On this website, I feature the writings of others, but today, I had to feature something I wrote and posted on my other site:
The not-so-secret writings of ScLoHo |
Why Marketing is More Than Advertising
Posted: 22 Dec 2008 07:04 AM CST
You may have noticed the phrase on the right side of this page, "Marketing is so much more than advertising..."
But why?
Advertising is a part of your marketing.
Advertising is a paid form of marketing that you can control.
It's the invitation for people to do business with you.
I sometimes use the invitation comparison like this:
What if you decided to have a party. It was going to be one BIG Extravaganza! You hired a band, a caterer, rented a reception hall, spent tons of money on getting everything all set for 500 people but you left out one key element: You never sent any invitations with the details.
No matter how much planning you put into your party, if you don't invite anyone, no one will show up.
Same thing with your business. That's the purpose of advertising. To get peoples attention to what you have to offer.
Marketing is the whole customer experience. It includes the way your phone is answered, the way your staff treat customers and potential customers. The professional appearance of you, your staff, the vehicles you drive, the way you handle complaints, the way you thank people for doing business with you.
There's the way your building looks, the way your website looks, and the image they project. Your business card, your follow up and follow through. The way you and your staff conduct yourselves in your off hours, that "personal time".
Each of these items build on each other. It can be a delicate balance like the stack of stones in the picture.
If any of these marketing issues are lacking, no amount of paid advertising can fix them. Sure, you can try and compensate for a bad location with excellent service, but advertising... that's another animal.
As you prepare for the new year and deal with a new economy, you have an opportunity, and a necessity to work on all of these areas that I've tossed into the marketing arena, including advertising.
Need help?
Contact me at ScLoHo@ScLoho.net
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