Marketing plan basics: Plan your work. Work your plan.

I’m a planner.  I like to have a goal, and a plan and timeline to meet that goal.  So, I like it when a client says they want a marketing plan.  This means they believe in the power of having a strategy and not just flying by the seat of their pants with last-minute, reactionary marketing tactics.

The first thing I always ask is, “What’s your budget?”  You may be surprised at how often this question goes unanswered. 

A marketing plan is an important part of your business.  It’s an investment.  Compare it to a significant investment in your personal life – like buying a house.  You wouldn’t go house hunting without knowing how much you can afford to spend. 

The same goes for your marketing plan.  You don’t want to waste time and money creating a plan that you can’t afford.  The key to an effective plan is figuring out how to most effectively reach your target audience within the constraints of your budget. 

Another question that is sometimes surprisingly tough to answer, but one that needs to be answered early in the planning process is, “What are your goals?”  If you don’t have a goal, then there is no way to measure the effectiveness of the plan.  And, even tougher for some is coming up with a measurable goal.  For example, “I want to increase sales” is not measureable, but adding “by 10%” is. 

Knowing this is a primary goal for the plan will influence the tactics.  I would focus on tactics that directly reach the end customer to generate measureable leads.  The message would focus on the benefits that are most important to the customer. 

And, you shouldn’t assume to know what those are.  Have you or your sales people come right out and asked what keeps your customers up at night.  There are a variety of ways to conduct inexpensive polls, if you have a strong customer database.

Other important aspects to a strong plan are assessing current market conditions, which often includes some type of market research and checking out what the competition is doing, and conducting a SWOT analysis (i.e., indentifying your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats). 

It is important to know how you are perceived by your customer, and how that plays out with the competition and current state of the industry.  For example, if your customer thinks you are expensive, then your messaging needs to address this perception.  Talk about value and what the customer gets for their money…preferably something unique from the competition.

Once the plan is in place, it is equally important to stick to the plan.  This may sound obvious…why would you spend the time creating a plan and not follow it.  But, it happens more often than you may think. 

There are going to be times, of course, when an opportunity presents itself that you don’t want to pass up.  But, you should always make sure this opportunity accomplishes the goals set forth in the plan and determine how this impacts your budget.  Did you build in adequate contingency to cover this expense, or do you have to cut something from the existing plan in order to stay within budget.

Marketing plans can be a lot of work, but you don’t have to overengineer the process.  The key is having goals, setting a budget and determining what tactics will most effectively reach your target audience within that budget.  It is better to have a two-page strategy than nothing at all.

Happy planning!

Stacy Sarault

Griffin Integrated Marketing Takes Home Gold for Media Relations Work

We won two PRSA-Houston 2009 Gold Excalibur Awards

Griffin Integrated Marketing (Griffin) took home two 2009 Gold Excalibur Awards from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Houston Chapter, both for media relations activities for the Coalition for Space Exploration (Coalition).

The “Passing the Torch: NASA’s 50^th Anniversary” satellite media tour (SMT) won top honors in the SMT category, while “America’s Space Program In Danger by James Lovell” captured first place in the op-ed/bylined article category.  Winners were announced June 18 at Hotel Derek.

(Left to right) Jaime Napoli and Carrie Taylor accepted the Public Relations Society of America awards for media relations activities for the Coalition for Space Exploration work on behalf of Griffin Integrated Marketing.

“Space is Griffin Marketing’s passion; many of our team members grew up around the space program and know its importance and value for our lives here on Earth,” said Gwen Griffin, owner/managing director of the agency.  “It is an honor to represent the Coalition and help them launch initiatives such as the SMT and op-ed to help assure the United States maintains its global leadership in space exploration.”

The Coalition is a group of space industry businesses and advocacy groups that educate and inform the public on the value and benefits of space exploration.  The Coalition commemorated NASA’s 50^th anniversary on Oct. 1, 2008 with an SMT to highlight the agency’s accomplishments over the past five decades, and its vision of the future.  To create the “Passing the Torch” theme, Griffin secured spokesperson Capt. Eugene Cernan, the last person to set foot on the Moon, and Damaris Sarria, a young aerospace engineer who has applied to become an astronaut and chronicles her experiences through her blog.  In the end, the SMT surpassed its goal of viewership by reaching 5.7 million people through 84 placements on radio and television outlets.

Similarly, the Coalition wanted to leverage the 40^th anniversary of Apollo 8 as a means of building public awareness and support of U.S. space exploration.  Griffin capitalized on the San Diego Air & Space Museum celebratory event to place an op-ed written by former astronaut and event speaker James Lovell in the San Diego Union-Tribune and on its Web site.  A press release with excerpts from the op-ed was then issued over the wire, resulting in additional online coverage.  Ultimately, the message reached more than 442,000 individuals, not including online viewers.

