Marketing Strategy - Antidote for Uncertainty

Eighteen months ago when the economy was sailing, companies didn’t have the time or inclination to market their products. “Business is so good right now we couldn’t handle another order,” said some business folks.

That was then -- this is now. “Market our products and services? You’ve got to be kidding me. We ’re in a recession... money is tight.”

Today with not only a weakened economy but heightened levels of economic and political uncertainty, we’re faced both professionally and personally with the uncomfortable choice of “doing nothing” or doing something that could be judged a poor decision down the road.

Uncertainty Eased
History can help ease our uncertainty as private citizens and business professionals. You see, as a country we’ve survived nearly a dozen wars (some even fought on our soil) and twenty-eight economic downturns during our short history. And we’ve continued to grow and thrive as a nation envied by most of the world. Chances are excellent that trend will continue.

Yet professionals and academics debate the validity of designing strategies when there is so much uncertainty. Mosaic believes that a solid marketing strategy (built on assumedly attainable business goals and the latest market information) as well as consistently executed marketing activities not only add to the strength of our businesses over time, but also help ease our uncertainty as employees, business owners, and managers during troubling times. Marketing strategies help:

Keep you focused -- Marketing strategy is all about understanding and leveraging the core competencies and skills of an organization in the marketplace in ways that can’t be easily duplicated by competitors. During economic expansion periods, companies are tempted to stray from that focus. They more easily follow short-lived trends, move away from their strengths, and enter markets without competitive advantages –- just to “make a buck” (no matter how short-term or truly unprofitable those "bucks").

	Define your company -- Given the core competencies, the competitive landscape, and end-user needs a thorough marketing strategy helps define a meaningful, unique positioning for an organization, product, or service. This positioning is the basis for effective, long-term branding activities (see last quarter’s newsletter) and business building activities.
	Provide a sense of purpose -- A clear marketing strategy gives the organization a long-term sense of purpose and direction that acts to encourage employees and instill confidence with current and potential customers.
	Provide guidance for budget trimming -- If the organization’s end goal is obvious through a clear and effective marketing strategy then any necessary spending cuts should be made first in areas that have the least impact on that vision.
	Prepare you for the upturn -- By consistently and cost-effectively keeping a company’s product’s or service’s name in front of its defined target audience(s) a marketing strategy will result in top-of-mind awareness when the market is ready to buy again. And we all know it will!
When Are We Ever “Certain?”
So, let ’s be honest. Isn ’t there always uncertainty in the marketplace? Can’t one always find a good excuse not to put together a solid marketing strategy? Surely one can find a variety of reasons not to market their products and services at any given time (too much business/too little business). The challenge for us as intelligent business people is to have the foresight and courage to manage our companies through the current period of uncertainty by making the best decisions we can with what we know. Then we’ll be poised for the next economic recovery -- and beyond! A solid marketing strategy -- with consistently executed, strategically targeted tactics -- can be invaluable in this effort. Let’s stop making excuses and start building for our future! -- by Rosemary Walter

e-This!

We received so many positive comments to last quarter’s E-This column that we decided to use the same format this quarter.

Don’t let ‘em leave! The reason most often cited for people leaving Web sites (besides slow loading pages) is that they can’t easily find what they are looking for. Common site navigation conventions (topics across the top or left-hand margin) may seem boring to designers, but they work for most visitors. Make sure you’re making the right group happy as you look to design or redesign your site!

So how long will they stay? Research tells us that a visitor to your site will wait approximately 4-10 seconds to decide if they want to look at your site or move on to the next one. The whole page doesn’t have to load in that time, but the text does. The text should answer the “what’s in it for me?” question for your visitor. Does your site do that?

Who owns that Web address? Ever wonder who owns a Web site or Web address? Perhaps one you want for your own company or product? A great place to get that information is allwhois.com. You should be able to find the name, address, and phone number of the company who owns the domain name, plus the phone numbers and e-mail addresses for the administrative, billing, and technical contacts.

More time on fewer sites! According to a recent Jupiter Media Metrix report, people are spending more time on the Web (up 2 hours per month) compared to last year. But, they're visiting fewer sites. Marketing implications for you? Does your site give enough “added value” to your customers and potential customers that they turn to it often as a source for making their jobs or lives easier? If not, you may be losing them to a competitor’s site that does.

This & That

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Rosemary Walter has been named to the Executive Committee of the Greater O’Hare Chamber of Industry and Commerce’s Board of Directors and to the Midwest Society of Professional Consultants’ Board of Directors for 2002.

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Many of our readers are facing uncertain times in their careers due to downsizing or layoffs. Other readers know of current job opportunities for mid to higher management professionals. If you belong to either group let us know. We might be able to put a couple of you together. (There is absolutely no fee associated with this “service.”)