Our lives seem to be an endless cycle of repeat questions at times.
- What is your social security number?
- What year were you born?
- What is your address?
It feels like Wash, Rinse, Repeat. This may be how most business owners and leaders feel when they contact a PR firm or a marketing agency.
The standard set of questions start:
- Who is your target market?
- What is your budget for marketing efforts?
- What goals are you trying to achieve through PR?
- What are the markers of success you monitor to determine your whether your efforts are working?
- What PR or marketing tactics do you use consistently?
However, your marketing and bespoke tailoring may not be so different from each other in several areas.
- Marketing is a custom fit not a one-size-fits-all.
- Marketing requires specific tactics and tools. Bespoke clothiers work with only the best fabrics, seamstresses and tailor.
- Marketing just like bespoke clothing comes in a wide array of budgets. Depending on the level of customization, the budget for marketing increases.
Let’s see what happens when you begin to think of your marketing department, supporting marketing agency or even fractional CMO as a haute couture specialist or a bespoke tailor. Remember, they are trying to determine absolute best fit.
How to Create Custom Fit Marketing and PR
ME: Who is your target market?
You: I just told you. We serve _____. Why are you asking this again?
ME: I know you told me ______, but after you explained your current business model, product/service, and clients, my guess is that your business may attract _____. Do you want to attract the target market you mentioned, or are you just telling me what you decided years ago when you started your business?
ME: What goals are you trying to achieve through marketing?
You: I want to make more money!
ME: Are there product lines that are under-producing? Are we attempting to drive traffic to those product lines to determine if they should continue? Or are we just growing your largest profit center even higher? What goals did you set as a company? My guess is that your goals are pretty specific. Just making more money is more generic. I am sure you need certain profit centers to make more money. What are they? Who uses thoseservices/products? What kind of marketing have you done specific to those services/products?
ME: What marketing tactics do you use consistently?
You: Nothing. That is why we are here! If we could consistently handle our marketing, we wouldn’t need you.
ME: I understand. However, there are probably things you do well. Do you ask for referrals? Does your staff share your Google Review Link? Do you network with certain groups regularly? Do you send out a marketing email monthly? Just because you aren’t doing everything you would like to do doesn’t mean that you aren’t doing something well. We need to know what those things are so that we can build on those and grow your exposure.
ME: What is your most productive marketing tactic?
You: I don’t know. We don’t track that stuff.
ME: Even if you don’t track those numbers, you can make a best guess. How do clients/customers report they found you? Google? Social media? Someone told them about you? They drove by and saw your sign? This will give us a starting point of how current new business is finding you.
ME: What is your budget for marketing efforts?
You: As little as possible with as much reach as possible.
In determining the answers to these questions, we can come up with a custom marketing plan for your business. We can provide custom media placements and spend an alloted amount of time, based on your budget. So next time, you pitch a client, make it a custom approach to win the business.
Susan Nefzger is the owner of a S Nefzger PR, in operation for more than 18 years specializing, in public relations, marketing, writing and executive coaching.