Larry on Business: The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing

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I like Bryan Walden Pope’s The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing best of all the marketing programs I’ve read. I qualify that remark by saying that the 7 Pillars

Work well with mid-size companies, but best with small- or home-based businesses
Structure the marketing efforts of novices &owners lacking marketing backgrounds
Simplify the complex concepts of marketing into easy to follow steps
Provide million dollar marketing on a shoestring
Apply well to all kinds of businesses: storefronts, internet based, home & more

You should understand, before we begin, that each pillar provides a foundation for the following pillar and sets the stage for the next. So, you want to follow them in order. Also, Bryan never refers to our clients as customers. He appreciates the principles of care, nurture, and protection implied in the term “client”.

So, let’s explore an overview of The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing

Pillar 1: Market Research

Bryan recommends you establish a marketing team of people, vendors, suppliers, and others whose vested interest motivates them to help you succeed. You will conduct your SWOT analysis as part of this pillar. In addition, you will conduct primary and secondary market research to identify both primary clients and competitors as well as secondary clients and competitors.

Pillar 2: The Right Message

The right message includes your Unique Market Position Statement (UMPS) which drives you to really clarify and define your business, your client, your product, your motivation, what makes you distinct, and what draws your client to you. This pillar analyzes your logo, trademark and image to ensure consistent messaging. Frequent assessment of your message allows you to provide even better experiences to your clients.

Pillar 3: Strategy

Strategy includes establishing the specific and measureable goals for marketing each profit center, including the timeframes and milestones to accomplish goals. Strategy outlines your marketing budget (which you will add to the financial section of your business plan). It builds the high/level product/service, pricing, and placement/distribution strategy for your business.

Pillar 4: Campaigns

You outline each of the campaigns you will use throughout the year to emphasize and highlight your sales. Campaigns cater your marketing plan to seasonal, holiday, or special reasons unique to your product. You allocate timelines, dates, budget, and resources for each campaign. Campaigns have very specific start and end dates. You measure the success of each campaign.

Pillar 5: Vehicles & Tools

Each campaign will use specific methods for making the purchase desirable and vehicles to deliver the message to the client. Marketing methods include publicity/public relations, promotions, and advertising. Marketing vehicles consist of how your will get the message to your client. Vehicles include mailings, radio, Internet, telephone, television, magazines, newspapers, and personal visits.

Pillar 6: Sales

Sales defines how you will convert the client’s interest into a purchase. Each method and vehicle for each campaign within the strategy must lead to a sales point. This pillar includes strategies, systems, and expenses unique to the pillar. Whether a person purchase on the Internet, walking a product to a checkout stand, or signing a sales contract with a sales representative; your marketing plan must define who finalizes the sale, and how they do it.

Pillar 7: Client Retention

Client retention describes how you will capture data about your clients for further marketing. This pillar forces you to determine what information you will capture and how you will use it. In addition, client retention describes how you will use the information, and how you will reveal client satisfaction and suggestions for improvement. Client retention returns you to the first pillar of market research.

Remember, that this is only an overview. There is much more to The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing than has been packed into this overview. I strongly recommend that you contact Bryan directly and purchase his Introduction to the 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing package. He offers an introductory set of CDs plus more than 53 additional CD’s covering various of the 7 pillars in more detail.

The 7 pillars provide a framework that you can use to structure all the marketing information you gather. I highly recommend Bryan’s approach. I hope you find it as useful as I have. The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing helped me increase participation in our events 500% over 6 years. I know it can help you to increase your profits and revenues.

Join me next week when we discuss Finding Fun in Sales Calls.

Until then, I’m Larry Stevenson wishing you more money, better living.

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