What is the meaning of life – your company’s point of view

Every year the CEO hands down the revenue goals in the annual business plan. Everyone scrambles to make the figures, but nobody seems to take the time to think about what shaped those decisions.

First of all, you have to bear in mind that the main focus should not be deciding which strategy to adopt, but which criteria you use to select the right strategy. You start to develop those criteria, by figuring out what matters to your company and what success looks like.

Here are a few guidelines that will help you develop a set of criteria for your own business:

1. Establish what success looks like

Define as many elements as possible. What is your financial goal? What marketing strategies or tools will you need to promote your company? Do you have the right people working for you? Are the people you hired assigned to the right roles? Are their skills used properly and to the greatest advantage? Is market share more important, or maybe revenues, or client satisfaction?

If there are any changes to be made, they are welcomed before, rather than after implementing the strategy.

2. Decide what matters (in a general sense)

What is the current situation on your market? What are the new trends? Are there any preconceptions or long-held beliefs that might be holding your company back? What is the general feeling among your team members? Do they support your strategies? Were they effective in implementing the latest one?

It’s most important to keep your strategy aligned with the new status on the market, as well as the status in your own company. You have to develop a strategy that is both up to date and generally supported by your team.

3. Figure out what specifically matters to you

Now keep in mind that the main focus here is your company. And the most important asset you’ve got are the people working for you. Figure out what is important to them, and then what is important to the executive team. Do they have the same objectives? Are the interests of the people working for you aligned with the interests of your executive team?

4. Review the solid criteria

If you’ve gone through the first three steps, you’ll have about all the criteria you need to select the right strategy for your company. Here is a list of criteria you might consider:

• Company size
• Timeframe
• Products portfolio
• Region
• Certainty
• Affinity
• Opportunity
• Defense move
• Sales model
• Customer
• Leverage
• Service
• Profitability

Elaborating the right success criteria helps you stay focused on the things that really matter for your company. You can only achieve success if you define what success is. How else will you know if you got there? Or how will you know if the place you are at is the right place for your company?

Filed under: Best Practices, General, how to, Internal Marketing, Marketing Planning, objectives, Strategy, business management, business plan, marketing management, marketing plan, succes management

Don’t forget to invest in marketing these days…

…even if you’re quite busy dealing with the mighty crisis! J Which is perfectly understandable, since the CRISIS is everywhere on the news and in the papers, as if it were another self for the business people. Seriously now, it seems like the only preoccupation of the media and of the business environment is to offer us tips & tricks on how to fight/escape/overcome this downward spiral of our economic state. „Cut the marketing budget” seems to be one of people’s favourite tunes these days.

Sad to say, but they forgot to tell us something even more important: no matter waht we do, the crisis will not go away only by using reactive methods to fight it. We need to get proactive for a change, and, instead of cutting your marketing budget (which is one of the first mistakes businesses make during times of economic crisis), spend your money in a more intelligent manner to bring results.

Use all your flair, skills and knowledge to find out what people really need and want these days, and go for it! It works both for b2c, and for b2b. The secret is to view your marketing spending as an investment not an expense. Use the customer knowledge that you already have and implement intelligent marketing strategies during these times of financial distress. Some crucial tips are to:

• Have a rock-solid strategy
• Research your customer more thoroughly than ever
• Maintain market spend

This is not the first crisis economy has ever gone through, and it will certainly not be the last. Don’t be surprised to find out that companies have survived difficult times and have come out strong. Procter & Gamble, Intel or Wal-Mart are only a few companies that launched well-positioned companies during difficult times  and were successful with them. Why? Because they took marketing seriously during times of crisis more than ever.

Of course, you’ll have to adapt to all the fast changes the crisis has brought upon us: know who the customers are, what they think, what they dream of and how the crisis affects them. Revise your entire product line if necessary. Look at developing lower cost solutions, if possible. Be flexible, but at the same time be aware and always assessing.

Maybe I should have mentioned this at the very beginning, but the fact is obvious: if you cut your marketing budget, how will your potential consumers find you?!

Filed under: Best Practices, General, Internal Marketing, Marketing Accountability, Marketing Planning, Marketing Results, Marketing ROI, objectives, Strategy, crisis management, investment in marketing, marketing management, Marketing Planning, marketing strategy

Social networks, “the new pink” in crisis communication

Are you having a hard time keeping up the newly emerged technologies when you need to manage instant Web updates? Or when you have to efficiently distribute tones of e-mails to clients or stakeholders and communicate through text messages to critical audiences? With the constant evolution of social media it has become obvious that this is a new must have for every company, as social media tools facilitate the dissemination of information in multiple modes, in real time.

Crisis communicators and PR professionals are starting to incorporate social media into their plans. When you plan for things that might go wrong, you also need a plan for the role that social media will play and how its involvement will impact your reputation.

Here are a few guidelines you should follow if you decide to start using social media in crisis situations:

1. Act quickly. Online information spreads instantly, therefore it is highly important for a company or organization to act quickly and manage the crisis. Do not let matters get out of control on Twitter, Facebook, Digg and everywhere else without an immediate response from your company to address the issue.

2. Have a team of social media specialists. Another important aspect is to have a crisis team that knows exactly how to jump into social media and strategize accordingly. These individuals should be able to take social media and use it to address an issue or problem effectively, in a proactive manner.

3. Keep a constant communication flow. In social media environments, the message is constantly changing. It is important to have a steady flow of information coming from your company. Social media is a great way to get your message through to large audiences, but communication must be consistent in order to be effective.

4. Be transparent. Transparency is very useful in gaining trust in social media. It allows an audience to connect with an organization In crisis communication most companies impose drastic barriers, and try to communicate as little as possible. But transparency and an honest message carry many more benefits for an organization, especially in times of crisis. It shows that the company is willing to be upfront with the audience, in an effort to reduce speculations and false information.

A very important aspect that organization leaders need to take into consideration is that social media should be seen as a place for conversation and dialog rather than a channel for directing messages.

Filed under: b2b marketing, Best Practices, Marketing Planning, Marketing Tactics, Relationship Marketing, Strategy, business communities, crisis management, networking communities, online PR, social media, social networks