Marketing is not just Advertising

Marketing is not just advertising.   It’s about developing a brand, an image that customers will remember.  It’s about delivering a memorable experience.  Sure, advertising is a part of that, but so are a lot of other things.  In the next few weeks, I will be posting an 8 part series centred around creating that memorable impression.   This first post is an overview on how to create that memorable impression.

I often refer to what I call the “marketing wheel”.  (I’m not the first or only one to refer to it this way, nor is my “wheel” the only one out there.)  Here’s how it works.  Advertising messages from different media and different promotional approaches all become part of a single message about the company.  So, it stands to reason that marketing is not just about advertising… it’s about the entire package that the company portrays.  So, all of your marketing activities need to work together to deliver the same consistent message.

If you look at the “marketing wheel”, you’ll see that the company website is right in the centre of the wheel.  That’s because these days, if you don’t have a website, nobody is going to know you exist.  Think about it; when you’re looking for a company, do you still look in the yellow pages?  Likely not.  Instead you “Google” it.  So, your entire marketing communications plan needs to centre around your website.  Every other marketing activity needs to lead back to that website.

I love the advertising campaign for Franks Red Hot Sauce.  The old lady that says she “puts that sh#t on everything” is hilarious.  But think about that tag line and use it in relation to your website.  Put it on EVERYTHING!

Advertising is pretty self-explanatory, but a lot of people think that advertising isn’t important anymore because companies have so much more available to them on-line.  And it’s free.  Well, advertising is still extremely important.  Just remember that your traditional advertising needs to reach your intended target market and it needs to present that consistent image.  Your traditional advertising needs to lead your customers back to your website.

Public relations is a great way to get customers to trust you.  Anytime you have the opportunity to get in front of a camera or get an article printed in a newspaper or magazine, you have just solidified your place in the world as the expert in your field.  Make sure that your company spokesperson is articulate and professional.  Remember, you’re trying to create a positive image for your company!

Sales promotions and direct marketing are great for driving traffic into your business.  The downside is that they don’t develop that brand loyalty you want.  However, that’s not to say that they should never be implemented.  These are really important parts of the “marketing wheel”.  Once again, make sure the image you have projected in your website and in your advertising is carried over into your sales promotion activities.

Personal selling is by far one of the most important aspects to developing that brand for your company.  Your sales team needs to know exactly what your company mission and vision are and they need to live that every day.  The last thing you want is for customers to have a bad experience with a sales associate because they will tell a lot of people to never shop in your store ever again. 

And of course, on-line marketing is extremely important to your marketing plan.  15 years ago, this was not something that companies thought about.   Now it’s absolutely vital that you are able to be found on the web.  Remember that whatever you put on the internet stays there forever.  No matter how well you think it might be hidden, it can always be found, so anytime you post anything on the internet think about how that is going to reflect your image.

In the rest of the posts, I will start going into more depth about each section of the wheel, starting with the website.  If you take away only one thing from these posts, I want it to be this:

Advertising messages from different media and different promotional approaches all become part of a single message about the company.  So keep it consistent!