Marketing Soup: 7 ½ Key Ingredients for

Building a Healthy Business

© Pinnacle Peak Marketing

A Company Without Marketing is Like

a Company Without Electricity… When your business was in the early planning stages— just a thought and dream— what elements did you plan for in

your budget?

• Rent

• Employees' salaries

• Office supplies- computers, printers, paper etc.

• Electricity

• Phone

• Marketing

Often, marketing is NOT included in the business plan or

budget. Unbelievably, marketing is not even thought about,

in advance, in many cases. The value and importance of

marketing is not always understood by business owners until

it’s either too late or the business is so far behind their

competitors that they are forced to play “catch-up”.

Marketing is just as important to a business as turning on the

lights.

Marketing is essential to each and every business.

Marketing is an everyday activity.

Effective marketing encompasses many different activities

that work with and complement each other, like: planning,

strategy, communications, websites, blogs, social media,

content development etc.

Marketing is a continuous and long-term investment in your

company and your brand.

Marketing is the chicken soup for your business—it is a combination of elements that works to promote your

business and it makes your business better.

In the following pages – We talk about the 7½ key

marketing ingredients for building a healthy business.

planning

-1-

#2 Brand

Development/

Brand

Identity

#3

Content

#1

Marketing

Plan

#4 Communications

#5

Website

#6

Social

Media

#7

Customer

Service

Each marketing

initiative should

work together, have

multiple uses and complement each

other in your overall

marketing strategy.

Marketing

Elements

#7 ½ Blending the New

and Traditional

-2-

#1: Marketing Plan A marketing plan is essential to your business growth.

How will you know where you’re taking your business? Or,

how will you set goals and know when you reach them? If

you don’t have a marketing plan or strategy, consider developing one.

At the very least, plan the big picture and set the budget for

your marketing activities for the year. Decide the purpose

and budget for each marketing channel. Plan and budget

by quarter and work the plan each quarter. Keep it simple

and make it relevant to your goals and projected sales.

Tips for planning your marketing:

• Know your goals/sales for each quarter, and each year – budget your marketing expenses accordingly.

• Plan the key marketing initiatives that best fit your

specific needs – be sure all work together for maximum

effectiveness and congruency.

• Work to achieve the sales you projected– Sales cure all.

-3-

#2: Brand Development/Brand Identity Your Brand is one of your most valuable business assets.

Many new businesses start out by rushing straight into

development of the logo, corporate colors and fonts. When

they bypass the brand development process altogether, they

miss the true purpose and value of branding. Branding is the

basis for all that you do as a company going forward. It sets

the tone, voice, message and positioning for all that follows.

Your brand is determined by others. It’s the emotional

connection a person has with your brand. It’s best to do the

initial work of creating a positive emotional attachment to the

brand. Don’t leave your brand to chance.

Here are three important considerations as you brand and

market your product/service:

• Be relevant to your audience

• Have a compelling message

• Be consistent in message, quality, and action

#3: Content Content is king. Make it easy for your customers, potential

customers and your target audience to learn all about your

company, on their own. This is the value of good content. If

they can find everything they need to know, they can make a quicker purchase decision.

The benefit of creating an abundance of valuable content is

that you will be able to use it often and repurpose it many

times. Your content will not be the same in all uses, but the

heart of the content will be cohesive everywhere you use it.

The content you create will be used for both online and

offline initiatives.

Create your content once and use it over and over again:

• In your website, brochures, one-sheet literature, white

papers, newsletters, articles and blog

• In social media, email and direct mail campaigns

• In promotions, events, press releases and advertising

-4-

#4: Communications Storytelling and meaningful communication is vital in your

marketing. Marketing communications is about the tactics

and message you use in reaching your target audience —

and the way you tell your story. Remember, it includes listening

to your audience and conversing with them. After all, they are

the ones who need or desire your product or service.

Determine the best ways to reach your target audience—

social media, blog, direct marketing, email campaigns,

brochures, etc. Talk to them and provide relevant, valuable

information that satisfies their needs. Ask for feedback. Reach

out to current and potential customers to hear what they

want and don’t want in a product/service. Learn what your

audience wants, and deliver it with care.

