Managing The Marketing Mix

Problem. Many organizations approach marketing by writing a marketing plan and then putting a lot of energy into producing the projects to fulfill that plan. And all to often, the plan goes astray and the budget gets blown on unplanned incidentals, leaving the company at a loss or dipping into next year's budget in order to keep things moving. The results are inefficient and generally ineffective marketing tactics.

Solution. Complete the circle. A marketing plan is only as good as a well developed strategy. While your Individual campaigns and projects may make up the bulk of your budget, establishing and maintaining the right corporate and brand identity will ensure consistency and effectiveness. And targeting your audience by demographics is only half the process in lead generation — you must also qualify these prospects in order to produce the best ROI. Finally, the often overlooked areas of public relations and customer service, which rely more on effort than on dollars, can quite possibly create the make-or-break situation. In other words, plan your strategy and tactics rather than just listing projects and goals.

Vendors vs Partners. Will managing a marketing plan internally on an as needed basis and distributing individual projects to multiple vendors will save money and allow more projects to be produced for greater results? No necessarily. The average cost for a client to take on a new vendors is approximately 12.5% of the budget. This is due to the following problems:

* Short-rated contracts
* Transfer of artwork and other files and information
* Out-of-pocket and time lost to conduct a new vendor search
* Time needed to get the new client/vendor up to speed
* Start-up inefficiencies for the new vendor as they learn the client’s business and procedures

By forming a relationship with your agency as a strategic partner, you will be following the lead of successful companies who understand the benefits of of such an alliance. With the right partner at your side, you will benefit from greater market intelligence, a viewpoint not affected by internal politics, and greater efficiency as all involved remain focused on well developed strategies.