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So you’ve got a new product/service/business idea. Now it’s time to make this idea a reality – you’ve got a project plan in place and are ready to get moving towards production. Once you’ve achieved some key milestones in the development stage you can worry about how to to take it to market, right? Not so fast, considering the marketing approach during the strategic planning cycle is important because you're essentially assessing the viability of your big idea. After all, how do you know customers actually want your product or service?

In order for you to really understand whether or not there's a demand for your offering, a market analysis should be conducted to figure out who the market is and what their needs and expectations are. You’ll probably also need to look at who your competitors are and figure out how you will differentiate your offering. By having marketing heavily involved in strategic planning, you’re able to analyse whether or not the business strategy will be viable in the market, potentially saving you many dollars creating products or services that aren’t in demand.

It’s not just about what the market is doing today. Forecasting the changes that may occur in customer expectations and demand into the future will provide you with an understanding of where the direction of the business needs to head to remain competitive in the years to come. You see, marketing isn’t just the part of the process where you promote your product, it really is the piece of the puzzle that allows you to determine the viability of the business direction.

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Chapter #1 | Evolution is change. Defining the role of marketing in your survival

Simply put, marketing is the message you communicate to your customer, in order to make them feel the way you want them to about your brand. It’s about promotion. To do this effectively you may have several marketing strategies on the go, targeting several groups of people. However, each must have a coherent message – to avoid confusing consumers. Traditionally, the role of marketing has been to gain customer buy in, to get them interested in purchasing a product and in turn generate revenue. This transactional approach is no longer relevant in today’s space. As consumers, we have more knowledge of the companies we choose to shop with than ever before. This leaves us looking for a deeper connection and insight into who ‘they’ are and what ‘they’ stand for as a brand. We’re asking: “what value does your business/product/service add to my lifestyle?” as opposed to “what does your product do?”. Today’s successful marketing strategies create a relationship between the customer and the brand. Let’s take a look at an example highlighting the differences between what the business focus is and the messages we might use to market our offering to customers.

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Your marketing is all about getting them in. Selling is getting them to take what you have to offer – preferably in exchange for money. Sales is the process of making a ‘deal’, and exploring in depth the product or service, to generate a transaction. Generally, by the time the experience is in the sales space, the customer has made contact with the company and has sought further information about a product or service. Often, they are seriously considering purchasing and the experience they have during this sales process makes or breaks the perception of the brand formed by the marketing campaign.

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Your customers will see through promotional messages, thinking of your brand as being after a ‘quick dollar’. By educating your customer on what your product will do for them, you provide them with a connection to the brand that goes beyond surface level.

In order for both marketing and sales to be effective, they must both feel as though they have a cohesive message. The sales experience should ring true to the concept you created in the marketing activity. Let’s take a look at our top three tips for streamlining your marketing and sales strategies:

Aligning your service standards to deliver on what your marketing messages promise will ensure the customer journey is consistent through each channel.

Have a good understanding of where marketing ends and the sales process begins in your business. Each touch point should have a clear purpose but align with the other.

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A marketing strategy that’s stuck in the prehistoric age isn’t going to get much traction in today’s market. Methods such as print ads, television and radio have all become dinosaurs, and anyone still focusing all of their attention there needs to move forward. The new age is all about social media, targeted marketing and brand activations. Let’s check out what the marketing landscape looks like today and get up to speed with what is happening in the modern world.

By the end of this chapter you will be able to:Define the roles of marketing and salesAlign marketing strategies to company goals and objectivesIdentify effective mediums for marketingRecognise how marketing plays a role in business evolution

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Let’s take a look at the power of marketing in creating brand perception. Check out the video first then listen to the podcast.

Your customer feels how you want them to. Your values system generally describes how your business wants people, internally and externally, to feel when they interact with the brand. An aligned approach sees you targeting messages that support your values.

The company objectives not only define what the organisation is looking to achieve, but also how they want people both internally and externally to feel about the company. This is only achieved, if all of the messages they are communicating support these objectives. What are the benefits of aligning your marketing strategy to your mission, vision and values? Here are four benefits of aligning your mission, vision and values with your marketing strategy.

