The job of reaching customers and prospects in a cross-media multi-channel world keeps getting tougher. Marketers are faced with an excess of options that, quite frankly, can be overwhelming. Years ago, there were only a few primary media choices—outdoor signage, newspaper, radio, and television. The limited number of options made it easier to distribute an advertising budget. Today, advertisers are using traditional media and combining it with podcasts, e-mail blasts, personalized URLs, Internet pop-up ads, keyword searches, banner ads, digital billboards, bus wraps, variable data marketing, mobile marketing, and social media. The media options are vast, and each has a unique set of advantages and disadvantages.

Over the next several weeks, we will be providing a series of “Marketing at Work” articles that discuss both the art and science of marketing. You must find a way to reach customers and prospects with an appeal that rings true, stands out, and positions you as an expert partner. Regardless of whether you provide business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C) products and services, your customers are seeking a trusted partner that can help them meet their unique needs. This series will explore an array of marketing topics, including:

• Mass marketing/mass media
• Mobile marketing (from texting to QR codes)
• Leveraging the Internet to properly position your business
• Hitting your target with direct mail
• Using social media to engage your customers in a conversation
• Building your brand with public relations
• Tradeshows and events

If properly approached, all of these techniques can be affordable and effective tools for expanding business and increasing customer loyalty.

Awareness, Consideration, and Hit Rate

Developing a new customer base or expanding your share of business with current clients begins with ensuring that these customers are aware of the services that you provide. Awareness leads to consideration as a potential supplier. If you are considered in more sales cycles, the hit rate (or close rate) for new business should increase. Owners and managers must pre-condition the market to facilitate sales. They are responsible for assessing the best mechanisms available to build visibility with targeted customers and prospects. The end result should be improved sales productivity.

Methods for Building Awareness

For most business owners, marketing is an overwhelming concept. Executives know that they need marketing solutions to ensure a smooth-running and profitable business, but must don’t know where to begin or how to focus their efforts. Furthermore, the rules have changed with new digital technologies. With the Internet and mobile solutions removing the geographic boundaries that once governed sales, it is time to assess how to promote products and services more effectively. There are many ways to proactively promote your company as well as your ideas, information, services, and products.

Individuals, businesses, and organizations typically divide themselves into those who sell to consumers and those who sell to other businesses and organizations. Selling and marketing strategies are very different based on whether you are serving the business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C) market.

B2B customers can be reached through:

• Referrals: From current customers or selected business partners and their management/representatives/agents through printed materials, Websites, displays, tradeshows, and organizations or from your social media network
• The media: Print advertising, Podcasts, broadcasts, direct mail, telemarketing, fax, e-mail, and the Internet
• Other people: Who may have knowledge (real or imagined, true or false) about what is being offered. Social media and networking have a strong impact in the B2B market relative to how people are gathering information from others. Marketers are quickly discovering that B2B social media not only promotes the open conversation about products, services, best practices, and industry thought leadership—it also helps drive revenue growth.
• One-on-one: Sales calls with direct sales representatives

In B2C selling, one can reach (or be seen by) customers through:

• Mass media: Print, broadcast, direct mail, telemarketing, fax, e-mail, and Internet
• Display: Location, building, signage, window/counter/shelf display, environment, attire, printed materials, and Websites
• Referrals: Tweeting, retweeting, and encouraging recommendations to friends in a “social media” world.
• One-on-one: In person, by letter, direct mail, fax, e-mail, and telephone
• Indirectly: Through someone else who made their opinion about who is doing the offering and what is being offered from the above sources or from another party. Social media has become a critical driver through referrals, blogs, and “fans.”

A Coordinated Approach

Businesses of all sizes need to understand that it is not about utilizing one form of media or another, but the synergistic use of media that helps build awareness in today’s multi-channel world. Mass media is often thought to be a prime source for brand building, but mass media alone is not enough. With the expansion of digital technology, marketers are hitting consumers on all media channels. Firms are sending out tweets, building fans on Facebook, and establishing blogs where users can get inspiration, obtain tips, and connect with other users.

Mass media facilitates B2B sales by making potential customers aware of new products and services. It builds the brand for the print service provider’s organization. If a prospect has already become familiarized with a company’s name due to mass media advertising, a sales rep will have a much easier time getting an appointment with that prospect.

For B2B sales, companies frequently find that one-on-one meetings can be more effective because a salesperson can tailor the presentation or content to the specific client’s requirements. While it may be more costly and time-consuming, the seller can easily change the presentation or direct mailer to meet the specific customer’s wants or needs.

Marketers frequently ask, “What’s the best way to reach prospects and customers?” In reality, there is no one “best” way. The ideal approach will often depend on whether you are dealing with existing customers, researched leads, or prospects. Getting your message across requires a coordinated and consistent approach across multiple media formats. In marketing jargon, this is the “marketing mix.” Stay tuned as we continue to explore “Marketing at Work” for your business!