I recently read/listened to a great post on
John Jantsch's Duct Tape Marketing blog titled
7 Steps to Small Business Marketing Success. While I was reading it I thought...these are the building blocks of success for a company of any size!
I thought it would be fun to turn the information into a pop quiz. Here are John's steps:
- Narrow your marketing focus to ideal customers
- Differentiate or compete on price
- Create marketing materials that educate
- Lead generate to be found instead of hunt
- Create a lead conversion process
- Harness technology and the Internet
- Live by the calendar
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Take the Quiz!
1) Narrow your focus. Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is not the Fortune 2000! The days of casting out the big net are over. The companies that win are those that clearly define what a high probability account looks like in great detail and go after those companies with a vengeance.
How well have you defined your ICP? If the answer is very well - give yourself 1 point.
2) Differentiate or compete on price. Are you really different than your competition? And, if you are, can the sales/marketing organization articulate your differences in less than 3 minutes?
If yes - give yourself 1 point. If not, let's hope you are competing on price.
3) Create marketing materials that educate. There are two kinds of marketing materials that educate. White papers that educate your technical audience and marketing materials that educate your business user or decision maker.
If you have both - give yourself 1 point.
4) Lead generate to be found. What is your strategy for inbound lead generation? Do you have a blog that is ripe with interesting content? Do you know what search words are being used when you are found? Are you using social media as part of your marketing plan?
If you can answer yes to all of the above - give yourself 1 point.
5) Create a lead conversion process. What is happening to the leads you do generate? Do you have an effective process in place that consists of 4 touches in 10 business days? Does each touch deliver a unique portion of your value proposition?
If you can answer yes - give yourself 1 point.
6) Harness technology and the internet. Do you have a marketing automation platform in place? Have you developed an automated lead scoring and lead nurturing system that is effective and allows prospects to self identify?
If you can answer yes - give yourself 1 point.
7) Live by the calendar. Prospects are fickle. It is not their job to remember you it is your job to stay in front of them. Do you have a marketing plan in place that allows you to stay in front of prospects with interesting content and compelling offers?
If you can answer yes - give yourself 1 point.
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That's it. So, thank you John for a great post and getting me thinking!
Now dear readers, take the quiz and let me know how you do!