Interview with Sanjay Sathe, President & CEO, RiseSmart.com
Situation: RiseSmart’s top opportunities are to increase visibility and gain market share. What are the most important strategic components of an effective marketing program?
Advice:
- The best marketing plans don’t start with your company, product or service, They start with a focus on your customers, and the benefits you can deliver to them.
- That means your first step should be to identify who your customers are.
- This can be challenging in B2B businesses. For example, with RiseSmart’s outplacement solution, Transition Concierge, we have several possible customers: the HR department at the company seeking outplacement services; the CFO at these companies; the HR department at companies seeking good candidates; and the individuals who are going through outplacement and seeking new positions.
- Each of these audiences has different objectives, priorities and approaches. To succeed, we need to connect to each of them where they are.
- After you have identified your target customers, the next step is to develop messaging and message delivery systems that capture and maintain their attention.
- Your messaging must express a differentiation that is easy to grasp – something that clearly sets you apart from your competition. In technology marketing, Apple’s 1984 Super Bowl commercial, with its man-versus-machine contrast, is one of the most famous examples of this.
- Your campaign must consistently touch your potential customer base. Research suggests that this requires a minimum of 4-5 touches to effectively gain customer attention and communicate your message.
- Accompanying the messaging and the increased visibility that you seek, you must have an effective way to respond promptly and directly to customer interest or inquiries. Rapid and responsive follow-up are critical to success.
You can contact Sanjay Sathe at [email protected]
Key Words: Market Share, Visibility, Customer, Message, Differentiation, Consistency, Touches, Follow-up [like]
