what are you trying to accomplish?
by august j. aquila
price it right: how to value accounting services
there is no silver bullet when it comes to marketing. that does not mean that having a focused marketing plan is not of critical importance to the success of your consulting practice. at last count, there were more than 15 different marketing tools that you can use to support your sales efforts, to generate leads and to get prospects to select your firm.
more: six ways to market your technology consulting practice | five reasons to implement change orders | make your practice better | eleven marketing strategies for smaller firms | five questions for developing your marketing plan | you only have four strategies | the damage that traditional fee methods do
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the first question that comes to mind is, “which of the marketing tools should my firm use?” only you can answer that question, but here are some other things to consider in reaching your decision:
- what do i or my consultants like to do when it comes to marketing?
- what are we trying to accomplish? do you need leads, name recognition, publicity, promotional material, online presence, etc.?
your marketing tools should reflect the personalities of your consultants and their goals. you can divide marketing tools into three main types:
- one-way messages
- two-way messages
- one-on-one messages
one-way marketing messages
the following marketing tools generally fall under this category:
- advertising
- public relations
- printed newsletters
- direct mail
- brochures
- articles
- podcasts
these messages can reach hundreds, even thousands of prospects (and clients). the message is one-way because the recipient does not have the chance to enter into a dialogue with the sender of the message.
two-way marketing messages
a second category of marketing tools – speeches, trade shows, seminars, community involvement, referral events, open houses, focus groups, etc. – usually helps to bring prospects who may already be aware of your firm, or are interested in a topic that your firm covers, into direct contact with your consultants. although these tools reach a much smaller audience, the individuals they reach are more qualified than those reached in the first category. most of the tools in category 1 can be prepared by someone other than your consultants. that is not true for the activities in category 2.
one-on-one marketing messages
category 3 brings you into the realm of sales. the activities in this category may include telemarketing, seminar follow-up, proposal presentations and other types of one-on-one activities. this activity is not leverageable, and the presenter is giving a specific message to the prospect. your consultants should be spending 20 percent to 40 percent of their time in this marketing area.
these three categories can help you screen your prospects. category 1 will give you the largest number of leads. category 2 provides fewer but more qualified leads. category 3 gets you in front of prospects who are more ready to buy a service or product.
increase your one-on-one marketing messages.