The Marketing Cycle Simplified

My definition of marketing: identify or create a need in a particular audience, and then develop ways to satisfy that need. To put it in more practical terms, a company must understand their customer’s problem and then to bring them together with the solution they offer.

The cycle might look like this:
  1. research and observation (who is having what problem?)
  2. product/service development (what’s the solution?)
  3. promotional strategy (what’s the message and medium?)
  4. getting the message out (you can solve their problem!)
  5. call to action (getting the customer to buy)
  6. sealing the deal (negotiating the work)
  7. fulfilling the order (delivering the solution in a way that's faithful to the brand)
  8. evaluation (did it work? is the customer happy?)
  9. back to the beginning (refining the need and the solution for an ongoing partnership)

This could apply to profit companies trying to win customers, or not-for-profit organizations looking for more supporters, or event planners looking for more attendees. The issues are the same: need, solution, promotion, fulfillment. Marketing is the discipline of getting all that done.

Before you start:

There are some things you must have in place to ensure an effective campaign:

  • your brand must nailed down (identity, purpose, culture, methods)*
  • you have to understand whom your audience is (focus)
  • your product or service must be solid (quality, quantity)
  • your delivery must be guaranteed (can you pull it off?)
  • customer support must be ready

Maybe it's time to change how your are thinking about your customer—they are the reason you are in business, so what are their problems, what is your solution, and how can you get your message out with integrity?

 

*huge topic for another time

Author: Brad

Tags: marketing,branding

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