Your customer won’t be confused. When your marketing messages align to your goals, each touch point the customer has with the brand provides a common message.

Clear direction. You’ll know whether an idea is bogus or on the right track by evaluating whether or not it contributes to company objectives. This means that time and money is not spent on marketing activities that generate little benefit for the organisation.

Marketing innovations gain traction for the organisation. Showing how your marketing strategy will contribute to achieving organisational objectives gives you a solid case with the powers that be.

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Traditionally, the most effective means of marketing has been through mediums such as radio, print and television. These mediums are classed as ‘above the line’, generally have a high cost associated but have had a high reach. With technology advancing at a rapid rate, there are new ‘below the line’ methods, allowing us to reach high numbers of targeted audiences with a targeted message at little to no cost. These days it’s about harnessing the power of social and digital marketing.

The method in which you deliver your marketing can have a significant impact on the outcome. Depending on how you differentiate your offering from that of competitors you’ll want your activity to be memorable, unique and reach your target market. It’s all about stepping outside of the box and doing something a little bit different. What do you think about getting your customers to do your marketing for you? If you’re thinking ‘wait a minute, isn’t that what the business is supposed to be doing how the heck would that work?’, read on. It’s time to check out some examples of businesses who have stepped out from the crowd with their marketing activity with successful results.

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Frank Body launched its small but specific range of coffee based body scrubs in 2013. By September 2015, Frank had over 659K Instagram followers! Yep, that means they were a startup a mere 18 months prior to having a worldwide following! Where did it all begin? Co-Founder Bree Johnson’s partner Steve, was managing his cafe when a woman asked him for some leftover coffee grinds to use as an exfoliator scrub. Instantly the couple knew the idea would be a successful product. Both Erika Geraerts and Jess Hatzsis had a digital marketing background and saw the potential for this product to gain a successful following via social media. Their digital strategy was built on the principle of having customers marketing the product for them. Their hashtag #thefrankeffect has seen over 50,000 customers posting pictures of themselves using Frank Body on their skin. The founders recognised that when a celebrity posts a picture endorsing a product, it comes with significant costs and question marks about the validity of their reviews. Where everyday girls are concerned however, the recommendations become much more trusted, reputable and cost efficient. As a business, Frank Body also understands the need to post across a number of channels to reach their target markets. They post four times a day on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter, in addition to Instagram. With the costs of this strategy so low, the business is able to maximise market exposure for little spend. However, they have recognised the challenges of growing so quickly in such a short time frame. The strength of their marketing strategy saw them feeling like they were playing catch up to fulfil orders in their first year. They resolved this issue by sourcing global distribution channels and now Frank Body has become a significantly successful brand.

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Take a look at the Frank effect’s user generated content here:

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Consumer marketing is essentially having your customers do your marketing for you. This is commonly used on social media where businesses encourage their customers to take a picture of themselves using their product and post it with a specific hashtag. The hashtag allows the pictures to be easily searchable and used by the business in the future. Secondly, the reach of the business is much wider when they have other people posting content for them. If the business solely relies on themselves to post all of the content, the reach is only ever going to be as wide as the followers they have. However, if their customers do their marketing for them, the reach includes all of their followers too… #whatagreatidea No cost – Having user generated content comes at no cost. Once the initial time has been spent setting up the campaign and gaining traction, it practically runs itself. Just remember to continue engaging with your customers. Wide reach – If you post to your own followers, the only people that see your campaign are your followers. If all of your followers post for you, all of their followers see your campaign. Your reach widens instantly everytime somebody posts on your behalf. Reputation – Having consumers market your brand instantly spikes credibility, as customers are only likely to recommend when their expectations have been exceeded. Most people know that a celebrity or well known individual will have most likely been paid for their endorsement so consumer marketing often holds more weight. Let’s take a look at an example of consumer marketing in action.

Personal trainer, Kayla Itsines, has over 1.7 million Instagram followers and is still growing. Her business transformed from a local personal training service to a global offering, with ebooks accessible worldwide and an international bootcamp tour. After gaining a loyal following as a result of posting before and after transformations of her clients, and as a result of answering followers’ questions, she developed an ebook detailing her programs. The sales of the product were far beyond anything she imagined and her website crashed as a result of high demand. Realising her expertise lay in developing training programs and resources, Kayla enlisted the help of her partner Toby, to assist in managing her online presence. The key to the Kayla Itsines brand’s success has been her ability to interact with her fans and provide them with realistic advice. Never setting out to manage a global business, Kayla has proven that by engaging with her customers, and providing the market with a solution to their demand, success can be developed rapidly.

