Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Another Sign Of The Times: Just In Time For Valentine's Day

As you, my faithful readers, know very well, I constantly post interesting marketing, PR, and social media news stories and trend items on the official CMAC Twitter stream: @CaddyMarketing. However, I very rarely reiterate those topics here...until today.

According to a story by Bruce Horovitz in USA Today, New England Confectionery, the maker of the ubiquitous and highly-popular Sweethearts candy, has come up with a new and extremely clever message to be included on its hearts just in time for Valentine's Day: Tweet Me.



The new, and very timely, message resulted from an online survey which the company conducted last year, and which generated over 10,000 responses. The runner-up entries. Text Me came in second, and Love Bug, a hit song from the Jonas Brothers, finished third.

A publicity stunt or another social media invention? Check out the following statement from Patricia Martin, cultural guru and author of Renaissance Generation: The Rise of the Cultural Consumer and What it Means to Your Business. "This is an indication of the new media yet to come. It's a new way of advertising when two brands get together to create cultural meaning. That's very different from creating a 30-second TV spot."

Actually, it's neither. In my book, it is simply a brilliant marketing move which captures the essence of a white-hot communications trend (i.e., Twitter) and reverts it back into traditional form. Oh, yeah, and one more thing: this tactic also received the blessing of Biz Stone, co-founder of Twiter, who said, "It's even more proof that people can say anything in short messages. A 140-character message may seem short. Sweethearts are even smaller."

Friday, January 8, 2010

A New Year...A New Marketing Plan Part II: How To Build A Marketing Plan For Small Business

I wanted to offer my readers a timely, relevant follow-up to my post the other day which emphasizes that the beginning of a new year is a perfect time to either refresh a business's existing marketing plan, or build an entirely new one from scratch. In either case, the plan must reflect changing market conditions and company dynamics.

Since that post went live, I have received numerous inquiries from small business owners, all with the same question: how do I actually build a marketing plan for my company?

It's not as hard as it might seem. For good, solid guidance on this exact topic, please check out my recently-posted contributed article entitled, "How To Build A Marketing Plan For Small Business," on UnderstandingMarketing.com. This piece provides step-by-step instructions on how to build a marketing plan from the ground up, and insight into the various issues which small business owners must explore when finalizing the scope and depth of their marketing efforts.

If you're not familiar yet with UnderstandingMarketing.com, you really need to be, as it is an excellent resource for small business marketing and communications strategies, tactics, and techniques. Founded and managed by John Sternal, UnderstandingMarketing.com offers readers a bounty of “do-it-yourself” marketing and PR information and advice so they can remain competitive and also maximize tight budgets. The Web site helps by providing how-to advice on everything from traditional marketing, such as direct mail and loyalty programs, to today’s more complex social marketing opportunities found on Facebook and Twitter. Make sure to check it out when you get a chance; you won't be sorry. And it looks like I will be working with John on a regular basis as a frequent contributor to the site.

And as always, please stay dialed in to the Marketing Mulligans blog for even more great content, counsel, insight, and perspectives on marketing and communications strategies for small and mid-sized businesses.

Best wishes for a great weekend...

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

A New Year...A New Marketing Plan

If you're anything like me, you're still recovering from a very business holiday season, and slowly but surely getting back into full-time work mode after taking time off to spend with your friends and family over the past few weeks. If this describes you, then welcome back to reality! It's really not so bad once you get back into the flow of your normal business routine. Or so I remind myself...

During the initial week of January, I always like to spend the first few days totally closing out the previous year (e.g., filing, completing year-end accounting, preparing financial statements, etc.), and then devoting significant time to finalizing all business plans (i.e., finance, operations, marketing, etc.) for the next 12-month period. As part of this process, I carefully review the plans I have already written, and then modify them accordingly based on specific goals and objectives I want to achieve, specific trends I have identified, and market conditions that I know will impact my company, positive or negatively. Most importantly, I evaluate what worked, and what didn't, in the previous year...across all business functions, including marketing.

And that brings me to the main point of this post. As I've mentioned before in this forum, many business owners simply ignore the strategic planning process altogether, and that's a HUGE mistake on many levels. An even larger error in judgment is to embark on a marketing effort, regardless of its size, without having a detailed marketing plan in place. I see it way too often in the SMB sector, and this approach (or lack thereof!) almost never works out to the company's advantage.

Now that it's 2010, do yourself two favors: 1.) Please don't ignore the strategic planning process; your business will thank you in the end!; and 2.) If you intend to market your products or services at all this year, then take some time to develop a comprehensive marketing plan so there is a concrete rationale and approach in place to guide your efforts as you move forward.

It's a new year, and that means you should have a new marketing plan in hand to assist you. Times change, people change, businesses change, and industry conditions change. All of your plans should reflect these shifts, but your marketing plan will BEST outline how you continue to reach and interact with your core customers as these dynamics remain fluid.