Niche Marketing Plans 100708

7/31/2019 Niche Marketing Plans 100708

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www.convergencecoaching.comCopyright ConvergenceCoaching, LLC 2000-2008All rights reserved.

Developing SuccessfulNiche Marketing Plans

Presented by

Tamera Loerzel and Michelle Baca

October 16, 2008


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Poll #1

What best describes your role in your

organization?

Partner, Owner or Niche Practice Leader Marketing Director or Manager

Marketing Coordinator

Business Development Manager

Other


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Agenda

Identifying your niche practice valueproposition and story

Identifying top brand and lead generation

strategies to grow your specialty practice Managing and measuring your marketing

activities


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Poll #2

What niches does your organization have in place? (check all that apply)

Specialty audits (i.e.. employee benefits, governmental, NPO, SEC, etc.)

Tax services (i.e.. planning, consulting, etc.)

Small business services (write up)

Management advisory or consulting services

Financial planning services Business valuation services

Industry specializations

Accounting or business management software

CRM

Security, privacy and/or disaster recovery planning Network services

Other accounting niche

Other technology niche


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Why Niche Marketing?

It enables you to: Leverage your firms core competencies

Focus your resources to maximize your return

Easily identify opportunities for vendor andalliance relationships

Definitively target clients best suited to use yourservices

Differentiate your firm with your clients,

community and competitors Focus your firm messaging and marketing

campaigns


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What Generates NicheSuccess?

Top-down commitment to your chosen niche,

with a willingness to invest resources in it

A clear market positioning for your niche and a

plan to develop the practice

In this forum, well focus on the market positioning and

planning aspects that can affect your niche practice success


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The 5 Ps of Marketing

Positioning- how youre going to define your placein the market

Product or Service - what youre going to offer

Price - how much youre going to charge foryour services

Place - who youre going to serve and where youllfind them

Promotion - the activities youre going to undertaketo drive interest in these services


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Positioning


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Niche Market Positioning

For this session, well assume that you have

defined your firms mission, vision and values

These provide the foundation for your niche

practice positioning

Then define your firms core competencies and

competitive differentiators within your nichepractice


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Identifying YourNiche Competencies

Conduct a SWOT analysis (strengths,

weaknesses, opportunities, and threats)

Strengths and weaknesses are internal or aboutyour firm

Opportunities and threats are external or about

your environment (The Three Cs)


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SWOT Analysis

Strengths Weaknesses

Opportunities Threats

Adapted from Boone & Kurtzs

Contemporary Marketing


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Competencies?

Strengths and Weaknesses Leadership

Organization management, culture, image

Staff skills/specializations, availability of resources Processes marketing, sales, service delivery, alliances

Quality methodologies, CPE, referenceability

Infrastructure systems, programs

Financial performance

Prospect and referral source potential


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Opportunities andThreats The 3 Cs Clients: What does your target market look like? What

sort of referral source potential do you have? Are there

any existing clients you can offer this service to without

conflict?

Community: Whats happening with your vendors or

alliance partners? Is anything happening related to this

service in your geography? Whats happening with

legislation or your vendors? Competition: How well do you know your

competition? What are their strengths and weaknesses?


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Know Your Competitors

What are your competitors doing in your niche? Do they have web pages, a brochure, other brand materials in this area

that can give you a sense of their positioning?

It is easy to gain information!

Focus first on hard facts

Web site, brochures, associations, etc.

Then gather softer information from your network of contacts Vendors, clients who chose you over them, former staff

Your intention is to gain information that will enable you to create a

differentiating positioning for your niche


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Poll #3

Please check the statement that most applies to your

organizations knowledge about your primary niche

competitors:

We conduct annual research about our niche competitors and

share it with the team

We gain anecdotal information word of mouth about our

niche competitors and sometimes share it with our team

We dont conduct research about our niche competitors or pay

attention to what theyre doing in our niche I dont know if we conduct research about our niche competitors


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All rights reserved.

Create RallyingMessages

Develop your niches marketing strategy,including your niche: Mission, vision and values Strengths

Competitive advantages and chosen positioning Create rallying messages for your niche

Statements that you can use to position yourself asdifferent or unique

They become the foundation or theme throughoutyour niche story


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Include Featuresand Benefits Features include the list of products and

services you offer They are the facts about who you are, what

you do and how you work Benefits articulate the difference that you

will make in your clients lives andbusinesses They answer the WIIFM question Whats in it

for me? or So what?


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Sample Features, Benefitsand Rallying Messages With over X years of experience performing

employee benefit plan audits, we presently auditthe plans of over XX firms.

We plan and execute our audits in a way thatmaximizes audit efficiency and quality and weprovide your plan administrator and humanresources personnel with confidence in their planreporting and management.


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Sample FirmFeatures and Benefits We offer both accounting and technology

services

Our goal is to enhance your competitive abilityand increase your financial performance throughthe implementation of tailored technology andbusiness management solutions.

