The most commonly discussed element in marketing is obviously the issue of selling to the customer – writing the promotional material in the right way, sending it to the right people, and so on.  It’s the one bit that we tend to spend most time on.

But there are two other elements which must be taken into account if you are looking to have a complete picture of marketing.

The second element involves knowing what your competitors are doing.  By this I don’t mean having someone snooping around their offices, digging through the dustbins, hacking into the computers, and tapping the phone lines.  If you want to do that, I leave it up to you, and can offer no support.

What I mean is knowing

  1. what their current adverts look like
  2. what benefits they are pushing (if any) and how they are answering the point “why you should buy this product from me?”.
  3. what they are doing on line in terms of web sites and blogs.

All of this information is valuable because it allows you to differentiate yourselves from the competition, and makes it much easier for you to establish your presence in the market, so that people hear your company name and then say, “oh, you are the guys who…”

Fortunately, most firms don’t do this sort of research, just as most firms sell on announcements rather than benefits – which makes your life easier if you choose to do it.

The third element is knowing what is happening in the marketplace.  For example, let’s imagine you sell a product or service to solicitors, estate agents and others whose work stems from the buying and selling of property.  Your business can have a downturn because you get your marketing wrong (the first element) or because one of your competitors gets his marketing right (the second element) or because there is a change in the marketplace.  If house sales go right down, your sales will go down.

I am not suggesting that you then act to change the economy (even I with my super human powers of marketing can’t do that) but it is vital to bring this element into sharp focus, so that you can adjust your marketing campaign to accommodate the market.

What some firms do is say, “there’s no point advertising now, the market is really flat”, while there are others who just ignore the market conditions, and keep going as before.

I think both approaches miss a trick, because it is often possible to use the market to your advantage even when it seems to be on its knees.

But you do have to be sure that you have reasonable information here.  You need to be talking on the phone to people – not trying to sell them things but instead asking them insightful questions about how their market is going, where they are finding opportunities and so on. It is interesting what people will tell you when you show a real interest in their companies and their businesses.

A good marketing campaign puts all these elements together – the way of reaching potential customers, the knowledge of what the competitors are up to, and research among customers and potential customers as to what is going on in the economy in relation to your area of interest.

I’m so certain these three elements are vital that we have put all three elements into the HHM Velocity package, so that our clients can create and disseminate the adverts as well as research the competition and the market place at the same time, all for one monthly fee.  There are details on www.velocity.ac – then click on “Business”.

Or call 01536 399 000, and ask for one of the Velocity team – we always like to chat.

Tony Attwood