We are pleased and honored to win these prestigous awards!  Thanks to our great team for all of their hard work!

THE CREATIVE BRIEF – WHAT THE HECK IS IT AND WHY DO WE NEED THEM ANYWAY?

 As the creative services manager at Griffin, I have the daunting (yet sometimes fun) task of being an unrelenting pest for information. Most of the creative projects we run through the agency begin and end on my plate which makes being organized (at least in my head) necessary to get through the day.

Speaking of…my day often starts with a meeting or phone conference to launch a project. We sit down at the table and I always hear the same thing – “the client says that they want something cool, hip, fresh, dynamic, etc., etc., (insert any other favorite, cliché adjective here.)”  While helpful to a point–successful, efficient products and campaigns cannot be built on adjectives alone.

HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET FROM POINT A TO POINT B…? 
With a creative brief, of course!  The main purpose of the brief is to set the stage of expectation for the project, to set goals (sometimes very targeted goals), to define the direction of a project and serve as the foundation for everyone involved – the creative team, the account team and the client- so that we are all working towards a common end-result.  Without it, we end up with lots of assumptions of what the client “thought” they were going to see, many rounds of revisions and a budget that’s been blown out of the water.

It’s like “…starting off on a road trip without a map” as Matthew T. Grant says in this interesting post about “the brief.”

WHAT IS IT EXACTLY?
Creative brief is a fancy name for a list of flexible questions to:

• Identify project goals – what’s the call to action? what do we hope to achieve?
• Audience – who is the end user? what are their likes/dislikes?
• Messaging – what do we want the end-user to take away?
• Likes/dislikes – Out of respect, it’s always important to find out if the client has any extreme likes or dislikes, though these are not always directly related to the final deliverable.
• How will the final product be used?
• What’s the budget for the project? (good luck getting an answer to this one, but it’s always important to ask)

These may seem like simple questions but, believe me, it’s not always easy. Have you ever tried to define yourself with just one word?

We’ve revised our brief at Griffin several times over the years based on best practices and procedures but the foundation has remained the same. Take a look at some of the many references below on how to build and use your own creative brief.
• AdCracker
• GoTo Media
• Elise.com
• The Planning Lab

Do you use a creative brief when starting projects or accounts? What are your best practices for setting goals and client expectations?

Don’t be afraid of asking the questions that set the stage for a successful experience. We would love to hear your thoughts and answer any questions you might have.

Cheers!

Inbound Marketing…what is it?

I recently attended the Inbound Marketing Summit, Dallas 2009, where I met some of the top social media strategists and experts in the field.  Over the next few weeks, I plan to share some of my key takeaways from this outstanding, two-day summit.

What is Inbound marketing, you ask?  Inbound marketing is the marketing strategy of the future.  It is all about developing relationships.  Hubspot describes it perfectly in the blog post ‘Inbound Marketing and the next phase of marketing on the web’.

“Instead of interrupting people with television ads, they create videos that potential customers want to see. Instead of buying display ads in print publications, they create their own blog that people subscribe to and look forward to reading. Instead of cold calling, they create useful content and tools so that people call them looking for more information.”

Aaron Strout, VP of Marketing, Powered set the stage for the entrance of Inbound Marketing with his presentation “I am your customer and I can’t hear you!”  Following is a summary of the key points from his presentation:

Once upon a time, businesses and customers talked.  The foundation of business began in small town America in local grocery stores, soda fountains and drug stores.  Business owners provided goods and services, and more importantly, interacted with their customers on a personal level.

Then, along came the phone.  Businesses gained scale, but lost personal interaction with the customer.  As technology increased, it further distanced the customer from the business owner.  Personal interaction and relationships were no longer a primary catalyst to sales.  As technology increased, the opportunity for personal communication decreased.

Marketers thought the best way to reach this large audience was through mass communication (I still remember my mass communication class in college).  Mass communication taught the premise of relaying information about your product or service to a large audience (i.e., think Super bowl Ads, radio spot and newspaper ads). The medium is intended to reach the largest audience with the greatest frequency and reach.  As technology improved, once again, the reach of mass communication decreased.  We now DVR all of our favorite television shows and fast forward through all of the commercials.  We listen to music on satellite radio without interruptions.  And the cycle continues.  Technology has increased and customers are tuning out.

Welcome to the world of social media.  Communication theories are coming full circle.  Inbound marketing and social media are bringing “relationships” back into the mix and changing the world of marketing.  We are starting to speak to one another again…and that’s great news!

