Five Marketing Multipliers

Simple Ways to Get Better Results from Your Marketing

Who doesn't want to attract new clients and grow? Unfortunately, many professional service firms don’t like and are frustrated by marketing and their ability to consistently add new clients. Here are 5 surprisingly simple things that will multiply your marketing efforts and generate more new business.

1. Relentless Focus on Your Target Market

The easiest way to improve your marketing results is to make sure you are connecting with the “right” people and not wasting time on the wrong people. Sounds simple. But how do you do that? You need to segment your marketplace and then choose (target) the specific segments of preferred client types you would like to serve.

Surprisingly few firms segment their market place. And fewer ever choose a specific segment they are going to pursue. Instead, the typical firm will take on an eclectic mix of client types. When you have multiple types of clients it is difficult to grow your reputation and be seen as an “expert” who can help a particular group of people. This makes it difficult to stand out in the crowd. It also makes it difficult to craft your Brand Promise in a way that resonates with anyone; because you are trying appeal to too many different types of people.

Many firm leaders are unclear about exactly who their core clients are. Even when they choose a target group, mysteriously they fail to focus their marketing activities on this core client. Anything you do will work better when you have a clearly defined target market and all of your efforts are focused on finding and serving just this type of client.

Everything a professional service firm does flows from quality and excellent service. Serving one type of client extraordinarily well will enable you to deliver high quality work. This feeds directly into shaping your reputation, which leads to more referrals. Everyone knows referrals are the best way to add more clients.

If you could truly provide excellent service to only one type of client, who would that be? Have you truly clarified your target markets and created ideal client profiles? Do you know their most pressing problems? Does everything you do start with a clear picture of WHO you serve?

2. Nail Your Brand Promise

Once you know who you are going to serve the next thing you need to do is to be able to clearly communicate why they should work with you. Your ability to tell your target market about the value they will receive working with you will determine the results of your marketing.

You’re not selling something tangible that a person can see, feel and touch like a product seller. You are selling a service. When a client buys your service, what are they buying?

You’re selling a promise that you will do something for them.

This promise is Your Brand Promise. It needs to be relevant and memorable. You must use clear language that appeals to both their hearts and minds. Most of all it must resonate with your target market.

What are you promising to do for your clients? Can you quickly and clearly communicate it? When your target market hears it do they know immediately that you understand what they are looking for?

Your firm succeeds when you can convince enough targeted people their lives will be somehow better off working with you. Take your time and nail your brand promise and you will see immediate improvement in all of your lead generation activities.

3. Marketing Process and Systems

Do you have documented marketing processes? Most firms don’t. They treat marketing as more of an art than a discipline. Instead of thinking of marketing as a system that can be continuously improved through quantification and process improvement, they use “random acts of marketing”, hoping something will work.

Marketing, like other key business functions is a system. Without clearly defined processes you can’t systematize marketing activities. This means you are less effective and less efficient than you could be. Simply documenting how you do lead generation and lead conversion will allow you to improve these areas of your business.

Systems will also allow you to delegate or outsource some of this marketing work. This leaves you with more free time to focus on the more critical strategic marketing issues. Making sure you have processes and systems for your core lead generation and lead conversion activities will multiply your results.

4. Keep Your List Healthy

Maintaining a healthy list of ideal prospects and centers-of-influence is often an overlooked marketing activity. Probably because we get consumed (and distract) by the creative side of marketing – writing the headlines, selecting images, testing media channels, etc. Your ability to consistently connect with the right people with relevant messages will improve your marketing results a lot more than your ability to choose the best image or best headline.

A few things to keep in mind when building and keeping your list healthy:

• Bigger is not necessarily better than a smaller list of ideal prospects (think quality over quantity)
• An organically grown list is better than a purchased list
• Everyone you meet should not be on your list – invitation only
• Segment your list

A healthy list is one that is fed with only ideal prospects, exercised and maintained regularly. Your healthy list will make it easier to stay top-of-mind with your ideal prospects.

5. Utilize Marketing Technology – Technology is changing the way we do everything and marketing is no expectation. From how you do your marketing research to how you on-board and serve clients there are technology applications. According to the November 2014 Harvard Business Review (HBR) article, 7 Marketing Technologies Every Company Must Use – there are “over 1000 companies trying to sell some type of marketing technology in over 40 categories”.

Marketing for a professional service firm is educational / content marketing. Creating high quality content and then sharing it consistently across your selected channels is marketing for you. Utilize marketing technologies that will make this easier to accomplish.

The right marketing technology tools can allow you to automate your marketing processes, easily expand your reach and touch more of your target market on a regular basis, in less time and at lower costs.

Summing Up Your Marketing Multipliers

These 5 concepts work great together. The more you can focus on offering a tailored solution to a tightly defined client segment the easier it will be to create and keep your brand promise. It will also allow you to choose the right marketing activities to attract clients to you. Once you know your activities you can then create your marketing systems. With systems in place you can find the right marketing technologies to not only automate processes, but to also leverage your activities and expand your reach.

I know I didn't share any magic bullets here; these are just simple fundamental marketing concepts you have already heard before. The magic happens when firms actually practice these concepts. They are no longer frustrated by marketing and they consistently add new clients.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kevin is the Co-Founder and President of The Renaissance Group, a coaching and consulting firm focused on helping business owners have more time, make more money and enjoy growing a business.