Our group specializes in CRM

Because of our expertise in both CRM applicationsand business and sales processes, were able toprovide you with confidence and peace of mindthat well apply best practices to enhance yourcustomer processes that will increase your client

satisfaction and retention


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Understanding PromotesCredibility When creating your niche messaging, ensure youre

credible by:

Speaking your niche targets language verbally and in writing,

in all aspects of our relationship

Offering solutions that are tailored to your niche targets

business

Understanding your niche targets key pain points and business

processes

Being aware of unique regulations they may be subject to Knowing what their specific timing issues are


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Methods For Gaining AnUnderstanding

To learn about your niche, consider:

Surveying or interviewing clients or key prospects in

your chosen niche

Subscribing to niche publications get your news

from the place they get theirs

Joining niche associations

Attending niche conferences and CPE opportunities --- get your education where they get theirs


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Educate Others

Take the time to educate your niche team

members in depth

Share important messaging ideas andlanguage with your marketing team

Or vice versa, have the marketing team

share these thoughts with service deliverypersonnel


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Place


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Defining YourNiche Strategy

Define your ideal target client for the service by:

Size

Type of business

Driving need Geography

Culture


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Heres Where Place Fits!

Determine where you will find and how youll reachyour ideal target clients

Within your existing clients (unless youre conflicted out under

independence rules)

Referral sources and other CPA firms Trade conferences

Publications

Associations

And their constituencies or lists Social Networking Groups

LinkedIn, Plaxo


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Promotion


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Next, youll need to identify what

brand positioning, brand marketing,and lead generation activities youll

undertake


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Niche BrandPositioning Activities Write your niche story and elevator pitch

Allow your clients to speak for you

Develop a section of your firms Web site that is

dedicated to your niche

This helps increase the credibility of your offering

Create a high-quality printable PDF that tells

your niche story Include client testimonials and success stories


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Niche BrandPositioning Activities Incorporate your niche story into your firms:

Newsletters and Web site

Brochures and advertisements

Proposals PPT templates

Client and prospect letters and other templates

Employee handbooks

In addition, use certifications or logos in theabove and your letterhead and business cards


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Brand MarketingActivities Choose (or reaffirm) the activities that are most

in-line with your niche positioning and ideal

target client profiles:

Advertising Public relations press, community outreach,

sponsorships

Article writing

Public speaking

Networking and alliance development

Trade conferences


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Lead GenerationActivities Choose (or reaffirm) the activities that are most

in-line with your firms positioning and ideal

target client profiles:

Surveys

Direct mail

Teleprospecting

Seminar marketing Lunch and learns


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Poll #4

Advertising

Public relations press,community outreach,sponsorships

Article writing

Public speaking

Networking and alliancedevelopment

Referral sources

Trade conferences

Surveys

Direct mail Teleprospecting

Seminar marketing

Lunch and learns

Internal networking with

partners Other client cross selling

activities

Other

Which brand or lead generation marketing activities doyou find most successful in marketing your niche? (checkall that apply)


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Organizing Your NicheActivities By target audience

Your firms staff

New clients

Where to find them by activity list sources, etc.

Referral sources

Existing clients if you do not feel you would be conflicted

out

By activity type (brand or lead generation)

By month


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Niche Marketing Plans

Create a (simple!) niche marketing plan thatincludes:

Positioning and target market

Strategy Tactics and marketing activities

Marketing team, including a subject matter expert

Infrastructure requirements

Performance goals Budget requirements


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Copyright ConvergenceCoaching, LLC 2000-2008All rights reserved.

Niche Marketing PlanAccountability

Assign one owner For the marketing calendar

For the marketing plan

Meet regularly to review the calendar

with all marketing activity owners


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Your Niche MarketingPlan is a Living Document Update it as you progress or business needs

change its not set in stone!

Also add new activities or strategies as they arise

Discern patterns of success and also areas thathavent produced the results you intended

Use it to manage your niche marketing

investments and future marketing plans Use it as a reporting tool to track ROI


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Next Steps


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Next Steps

Identify and document your niche strategies your corecompetencies, competitive differentiators and rallyingmessages in writing

Document your firms brand positioning and ideal target

clients in your plan Choose which brand positioning, brand marketing, and

lead generation activities youll undertake this year

Determine the audience that each activity will address,

the objective, timing, owner, cost, and other elements inyour marketing calendar

Communicate your plans and outcomes internally


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Thank you!

Contact us at anytime!

Tamera Loerzel

[email protected]

952.226.1780

Michelle Baca

[email protected]


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Marketing Tools and Resources


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Resources

Association for Accounting Marketing http://www.accountingmarketing.org/required_rea

dingCat.asp?readCat=Niche%20Marketing%20zxc%20Target%20Marketing

ConvergenceCoaching, LLC

www.ConvergenceCoaching.com

Contemporary Marketingby Louis Boone and

David Kurtz Management by Bartol & Martin

Marketing Management by Peter Dickson


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Resources

List Brokers

Dunn & Bradstreet at www.dnb.com

InfoUSA at www.infousa.com Melissas Lists

Chamber of Commerce


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Resources

AICPA http://www.aicpa.org/ebpaqc

http://www. aicpa.org/tax

AICPAsMarketing:Successful Strategies for CPA Firms and

Successful Selling Strategies for CPA Firms self-study videocourses For more information or to order, visit www.cpa2biz.com

Marketing Toolkit

http://www.aicpa.org/Professional+Resources/Public+Accounting+Firm+Resources/CPA+Marketing+Toolkit/

eMAP - the electronic MAP Handbook For more information or to order, visit www.cpa2biz.com
http://www.brs-inc.com/marketing_plan.asp

Documents

Niche Marketing Plans 100708