See Kayla’s marketing in action here:

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Most of us use some form of social media these days. It could be Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat – the list goes on. Incorporating some use of social media in your marketing strategy is pretty much a no-brainer, it’s a great way of being where your customers are, when they’re there. The trick is to figure out just which platform is best for your offering. Given that Instagram is based around the sharing of pictures with small captions it is highly effective for products or tangible services where a before and after can be shown. Whereas Facebook allows for more opportunity to write messages to your customers and for advertising placement. Real time discussion – You are able to interact with your followers in real time, generating instantaneous discussions. This allows for a 24/7 approach to marketing. Global reach – Social media allows you to expand on a global scale. The medium is widely used all over the world whereas traditional methods may only reach a state or national level, for example, radio. Understanding of the market – You will receive feedback on your content, allowing for a quick change where required. People aren’t afraid to let you know whether they like your content or not, so be prepared to analyse comments to ensure they are from the target market. It’s time to check out how social media can work.

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Check out this highly successful marketing campaign here:

Cebu Pacific airlines created a buzz with a marketing activation based in Hong Kong. During the rain filled monsoon season the brand spray-painted templates on the streets with an invisible, waterproof material – the message to be revealed in the rain. When the rain came, a QR code and the tagline “It’s sunny in the Philippines” appeared. When the customers scanned the QR code they were linked to discounted flights. The activation increased sales by 37%. By creating interest and leaving the customer wanting to know more, the campaign gained strong traction and was hugely successful.

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What if your goal isn’t to generate revenue but increase brand awareness? A brand activation is an experience you create for consumers where they have the opportunity to interact with the brand and get a feeling of what it’s all about. It doesn’t necessarily directly involve your products or services, but creates a connection between the consumer and the business. The activation will generally leave people wanting to know more about your offering. Create a connection – Activations create a connection with the market as they are rarely are about selling a product and more about developing awareness of the brand. Unexpected – These types of activities are generally a surprise for people as they happen in unexpected locations, therefore leaving the consumer wanting to know the ‘why’. It’s time to see how Cebu Pacific Airlines created an unexpected marketing activation for the people of Hong Kong.

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‘Deloitte (2014)’

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With these stats in mind, it’s clear that many of us are not exposed to the likes of print or radio anywhere near as frequently as we were in the past. It’s also apparent that in the modern world of information endlessly available at our fingertips, our full attention is not directed to the television programs we watch. Businesses must take advantage of the way they utilise digital technology to market their offering if they want to survive. With this kind of social marketing available to everybody, via platforms such as Facebook and Instagram at little to no cost, it is an effective solution. With this in mind, why wouldn’t you move into the digital age? Check out how technology impacts our buying decisions as consumers.

Imagine you run a National Public Transport company (pretty good promotion hey). Let’s check out how a marketing focus for your products and services looks different from a business/product focus to get a better understanding of what marketing is...

The impact that good marketing strategies can have on your business is profound. You can’t really expect to have a massive client list if nobody knows about your business. Marketing doesn’t just create awareness of your brand but can keep your current customers engaged too – promoting growth and generating loyalty. So now we know what marketing is, what’s the difference between sales and marketing?

BUSINESS/PRODUCT FOCUSWe run public transportWe run services at 5 minute intervals into the city between 7 and 9am.We utilise web technology to recharge the transport cardWe have a representative located at each station

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MARKETING FOCUSWe provide our customers with an easy to access travel experience.Our services run so frequently into the CBD our customers never have to wait longer than 5 minutes.We use an online platform for our customers to recharge their transport card from anywhere, at anytime for their convenience.We have a representative located at each station in order to provide our customers with assistance wherever they are.

