I once worked with a company who constantly confused advertising with marketing. It was a sudden shock to them when I explained that advertising is something you do after you’ve done marketing, or put differently, after you've defined your market's opportunities. Unfortunately, all the company was doing was randomly placing advertisements in trade publications in the hope that some customer, somewhere, would notice. Advertising isn’t marketing; it's just one piece of the puzzle.
Good marketing comes from business knowledge and market know-how. It comes from the ability to be an expert on your market. In fact, today’s market innovators focus first on becoming an expert on their market. That know-how is then used to capture market share. Unfortunately, most companies put the proverbial cart before the horse: They advertise first, wait for results and then wonder why leads aren’t being generated.
So, what does it mean to be an expert on your market?
First, it means understanding your customers in terms of how they buy, when they buy and what they buy. Understanding business cycles and seasonality is critical to better understanding your market and your customers.
Second, it means knowing where all of these customers are and how much sales you could potentially make with each one of them. This information must be summarized in a gap analysis. That analysis defines the business you have now, versus the opportunities that remain; it is the building block you use to define your company's market share.
Third, becoming an expert on your market involves defining the potential for sales within territories, certain geographical regions and your entire market. It involves capitalizing on these opportunities by having an all-encompassing marketing strategy.
Now the question becomes: What Role Does Advertising Play in Marketing?
Advertising is Just One Piece of Marketing
In order to understand where advertising fits in the big picture, it’s important to think about what marketing is and how it should be used. To do that, think about the importance of market feasibility studies for new entrepreneurs: No matter how good your business plan is, if the market is dead, then you’re not going to succeed. Next, think about market research and market data.
Market data helps you understand your competitor’s strengths, versus yours, and it allows your company to capitalize on your competitor's mistakes. Think about public relations, your company’s pricing strategies, your strength in customer service, your brand, your core competencies, your flagship product offering and your method of sales. Advertising is just one piece of this gigantic pie.
The above video explains the gap analysis
Unfortunately, that aforementioned customer was what I would term a “process” expert. The company could answer any question pertaining to what their customer’s made and how they made it. However, that didn’t make the company an expert on its market.
The company didn’t know where all of their customers were, what they bought, how they bought, or how much they could potentially buy. Not having this information made calculating the company’s market share virtually impossible.
Don't make the same mistake. Don't advertise a product and think you've covered everything you need to do within your marketing strategy. Advertising is just one part of your overall approach to marketing your company, your products, your services and your capabilities. Use it properly.
Comments