[Smart Marketing] Marketing Planning: Chapter 5

I ’m continually surprised when asked a question that amounts to, "When should I do my marketing?" I have more answers to this question than can adequately be addressed here. But here goes, anyway.

I don’t care what business you’re in, you’re always marketing! You’re marketing when you provide existing customers with great service and then ask them for referrals or to purchase additional services. You’re marketing when you consider how you look, speak and act when you’re in the presence of a customer or a prospect. You’re marketing when you’re equipping technicians, managing administrative folks and motivating sales staff. You’re marketing all the time.

That having been said, I believe the question really is, "When should I be out there, aggressively recruiting new customers?" To this there are several answers and all of them are right. It becomes a question of philosophy and resources.

CHOICES, CHOICES, CHOICES. If you are of the "fish when the fish are biting" school of thought, then you’re doing your most aggressive marketing during biological and climatic seasons. You’re promoting your termite business during swarm season and you’re promoting your pest service during times of heightened activity for ants, roaches, etc. You’re buying "flights" of advertising and depending on your budget, you’re buying deep, meaning a number of media outlets.

If, on the other hand, you are of the "top-of-mind awareness" school of thought, then you’re buying somewhat shallower in the media pool but you’re out there on a more regular and consistent basis. You’re "branding" your message in the mind of the consumer and banking on them remembering you when the need strikes.

The first example is a more tactical approach to marketing. You’re taking advantage of seasonal activities to "strike while the iron is hot." Your measurement is more of an incremental return on investment — how many leads/sales did I get and convert during "the season"? The second example is more strategic. You’re attempting to build a customer base and revenue over a longer period of time and you’re measuring performance against the same period of time a year ago. As I said, both of these notions are correct. It boils down to what you’re comfortable with. Over the years I’ve met pest management professionals who market their businesses exclusively in the Yellow Pages and who wait for the phone to ring. I’ve also met marketing junkies who are drawn to every conceivable device and activity in the world. At the end of the day it all boils down answering “yes” to two basic questions; is it effective (does it work) and is it efficient (can I make money with what I’m doing)?

What really becomes important in terms of when you do your marketing is whether you hit your target and get your message across. It’s kind of like a military operation. Everything has to happen correctly or it doesn’t work as well as it might. We’ve discussed budgeting, identifying the “who” and the “where” of identifying your customer, and now we’ve touched on the question of “when.”

Next up, the “what” of marketing. What is your message? This is the creative part and it’s crucial to the success of your effort.

The author is president of Massey-Persons-Brinati Communications, a subsidiary of Massey Services Inc., Maitland, Fla.