We know what marketing is. So then what is a marketing opportunity? Really, it's any chance to take advantage of a newly identified need, want, demand or trend – preferably one that isn't already being addressed by a competitor! It could be that there is a new product entering the market and you’re the first to introduce it or that you’ve identified a new customer group. When a need is identified as the ‘need’ of a group of sufficient size, a marketing opportunity exists. Research is key when identifying your marketing opportunities – if the want or need is only coming from a small consumer group, you aren’t likely to see a large return for the effort and dollars you spend addressing it.

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To ensure that a business can perform profitably by satisfying that need, you must make certain that the market need meets the needs of the business. Business needs are just as important as market needs when assessing the viability of a new marketing opportunity. It’s important to identify whether you will actually be able to achieve the goals set out in the business strategy through taking advantage of the opportunity you have. When assessing the viability of a marketing opportunity against your business you might also consider for example:The impact to current operations – how much will you need to change and adapt?Human resourcing requirements – will you need to employ more staff? Will this take team members away from other duties?Dollars spent in advertising and promotion – what is the best way to get information to the market? What is the cost?Forecasted return on investment – is the cost worth the benefit you’ll receive in return? Is it a short term or long term gain?Let’s take a look at the three main instances in which a marketing opportunity exists.

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Providing something that’s in short supply When a product or service is in short supply but in high demand, a marketing opportunity exists. Customers are asking you for something they just can’t get their hands on. These opportunities generally require the least amount of marketing activity given that the product or service is being actively sought out by a customer group. Combining a small amount of advertising with word of mouth is likely to be enough to drive customers to the business. It also tends to be profitable for the business as price in this case falls below demand in the customer decision making process. They’re just happy to be able to get their hands on it! A great example of this in practice is the banana shortage in 2011 that occurred as the result of Cyclone Yasi. The cyclone destroyed much of the crops in Queensland, leaving Melbourne with just 15% of their regular banana supply. The cost of wholesale bananas made their way up to $13 per kilogram (an influx of bananas the year before saw wholesale prices as low as $1 per kilogram)! Supermarkets and small fresh produce retailers had the price of the fruit hiked up to upwards of $15 per kilogram and yet, sales remained steady. Although the item was in short supply, the demand for the product didn’t change and therefore provided a great marketing opportunity for those stores who were able to stock them.

Supplying an existing product or service in a new or superior way Continuous improvement to your product or service offering is key to both maintaining relevance in the market, and identifying new marketing opportunities. Having a regular continuous improvement cycle where you sit down and identify issues and improvements to your offering will allow you to develop a stronger marketing campaign. Your continuous improvement process should include activities such as:Identifying problems to fix. It’s great to obtain feedback from customers on problems or issues they face with your product/service. In order to do this you might look at things like the number of returns and the reasons for them, customer complaints and warranty claims. Identifying the perfect product or service. Focus groups of people from your target market are asked to imagine the ideal version of the product/service. You then assess your current performance against this ideal and make adjustments based on your findings. Breaking down the product/service lifecycle. Focus groups of people from your target market are interviewed in order to chart their steps in acquiring, using and disposing of a product. At each step of the product/service lifecycle, the process is evaluated and key opportunities are identified.

Supplying a new product or service It’s all about innovation! If you are able to offer a new product or service to the market based on their needs your marketing strategy has the ability to make or break the interest of consumers. If your marketing strategy is strong, your product/service could be a game changer in the industry and consumers will never look back. Think about the introduction of DVD’s, nobody was interested in purchasing videos anymore and the whole industry had to adapt to offer the same product. Now with smart TVs and streaming services such as Netflix or iTunes it looks like DVDs will become a thing of the past in the not so distant future.

Check out this infographic to further understand the difference between Sales and Marketing.

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Check out how the predominantly digital marketing company Airbnb were able to market to a country with no internet and no credit cards. Read the article here.

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Congrats on getting through your unit to this point! So what have you done in this chapter? Well, you’ve:Defined the roles of marketing and salesLooked at how to align marketing strategies to company goals and objectivesIdentified effective mediums for marketingRecognised how marketing plays a role in business evolutionSo what now? We recommend you put into practice some of the new skills, techniques and principles you’ve just learned. This is the best way we know, to ensure you know what you need to be successful on your journey – know what we mean? Now, let’s get into the next chapter!