Here are five ways to talk to your customers:

• Listen—What are your customers saying?  Where are they saying it?  Use social media as an opportunity to listen to your customers.  Monitor the media platforms personally, or with the help of the numerous technologies available.
• Join—Are your customers on Facebook?  Twitter?  Sign up and dig in.  Make sure and take time to learn the etiquette of the social media platform because each platform has different ways to interact.
• Ask–Join in the conversation and start talking with your customers.  If your customers are unhappy, ask them why.  Ask how you could be doing things better.
• Engage—Thank your customers for taking the time to talk to you.  Use this platform to ask more questions and create a personal relationship.
• Build—If you have gotten good at the first four, consider building your own community to continue the conversations.
• REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT

How are you marketing your company?  Are you still utilizing mass communications or are you using inbound marketing techniques?  If you need help navigating the new strategies….we are here to help!

Click here to view the original presentation from Aaron Stout.

Julie Arnold, Account Manager

Lessons learned from “The Oprah Effect”

Thanks to a tip I gathered last week off of Twitter, I tuned in to “The Oprah Effect,” a one-hour, CNBC documentary on the branding power behind America’s talk-show queen.  The documentary featured various small business owners who went from “barely surviving” to “off-the-chart” success in a matter of days thanks to an endorsement from Oprah.  If you missed it, click here to watch the online slide show.

A couple of highlights that I took away from the piece:

• Know your brand – What makes you different?  Why should people buy your product or service versus your competitor?  It’s the core of marketing, but one that I think many small business owners overlook.  You have to go that extra mile and really zero in on the things that set you apart.  You can’t be all things to all people. Find your niche and go for it.

• Know your audience – You must know the likes and dislikes of your target audience in order to best serve them.  Each of these business owners had products that made sense for Oprah.  They watched her show, read her magazine and knew her tastes.  They invested the time to get to know more about her and whether their products would even pique her interest.  So, follow the same course when doing traditional media pitching.  Dig and find out what reporters/bloggers are covering.  Know their history.  Does your story, product or service even make sense for them?  If not, move on and find a better fit.

• Think ahead – Every one of the featured business owners said they knew an endorsement from Oprah would be “big” for business, but they never realized “how” big.  Within minutes of getting the on-air push, their phones and Web sites exploded with activity.  Eventually, they couldn’t keep up with phone calls.  Servers crashed.  And, they ran out of product.  This sounds great, but is it?  Could these hassles been avoided with better advance planning (i.e., installing more phone lines prior to the show, expanding Web site capability, etc.)?  Hard to say.  But, when Oprah talks, people listen. And, people follow her lead.  So, these owners should have thought a little further ahead and been better prepared.  If you are in the position to get a strong boost for your product or service, think ahead.

• Don’t give up – Two of the business owners pitched their product to Oprah’s producers for seven years straight, but were continually declined.  Finally, on year seven, Oprah accepted, and the business owners were off to Chicago to promote one of their products – a lavish scented soap.  What I loved about this segment was the sheer determination of these business owners.  They never got discouraged with each decline.  They simply said, “Okay, we’ll try again next year.”  When you know in your heart that your product or service is a perfect fit – and I mean perfect fit — for a certain audience, company, etc., stick to your guns.  Believe in yourself, your product and your service.  And never give up!

Until then…remember fresh ideas yield powerful results!

Brooke Baumer Crawford

Senior Editor

Griffin Integrated Marketing honored for Hurricane Ike crisis work with an AMA 2009 Crystal Award

Nearly nine months after Hurricane Ike battered the Texas Gulf Coast, we were awarded 2009 Crystal Award from The American Marketing Association’s (AMA) Houston Chapter for our crisis/situation management work surrounding the storm.  Winners were announced Saturday, May 29 at the Intercontinental Houston Hotel.

From left to right: Deanna Wilke, Account Manager and Mandy Pierson, Office Manager, accept the 2009 AMA Crystal Award on behalf of the agency.

Other finalists in the PR/crisis/situation management-single event category included CenterPoint Energy and VT2 Studios.

“This award is a great reminder of the Griffin team’s ‘can-do’ spirit, even during tough personal times.” said Gwen Griffin, managing director of the agency.  “Not only was our office damaged during Hurricane Ike, many of our employees faced personal property losses.  Still, we were able to come together remotely, roll up our sleeves and quickly provide an extremely valuable service to the entire Bay Area Houston region.”

In September 2008, we helped raise awareness of the devastation caused by Hurricane Ike in the coastal Bay Area Houston (BAH) region, which had been nearly shut out of predominant, post-storm editorial coverage.  In one day’s time, we coordinated a full-scale press conference for the region that featured 11 out of the 13 regional mayors and numerous other key business leaders.  The press conference helped these elected officials and business leaders update their residents on recovery efforts, as well as inform other cities and governmental entities outside of BAH on the state of the region.

The one-hour press conference resulted in extensive television and print coverage, including two television stations which aired the press conference live in its entirety.  The editorial coverage spawned two critical meetings with the Federal Emergency Management Agency that help speed much-needed assistance to the area.

We are very proud and honored to receive this award!