Negotiating business contracts can be complicated. Navigating regulatory issues can be complicated. Thankfully marketing your business can be simple, if you have a system in place that everyone on your team wants to use because it makes their jobs less stressful.
A well-executed marketing plan is like a GPS. It guides your customers into your sales process. Done right, your marketing should result in more leads, higher sales and a stronger brand. I’m a process-driven person. I believe that following steps in a logical progression, without going off on tangents, is one of the fastest ways to achieve your goals. That’s what I like about the Strategically Aimed Marketing process. We call it SAM 6® for short. (Even the name is uncomplicated!) It’s a six-step process that keeps marketing focused and on point.
SAM 6 is explained, step-by-step, in the best-selling, award-winning book, “The CEO’s Guide to Marketing.” It’s easy to understand and logical to implement. The feedback we’ve gotten from the business community and the marketing community has been overwhelmingly positive.
The six steps are:
- Gain competence in marketing concepts and principles. This ensures everyone is speaking the same language and has a working knowledge of marketing. This is an essential starting point for creating a great marketing plan.
- Fill in code sheets. Code sheets are a means of gathering and documenting important information about your company and the products it promotes. Code sheets can also be made for specific offers. Code sheets help direct and control your creative staff.
- Select appropriate promotional mix channels. The promotional mix channels you choose to employ depend on many variables including your message, the market and your resources.
- Schedule your promotions on a calendar. This ensures that you’re delivering a constant and maximum flow of on-point promotional messages.
- Develop a control template for your creative team. Your control template provides the guidelines for your writers, designers and other creative staff to follow. The control template enables these imaginative professionals to create attention-getting content without losing site of the marketing necessities.
- Engage your creative team. You need to assemble the right people for the job, and then let these creative souls work their magic within the parameters you created.
Business is complicated enough. Marketing can be made simple with a straightforward process. Start by reading “The CEO’s Guide to Marketing” and registering for free access to the SAM 6 tools. We also offer on-site and virtual SAM 6 training. And of course, we apply SAM 6 for each of our clients.
We’re happy to talk with you about each of these options. Call us at 952-697-5220 or complete this form.
