Five techniques to improve marketing

THE single biggest weakness I find in many growth firms is the lack of a separate and effective marketing function.  

If it exists at all, it’s seen as a simple sales support function tasked with making sure the website is updated and the sales people have presentation packs. Instead, it should be a vital function headed up by the CEO or reporting directly to the CEO.

In the spirit that it takes a ‘village of gurus’ to help a growth firm, I recommend several books and techniques, which, when woven together, will give your marketing function plenty to do to help drive growth.

Father of modern marketing

With deference to Philip Kotler, the creator of the 4 Ps to be of marketing (product, price, place, and promotion), I consider the father of modern marketing Regis McKenna. His firm was the key marketing adviser, in the early days, to Apple, Intel, Microsoft and Genentech.  

Start by finding an out-of-print copy of The Regis Touch and absorb it. The essence of his approach is two-fold. First, the key to great marketing is setting aside one hour a week for a marketing meeting, separate and distinct from the weekly sales meeting. The focus of this meeting is identifying and figuring out ways to build relationships with the key influencers within your market.  

Top 250 list

Building on the idea of influencers, take a page from Keith Ferrazzi’s playbook. Author of Who’s Got Your Back, he advises CEOs to delineate a list of the top 250 relationships needed to double revenues: existing and potential key customers; critical suppliers; influential industry analysts and writers; politicians; etc. It’s an outstanding strategy exercise that will consume the first few weekly marketing meetings.  

Then launch initiatives to reach out to the top 50 on a monthly basis; the next 100 on a quarterly basis; and the last 100 at least once per year (nurture marketing). Press releases, external newsletters, and personalised gifts and messages are some of the ways. In addition, it’s imperative to not waste lunch eating at your desk, but get out of the office and break bread with someone on your list.

As a side note, it’s also imperative that the marketing department generates the specific list of prospects for sales people to call upon and the accompanying background research sales people need to bring value to the sale call.

Four Es of marketing

Focusing on your top 250 list, next apply Ogilvy & Mather’s 4 Es of marketing to this group of influencers.  A 21st century update to Kotler’s 4 Ps of marketing, this top marketing and PR firm suggests that: it’s not just about the product, but the entire experience; it’s not about price but the kinds of exchanges you can negotiate; it’s not about place, but being everyplace your customers can be found; and it’s not just about promotion but turning your employees and customers into evangelists.

Real-time marketing

‘You are what you publish’, notes David Meerman Scott, author of Real-Time Marketing and PR. As such, he suggests a key hire for your marketing team is a journalist – part-time or full time – to help you publish white papers, articles, and blogs, produce YouTube videos (which rank high on search engines), and even write a book, which I consider a top priority for all CEOs of companies.  

It’s also critical in this real-time media world that you react quickly to the news around your industry. As such, Scott suggests you figure out how to insert yourself into the ‘second paragraph’ of relevant stories i.e. a competitor gets purchased (the first paragraph) and you blog a thoughtful response that gets picked up by others commenting on the transaction.  

Getting your message right

Two additional books will give your marketing team plenty of ‘to dos’ for the next several months and help structure the messaging on the website and in your marketing materials. The first is Reality Revolution Marketing by Mike Lieberman and Eric Keiles. I particularly like their process for nailing down the key message on your website. They also suggest you draw a blue circle around every word ‘you or your’ and a red square around every word ‘we or us’ to highlight if you’re talking about yourself too much versus the customer in emails, proposals, and on your website – try it.

The second book is Kevin Daum’s book Roar: Getting Heard in the Sales and Marketing Jungle. His book outlines a process for crafting the right value proposition that will cut through the noise and garner the attention of prospective customers.

Verne Harnish is CEO of Gazelles Inc, an executive education and coaching solutions provider, and author of Mastering the Rockefeller Habits: What You Must Do to Increase the Value of Your Fast-Growth Firm.