Communication Tips:

• Connect with your target audience on a regular basis.

• Listen to them. Have conversation and build meaningful

relationships for the long-term.

• Give your audience what they want, when they want it –

and listen and respond with attentive customer care.

#5: Social Media Social media activities have become an important element

in the overall marketing plan. Long gone are the days

where marketing is a one-way communication from a

company to the customer or potential customer. With social media, you can personalize your company’s message and

communication with your customers. You can participate in

a two-way conversation as a result. Social media is all about

the conversation and the relationship. It gives you the

opportunity to learn from your customers…if you are smart

about listening to the conversation and embracing the

relationship. If you are not utilizing social media right now,

we promise you – your competitors are.

Social Media is…

• Another way to promote brand awareness

• A valuable tool for search and being “found”

• Another marketing channel (but it should not be your

only marketing channel)

-5-

#6: Website A company website is an absolute “must” in today’s world.

Your customers and potential customers need to find your

company. It’s one way for your customers and potential

customers to search for you and learn more about your

products and services. Gone are the days of flipping through

the Yellow Pages—These are the days of instant information,

communication and conversation.

Having a website has become a basic requirement— just like the need for electricity or a phone number for your business to

operate. Your website provides a level of credibility. A website

can be anything ranging from a static brochure to a living,

breathing site with valuable content, audio, video and

purchase capability. And it MUST be accessible across all

screens – desktop/laptop, tablet and smart phone.

A website can help your business…

• Because it is your 24/7/365 salesperson

• When it is user-friendly, pleasing and easy to read • When it speaks to your brand and is cohesive with all other

forms of communication and marketing

#7: Customer Service

Customer Service is not often connected to marketing or

even considered a marketing activity in the minds of many

businesses. It should be! And it should be an integral part of

your marketing plan and strategy.

Every person in your company represents the brand in voice,

message and action. Take the time to train your staff for

delivering the ultimate customer experience.

Answer these questions and understand why Customer

Service is so important to your marketing. • Which group of employees is the front line of your

company, speaking directly with your customers?

• In these frequent, direct communications with your

customers, are they speaking and representing your

company's message, values and beliefs each and

every time?

• Has your Customer Service team been equipped

properly to speak your company's message, values and

beliefs, via information and proper training?

-6-

#7 ½: Blending New and Traditional Effective marketing is a mix of new and traditional marketing.

It is smart to blend new media with traditional marketing to

boost your business. Recognize how marketing has changed

and embrace the new—social media, blogs, video, websites

etc. Create your special recipe for business growth.

Be sure your marketing goes full circle with each marketing

initiative feeding into the next—and the sum of your plan is

working towards achieving your goals. It takes more than one marketing channel to accomplish the job—so strategize how

to best utilize your multiple channels of communication such

as:

• Email, direct mail and social media campaigns

• Website, blogs, video and literature

• Promotions, events, advertising, newsletters and articles

…So Turn On the Electricity.

Add marketing to your daily activities. We have established that marketing is an essential element to

growing your business.

We have also established that marketing is as important in

your budget planning as is planning to turn the lights on in

your business.

Marketing should not be an after-thought and should be at

the forefront of your business planning.

After reading this white paper, we would like you to walk away with some key takeaways:

• Marketing is a long-term investment in your business.

• Marketing is the means of communicating the value of

your product and services to your customers, potential

customers and target audience.

• Marketing is a set of activities that is interconnected with

other functions of your business.

• Do not rely on just one marketing activity or channel for

your overall marketing strategy.

• Be strategic in your marketing plan by getting the most

out of your marketing—each initiative should work

together and complement each other.

• Your brand is one of your most valuable business assets.

• Planning is key to the growth of your business.

• Content, Content, Content—use it and reuse it often.

Recognize and understand the importance of marketing—

your competitors surely do.

Marketing touches the emotions of the customer—No matter

what your business, we are all in the emotions business.

planning

-7-