Marketing Nuts and Bolts
Want to know what’s under the hood here at WriterAccess? This series will give you a better understanding of how a business like ours markets itself. And it’s straight from the man responsible for keeping WriterAccess marketing moving.
Looking to start marketing your business? Here’s a quick guide for you to consider before you start.
Understand what ‘marketing’ really means.
Before starting, you need to understand what marketing really is. Marketing is the art of capturing, creating, communicating, and delivering messages that create value. In simple terms, how your product or service is better than the amount of money the customer has to give up? Marketing is the key to showing that value.
Understand the Marketing Mix.
Marketing is more than just promotion. You should have an understanding of the whole marketing mix: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. Each part of the mix directly influences the other.
– Product: Make sure your product is satisfying someone’s needs. If you can’t confidently say your product is making people’s lives better, then you can’t be marketing.
– Price: You have to give something to get something. Make sure that you set your pricing at a point that delivers value to the customer and still allows you to make a profit.
– Place: Where can someone buy your product or service? Does it make sense to sell at convenient stores, outlets, grocery stores, or the internet? And how do you get your product or service to that location? Make sure you answer these questions in a way that delivers value to your customers.
– Promotion: This is the part that most people think of when they hear the word marketing. Use your promotions to get people’s attention and show off the value of the previous aspects of the marketing mix.
Find your metrics.
This is arguably the hardest part of marketing, but it is easily the most important. If you really want to be successful with your marketing, you need to know how to measure success. Whether it’s open rates, unique visitors, conversion rates, or increasing sales, you need to establish what results make sense to track. Combine those numbers with a solid marketing budget and you’ll be able to see where you’re getting the highest return on your marketing investment.
Need help deciding on what marketing metrics you should use? I recommend looking at Marketing Metrics: The Definitive Guide to Measuring Marketing Performance.
Once you get a hold of these marketing nuts and bolts, you’ll be ready to kick-start your marketing machine. Stay tuned for the next installment.
Glen Jackman is the Marketing Specialist at WriterAccess and ideaLaunch. He’s responsible for managing the database, running email marketing campaigns, executing SEO and content marketing strategies, and managing social media marketing. Contact Glen on Twitter @GlenJackman or by email Glen (at) WriterAccess.com.
