any user that does not have the full portfolio of your products and services to add what’s missing ... now. It announces new products — giving present users first crack at them. The newsletter reaffirms their purchase of your brand by discussing customer successes.
Mail Spectaculars. The goal of these spectaculars is to obtain more sales calls on prospective mooches quickly to get more customers faster. Our clients tend to obtain sales call hits of 70 percent off these mailings. If you know your sales close ratio, it simply becomes a numbers game for how many targets you need to mail to per year, how much you need to budget and what your return-on-investment is.
Telemarketing.Telemarketing’s job is to find mooches, attempt to land appointments and/or identify targets for spectacular mailings. Telemarketing can also be used to update customers and obtain feedback, thus increasing customer loyalty.
Faxes. Faxes have the same job, in a sense, as telemarketing but their lists are derived as a result of other mid-term or long-term tactics such as responding to leads from advertising, shows and other promotional endeavors. The fax should impel one or more actions on the part of the recipient ... contact you for more in depth information, sales calls, etc.
Sales Calls.The ultimate solicitation and the most expensive. You want your sales calls to be spent only on mooches and customers. You want salespeople closing, not opening.
Schedule & Assign
Once you have all your tactics outlined, assign responsibilities and due dates to them. Then, we also suggest creating a second chronological list by date — just so nobody forgets.
You will have a communications plan that is integrated and, if followed, successful.