Marketing 101
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We’ve been talking about initial conversations with a prospect…aka Prospecting. We developed a 30-second commercial, phone prospecting outline, and a walk-in cold call process. Marketing flips the script and, among other things, is designed to generate inbound conversations.
What is marketing?  Any exposure of your brand, product, or service with a potential customer and the strategy used to communicate with them.  This is a very broad definition of marketing including advertising, market research, media planning, public relations, product pricing, distribution, customer support, sales strategy, and community involvement. Hopefully, this broad definition grows your awareness of things like how your business looks from the outside, how you answer your phones, and how you connect with potential customers.
“Everything you do or don’t do creates your brand”
Advertising, as a subset of marketing, can be used for a variety of uses such as branding (making people aware of or increase loyalty to your company, lead generation and sales, engage with your target market, and increasing consumer confidence).
Naturally, different companies will have an entirely different purpose for their advertising and use vastly different tools.  It is critical that you are realistic and strategic about advertising since you probably don’t have a Nike’s or Coca-Cola’s budget; however, not investing in the right kind, quantity, and consistency of advertising is likely to make sure you never have their budget either.
Most businesses use marketing and advertising specifically to create leads or generate sales because they need to generate revenue to continue paying for and growing their marketing efforts. What’s your purpose?
Ideal Client Profile or Persona
Regardless of what your purpose is in advertising and marketing, it is likely that your marketing will fall on deaf ears or at best be a waste of valuable resources until you have CLEARLY identified your ideal client. For example, a roofing contractor who had an ideal client of, “Anyone and Everyone with a roof” would burn through resources targeting EVERYONE. Similarly, a chiropractor could advertise to anyone with a spine. These are very vague and potentially destructive to the success of that business.
As another example, a financial services company could market to “Anyone that has money invested or wants to.” Who specifically comes to mind when you read that? On the other hand, what if their ideal client was described as:
- 35-55 Years Old
- Married
- Employed
- Children
- Home Owners in Tulsa Metro
As you go down the list, I imagine you can think of a few of those people immediately. You can probably also imagine where you could find more of those people, right? For example, what activities does a married couple with children do? Where do they hang out? What events do they attend? In what groups are they active on social media?
Take a few minutes and consider who your ideal prospects are. Please be as specific as possible. For example, “Small Business” is too vague. How many employees does your ideal small business employ? How much in revenue do they generate annually?
Problems? Struggles? Frustrations?
To further refine your Ideal Client Persona or Persona, please consider what problems, struggles, and frustrations they might share. What is keeping your Ideal Prospect up late at night?
By being in touch with the problems they might have, you can further refine your focus and your message to those prospects. Typically, prospects don’t care about your credentials, how long you’ve been in business, how cool your logo looks, or really anything else until they believe you might be able to solve their problems and ease their worries.
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Upcoming Events
Ca$h Mob – 10/19 at Ol’Vine on Brookside at 3523 S Peoria Ave from 5p-7p.  Please consider liking and following Ol’Vine’s Facebook page.  These events are casual networking events open to everyone and are intended to help promote a locally owned business and grow our relationships. Facebook Event.
Weekly Events
- Coming Soon: Sand Springs, Muskogee, Bartlesville, and Brookside.
- Mondays: Midtown Tulsa – Bold Networking Team Lunch – 11:30 am at Red Lobster near 51st and Yale.  Facebook group.
- Tuesdays: Tulsa Hispanic – Bold Networking Team – 11:30 am at Royal Insurance at 2120 S Memorial Dr, Tulsa, OK 74129.  This event is primarily conducted in Spanish, so if you know anyone that might benefit, please share. Facebook group
- Tuesdays: Bixby – Bold Networking Team Lunch –11:30 am at Chilis near 113th and Memorial. Facebook group.
- Wednesdays: Jenks – Bold Networking Team Lunch –11:30 am at the Waterfront Grill next to the Oklahoma Aquarium. Facebook group.
- Thursdays: South County (Sapulpa, Glenpool, Tulsa Hills) – Bold Networking Team Breakfast – 7:15 am at La Madeleine French Bakery & Café at 8115 S. Olympia Avenue West, Tulsa, OK. Facebook group.
- Thursdays: South Tulsa – Bold Networking Team Lunch –11:30 am at Gaetano’s Pizzeria and Creamery on the Southwest corner of 81st and Harvard Ave. Facebook group.
- Fridays: Owasso – Bold Networking Team Breakfast – 8:00 am at Panera at 12417 E 96th Street N Owasso, Oklahoma, OK 74055. Facebook group.
- Fridays: Broken Arrow – Bold Networking Team Lunch – 11:30 am at The RoofTop on Main at 214 S Main St, Fl 2nd Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, OK 74012. Facebook group.