Blue Tech Initiative
Blue Tech Initiative. Do Better Business - Do Business BETTER!
Drawing the M.A.P.
Lead prospective customers from "Why? " to "BUY!"
A CommunIT Solutions Presentation
- CPR = CommunIT Solutions' Small Business Development curriculum, which explores the three fundamental business success factors:
- Consistency
- Predictability
- Replication
Pyramid of Business Fundamentals
The Buyer's Impulse
- People buy based on want over need
- People buy based on perceived value
- Buying is usually triggered by an emotional impulse
Customer Engagement
- Marketing: tell your Brand Story
- Advertising: reveal your Product Benefits
- Promotion: capture and maintain "Mindshare"
Triggering the "Buy" Response
Market
your Brand
Your Brand
- ...is not your logo or your tag line
- ...is a conversation with your market
- ...establishes emotional connection with your prospects, clients and customers
Tell me a story
Marketing is not about telling "the truth"; marketing is about telling the story of your brand to those predisposed to believe it.
Speak to the Need
- Spread awareness and understanding of your brand and brand values
- Inform the public how your brand satisfies their wants and needs
- Identify the prospective buyers' values and desires, then tell the story of how your brand addresses those values, and fulfills those desires
Advertise
your Product
Advertisement
- ...describes benefits over features
- ...follows Marketing, because people buy Brands, not Products
- ...is for building product awareness, NOT generating sales
What's in it for ME?
STOP talking about yourself. Don't post a fact sheet of components and capabilities - tell a story of benefits and advantages.
It's not what your product does (features and functions): it's what it does FOR THE BUYER (values and desires).
Sell the Sizzle
- Sell them what they want, give them what they need
- Don't try to sell steak to people who aren't hungry
- Ads are for product awareness, NOT sales
- Don't advertise to make money: advertise to KEEP MAKING money
Promote
your Business
Promotion
- ...is for capturing mindshare
- ...is focused on existing customers and clients
- ...reminds people of the emotional connections created by marketing
Top of Mind
Promotion is to remind existing customers of the emotional connection made by Marketing and the benefits established in your Advertising Campaign.
To move them from Brand Awareness to Brand Preference.
Your Brand Here...
Not "Me" - "We"
- Promote the partnership between your company and your clients' businesses
- Promotion is about occupying mindshare, NOT shelf space.
- Promotion is the heat that maintains the sizzle Marketing creates.
- DO NOT USE CHEAP STUFF!!! If you promote your business by branding flimsy, useless tchotchke, what are you saying about how much you value your brand? Or your market...??
Charting the Course
- Many Small Businesses are not clear about their customer engagement strategy
- Advertising is often confused for Marketing, which is ineffective and expensive
- Brand Awareness is key, which is why Marketing is first: there is nothing to Advertise or Promote if nobody knows your brand
To Market...
It's not about what your product does - it's about who your product does it for.
Speak to them - not at them. Find out what they want, directly from them, when possible.
Drawing the M.A.P.
By Blue Tech Initiative
Drawing the M.A.P.
Marketing, Advertising and Promotion are all powerful tools for reaching your market - but they're not the same thing. Use them properly to use them well - use them together to harness their full power.
