SHAPING STRATEGY Do You Make This Basic Marketing Mistake? MARK MEHLING, THE FOUNDRY MARKETER
totally confounded by persuasion and influence, sometimes called “market- ing.” From my work, I discovered most new quote efforts rely on luck instead of a system. And it all comes down to a simple, but ignored, basic. Consider this analogy. No one
U
would melt just any metal, pour it at any temperature, into any mold. Tere are specific alloys, poured at specific temperatures, to meet a specific cli- ent’s requirements. Yet, in marketing, many metalcasters randomly pick any media as a first step, don’t have a target market, and the message is confusing or missing. Ten they wonder why the results are defective. Tere are three essential steps to any
effort when marketing. Done out of sequence, the effort will fail. Te three, equally important elements
of any persuasion and influence are: • Choosing the Message to be conveyed.
• Choosing the Target Market to be reached with the message.
• Choosing the Media that best reaches the target market with the message. In that order.
Step 1: The MESSAGE Conceiving your message must be
done first. No exceptions. What is your message? What dif-
ferentiates your metalcasting business? Is your message about YOU, or about buyers? Is it clear or subtle? Is it boring? Your message must clearly answer:
“Why, of all the choices available, should I, a buyer of castings, choose to do business with you?” Foundries ignore this question—to their loss. A review of websites showed few
had compelling messages. Most could be summed up as “we sell castings” or an unsupported “we’re the best.” Tese generic statements could be made for every other metalcaster’s site, including overseas competitors. Developing a message is not simple.
nlike the formulaic processes that govern much of met- alcasting, most companies are
But ignoring the message, and starting at either of the other two steps, is finan- cially disastrous for marketing ROI.
Step 2: The MARKET Once you have the message, who
do you want to understand it? Just as 2-, 22-, and 52-year-olds communicate differently, their varying backgrounds, education and job positions require
away. Brochures can look beautiful, but does anyone read them? Trade journals can be great—if you know your target is reading them and you can stand out from competitors in the same publication. Many ad agencies cheerfully sell media first—a waste of a limited budget. Until you are assured your properly crafted message will reach your well researched target market us-
Any effort to communicate must determine the message first, the target audience second, and, lastly, the medium.
styles and methods they comprehend. Recruiting ads for “technical buyers” show limited educational requirements for some positions and extremely technical degrees for others. Your market is not a nameless/
faceless company, but an individual or group. Is the market a buyer? With a technical background? An engineer? A buying committee? Each one has dif- ferent wants, needs and problems, past and present. Who exactly are you trying to reach with the message you formed in Step 1? Te message can be tweaked for each category, but the market is still the second step in the template.
Final Step: The MEDIA Choosing the right medium is
equally as important as the message and the market. But it always must be done last. Media choices are overwhelming.
From websites (yes, it’s only a medium) to brochures, Facebook (don’t look for ME there), books, videos, CDs, direct mail, email, trade journal ads, the list is long. All media are good. Some are just a poor choice to reach your intended market with your message. Each has advantages and disadvan-
tages. For example, online is quick and inexpensive. But it encourages shopping around because competitors are a click
July 2014 MODERN CASTING | 41
ing a specific medium, don’t waste the marketing budget. If you change any of the three ele-
ments, the others have to change. Want a different market? Te message and media must be re-mastered. Change the mes- sage? Better re-determine your intended audience or market and media choice. Leave this simple three-step road-
way and your efforts will fail. Everyday this is proven when you stand over the trash can sorting your mail! Te first decision you make is whether the mes- sage, initially conveyed by the envelope, is important enough to open. Ten you decide if the message is worth reading. If not, the sender missed the mark on the market it is trying to reach. Any effort to communicate must
determine the message first, the target audience second, and, lastly, the me- dium which will best get the message to that audience. Implementing step 2 or 3 without step 1 first is suicidal to the budget.
As a special bonus, MODERN CASTING subscribers get a free advanced discussion of this topic just by scanning the QR code below. Contact the author at
Mark@TeFoundryMarketer.com with your com- ments and questions.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60