When most people think of marketing, they think of aspects of it – advertising or sales, maybe putting together a brochure or a website. Those in professional services tend to think of marketing as manipulative and unprofessional. You think of the sleazy used car salesman who makes the best deal possible, regardless of if that’s what his customers want. Or perhaps you think of that annoying credit card telemarketer who interrupted your dinner last night and wouldn’t take no for an answer.
The good news is that marketing doesn’t have to be like this. In fact, as management guru, Peter Drucker, said, “the aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous.” So what does that mean?
Create Your Marketing Campaign
Well, first, marketing is a systematic, well planned set of actions designed to get prospects to contact you. It is based on what your prospects are looking for – in terms of their needs and wants – and them giving them sufficient information – again, through a series of inquiries and contacts with you – to get them to choose you to solve their problem. What that means is that marketing means to know your clients and prospects extremely well. It’s not about what services you offer and can convince them to buy. It’s about what problems and needs they have, and how, with your own services, you can solve their problems.
I notice when looking over prospects’ marketing materials, most are focused on them – their company, what they offer, etc. The material is all about them and they haven’t taken the time to
- narrow down a target market
- research that market’s needs and problems
- research how to most effectively reach those audiences
- explain clearly how the services they offer are different and unique from their competitors
Usually, they’ve decided that the time has come that they put up a website or create a brochure because they should have one – maybe their competitors have one or maybe executive management wants one. Rarely, it’s because they’ve taken the time to plan a complete system that focuses on
- generating leads
- moving prospects from initial contact to contract
- moving clients from contract to final deliverables
- keeping in touch with past clients and asking for referrals
‘Marketing’ is an umbrella term that encompasses each of these steps.
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