SMART Steps to Marketing Success - Australian Businesswomen's Network

SMART Steps to Marketing Success

Sharon Williams

Sharon Williams of Taurus Marketing shares with us six of the most common pitfalls that hinder the journey from business objectives to impressive results from their marketing strategy.

In a perfect world, marketing projects would proceed in a smooth, clearly marked path from their beginnings - where the business objective is defined - past a series of landmarks - the marketing tactics - to the lovely endpoint of increased business revenue.

In a perfect world, this endpoint would be clearly measured in terms of revenue that neatly soars in a way that is directly attributable to the marketing spend.

In practice, the correlation between sales and marketing activities is often complex and difficult to define. The final decision to buy might sometimes be triggered by the PR, the advertising, or the two in tandem. It might even be triggered by a word of mouth recommendation six weeks later.

Frequently, customers - even when asked directly - cannot identify a single trigger for their decision to purchase.

What this means, of course, is that marketers are under real pressure to demonstrate that a great strategy always (or at least regularly) achieves great results. Yet too often, good strategies are undermined by poor implementation.

Here are six of the most common pitfalls that hinder the journey from business objectives to impressive results:

1. Database dangers

When was your database last contacted? Is it accurate? If your database is out of date, you are not reaching the intended audience - or even worse, having your messages fall on no ears at all - no matter how great your strategy is.

2. Talk, talk, talk

How often are your target markets hearing your voice - Customers? Staff? Prospects? Media? We�d like to remind you that each of these groups (with the possible exception of staff!) will quickly forget your existence if they�re not hearing from you regularly. It can be just as effective to communicate frequently in a low-key way with target groups, rather than having one ad on the US Superbowl

3. Great expectations

Can you clarify your organisations expected ROI of a project? Check your expectations against the expectations of others and clarify the definition of success among project stakeholders.

4. Act SMART

Too often objectives are broad, vague and impressive-sounding, making them unmeasurable. It is essential to set quantifiable objectives (or SMART goals that is, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timely) against which you can measure the project�s outcomes.

5. Stay tuned

Be accountable. Keep up-to-date with all aspects of the project so that you get a feel for its trajectory and correspond appropriately should new opportunities arise.

6. Analyse and feedback to project participants so that you all gain wisdom of the project elements that did and didn�t work.

At the end of the day, if your tools are sharp your results will be too.

Sharon Williams is a pioneer in the Australian marketing agency industry. One of comparatively few female entrepreneurs in this male-dominated field, she established Taurus in 1995 after a successful career in marketing and management, working in England, Europe and Asia.

Taurus is one of Australia's fastest growing, privately-owned, Marketing, Public Relations (PR) and Creative consultancies whose clients range from small-to-medium businesses to major ASX-listed corporations. Taurus offers unparalleled levels of personalised service with a practical, 'no bull' approach to executing integrated marketing communications for business to business markets.

For more information on Sharon and Taurus Marketing:

Taurus Marketing Pty Ltd
Level 2, 7 Wilkes Avenue
Artarmon NSW 2064

Phone: 02 9415 4528
Email: info@taurusmarketing.com.au
Website: www.taurusmarketing.com.au

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