Four Steps to Getting What You Want and the Tools to Get You There
By Lisa Martin
In Jim Collins’ book, Good to Great, he describes his research project on what it took to transform a “good” company into a “great” company. What he found might surprise you. Companies that bought into the standard change myths to transform performance — through fear factor programs that motivate employees and purchasing technology to drive growth — failed to make the leap from good to great.
However, companies that were able to transform themselves did so by using “a down-to-earth, pragmatic, committed-to-excellence process...a framework.”
In the Internet Age when your customers have immediate online access to so much information, marketers are unsure how to plan effective marketing strategies. It can be overwhelming. With so many media choices, determining which one will grow your market share is confusing. Should you expand your sales force and just go after everything? Whether out of desperation or because your competitor is taking this approach, obviously it is not the way to proceed. Don’t build your marketing plan based on what your competition is doing. Maybe all you really need to do is take a step back, take a deep breath and stick with a process that works.
Remember that framework Jim Collins referenced? LeapFrog Solutions provides marketers with quality assurance processes based on frameworks with proven track records, delivering results and stability to your decisions. Here are The Four Steps to Getting What You Want and the Tools to Get You There from our proprietary L.E.A.P. MethodologyTM that will help you LEAP from good to great and Make Your Message Matter®.
LEARN
- WRITE it all down – Your Master Dream List
Always begin your project with a discovery session. Meet with your team to learn about the markets, the constituents and the competitors — all the factors that can have an impact on the effectiveness of a campaign. Information is important and there are several ways of gathering it. LeapFrog Solutions provides clients with a proprietary Framework Analysis Document (survey) and follows up with a Bull’s-Eye Meeting — an intensive discussion with key players that drives information about the company. Most marketers realize that obtaining the right information up front, delivers results-driven campaigns. Utilizing this part of the process enables you to make smart decisions based on facts.
TOOLS: LFS Framework Analysis Document, LFS Bull’s-Eye Meeting and Strategic Communications Plan
EXECUTE
- FOCUS, ready, aim…
Make sure you’re aiming at something — eventually you’re going to hit it!
Are you using an elephant gun to shoot a fly? Does your target audience really use Twitter? Determine what you are trying to promote. Then, without reaching for the moon in overkill mode, follow current industry best practices.
Know your audience and their demographics. Let’s look at an example in government recruitment branding. There are four generations in the workforce now: 1. Veterans or Traditionalists, 2. Baby Boomers, 3. Generation X and 4. Generation Y. Be receptive to the different communication styles. While you may not think this is as important with the onset of Internet marketing, we have witnessed companies using Veterans or Traditionalists style messaging to recruit Generation X and Y to the government. Even worse, because they do not understand their target audiences, they continue to use the wrong management and communication styles. For instance, “Recruit, train and retain” a government “lifer” is not a phrase that appeals to younger generations.
TOOLS: LFS Project Engagement Process, Creative Brief
ANALYZE
- TEST... FIRE
After you have aimed your messaging at your target audience, it’s time to test fire. So how do you know for sure if you’re on target? How does this measure up to how you defined success? When analyzing your marketing initiatives, determine if you need to test your audience first. This will save you time and money in the long run and give you information you need about your customer. If you are doing direct mail, develop a grid that includes demographics vs. communications tools vs. industries. Use codes for each, whether for online marketing or print. Progress is measured against established goals to identify what’s working, what isn’t and what changes are needed. So in your test fire, remember what gets measured gets results!
TOOLS: Status Reports, Measurement Tools (list codes, piece codes, Google® Analytics)
PERFECT
- ACT on data
People often ask why we have “execute” second before “analyze.” Have you ever heard of Analysis Paralysis? It competes with too much choice and its ugly cousin indecision. That’s why using best practices is a good reference point to start from. So refine and test again. Then act on the data you have been able to glean from all your previous marketing efforts. After you learn what works best for you, your strategy can then be refined to build on new strengths. This will help you reach a larger market share of your audience.
TOOLS: Perfect by continually making adjustments and by starting the process all over again!
So LEAP from “good” to “great” and start your new campaign with the right tools that will get you there successfully! Let us know if you’d like to preview some of our proven-process tools. We want to be a part of your success.
To request one of our proprietary tools for FREE, please click here!
Lisa Martin has more than 20 years of professional marketing communications and project management experience. She specializes in developing strategic marketing campaigns for high-technology clients, as well as association-sponsored conferences and trade shows. Lisa has extensive project management experience in website design and application development, graphic print design, and video production and is also recognized for her innovative work in website development and multimedia presentations.
Lisa graduated from the University of Arizona with a bachelor's degree in Marketing and French and received her MBA from George Washington University in Marketing and International Business.
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