How to Manage Your Marketing Mix

Here's the deal: advertisement is not marketing. It's like sayingyou want to have a garden, but you're only willing to plant theflowers. Forget about watering, fertilizer, good soil, weeding andsunshine. You don't need them, right?

Wrong. And the same goes for generating revenue. Done in a vacuum,none of these tactics will get you what you want. For professionalservices - where your relationship with your target audience developsbased on them trusting you - it's all about layering your "markettouches" in a way that incrementally builds trust over time. Toomuch, too close, too soon, and you scare people off.

Instead, you have to know what strategy to use and when, based onclear objectives. Each strategy has a different purpose. Here's aquick look at how to make the right choice.

Advertisement is getting the word out about your firm through paid-for ads or commercials in the media, including print, radio,television and internet. You advertise to...

* establish awareness

* build interest in the market

* educate

* interrupt

* change attitudes about your brand or another's brand

* influence perceptions

* meet a longer-term objective (like raising awareness)

Advertisement tends to be very expensive. Done well -with goodmessaging, good design, and a big enough budget to be consistent overtime - it can be effective. But blowing a big piece of your overallmarketing budget on an ad or two is a HUGE waste of money.

Public Relations is getting the word out about your firm through thepress, including articles about you (not by you) and interviews withyou. These can appear in print, as a story in the media, and online.You use Public Relations to...

* build credibility (and sometimes trust) through a third-party (thepress)

* move up a level in the eyes of your target audience and clients

* align publicly (i.e., with a cause)

* generate buzz (i.e., pre-launch)

* get "free" attention

Getting good publicity requires a knack for WIIFM-oriented messaging(What's In It For Me?). You have to pass the "who cares?" test everytime. If you start a press release, for example, with "ABC Company ispleased to announce...," you're DEAD in the water. Good relationship-building skills with the press are also a must. PR is often somethingto crank up once you have the tools in place to "catch" the attentionyou'll garner, including a website laden with value and a decent keep-in-touch system.

Promotion is getting the word out through articles/columns/newsletters that you write, talks you give, networking,sponsorships, events, committee work, referrals you give and get,follow-up meetings, thank you notes, and calls. You promote to...

* encourage your target audience to try you (i.e., visit yourwebsite for a valuable download, to subscribe to your free e-newsletter)

* invite your target audience to an event (real or virtual)

* give stuff away (trials)

* introduce a new offer

* meet a shorter-term objective (like fill a workshop)

* test new ideas (i.e., run a poll)

* invite interaction (i.e., to an online discussion forum)

Promotion tends to be the most effective way for professionalservice firms to build trust in the marketplace. The arsenal ofoptions in your promotional toolkit is both extensive and affordable.Get a basic system of online and offline promotional tactics in place- anchored by a value-packed website to act as your "revenue hub" -and you're in good shape.

You also have tactical choices to make for each strategy: online vs.offline, print/graphic vs. audio/visual, live (in person) vs.virtual, and so on. Here are some rules of (green) thumb to guide you:

* deploy the WIIFM factor at all times

* unless you have the backing of a big corporate marketing budget,promotion and PR tend to be your smartest investments

* online is generally more cost-effective than print

* permission-based approach is a must for professional services

* don't randomly try tactics. Have a plan that moves your targetaudience from Stranger to Acquaintance to Friend to Lover to LoyalPartner (see my article, "How to Earn the Right" for more on this keysuccess factor)

If you want awareness, interest, trusted advisor status, andcredibility, you need all three strategies - Advertisement, PublicRelations, and Promotion - in your marketing mix. For most firms,having a solid promotional strategy in place first is the smartestROI. Add public relations and advertisement to the mix next, and yourgarden will flourish and grow.

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