Greg Langston

Too many Coaches ignore basic principles of marketing. They view marketing as an unaffordable luxury - something that when there are a few extra dollars lying around, they spend on sporadic marketing communications and tactics that are often inconsistent and ineffective.

Whether you work for a large multinational corporation or you are an independent personal coach, the principles of marketing are the same. What is different are the complexities of your campaigns and the resources available for these campaigns. And while there is some truth to the saying "you have to spend money to make money," you'll be happy to hear that it doesn't necessarily have to be a lot of money. What is important is that you (a) allocate some funds for marketing and (b) take the time to develop a well thought out tactical marketing plan.

Before embarking on the creation of a tactical marketing plan you'll need a corporate identity and a clearly stated value proposition or your "elevator speech"

Your Corporate Identity and Value Proposition - The Precursor To Any Effective Marketing Initiative

Before engaging in any marketing or sales, you need to establish your company's corporate identity and value proposition (positioning strategy). There is no excuse for having an unprofessional and inconsistent corporate identity. With services like elance (www.elance.com), it is easy and affordable to locate a talented graphic artist who can help create your logo and identity. This resource is EXCELLENT and inexpensive! Once created, your identity should be consistently applied to all your marketing and sales communications (collateral, sales presentations, web site, etc.). These same communications must clearly and consistently state your value proposition. In other words, what makes you different? This is different from simply stating the generic benefits of your coaching service. It is assumed the buyer has already determined they some type of coaching support. Now, explain why the customer should purchase YOUR products and/or services versus that of a competitor?

When determining your value proposition and positioning strategy consider:

Key customer purchasing drivers: what's important to your buyers?

Competitive analysis: what are your competitors offering and how can you improve on these offerings?

Marketing Communications - The Basics

Now that you have your corporate identity and value proposition, you'll need some marketing communications that effectively communicate your message. These communication materials will be used throughout the "buying process" - to generate awareness and interest in your services (lead generation), to follow-up with sales leads and to present your products and services to prospects. Some basic marketing communications you should invest in include:

1. Marketing web site

The first impression a potential customer has of your company is often formed after viewing your company's web site. At a minimum, your web site should be easy to navigate, clearly state your value proposition, provide information on your products and services and provide your contact information - including a phone number and your mailing address! Other things to consider are an eNewsleter or weekly tips (great way to collect emails of potential sales leads), downloadable sales brochures and useful information (industry statistics, articles, etc.) that improves the chances of your site showing up in search results. And keep the site current. For example, if the last press release your company released was in 1998, it's probably not a good idea to list "press releases" on your web site. You'll be surprised how many people do this at their peril!

2. Marketing collateral (i.e., brochure)

You'll need an eye-catching flyer or brochure that differentiates and effectively communicates your company and the value proposition of your products and services. Consider developing a brochure that can also be used as a self mailer for your direct marketing campaigns. This will reduce the need for envelopes and cut your distribution costs considerably.

3. Company Stationery

Your company's stationery will leave a lasting impression with contacts, prospects and customers. Your stationery should have a consistent look and reinforce your company's value proposition. You may even consider listing your products and services on your letterhead. Remember alot can be done with your printer in the office rather than sending it out to an expensive printing house.

4. Proposal

Whether sent to a prospect in print or via email in PDF format, a well-written proposal can be a very effective sales tool. See and example at http://www.coachingresourcesnetwork.com/public/133.cfm And even if a prospect requests a print proposal, always send an electronic version - they are easier to share with co-workers and peers, thus increasing the chances of multiple parties seeing it.

5. PowerPoint Presentation

In addition to your face-to-face sales presentations, a well-designed PowerPoint presentation is an effective presentation tool for online presentations (i.e., using services like elance.com or www.placeware.com) and can be integrated into your web site as an additional communication tool. See http://www.coachingresourcesnetwork.com/public/177.cfm

Building Your Tactical Marketing Plan

So now you have a creative design, a powerful value proposition and both have been effectively applied to your marketing communications. Now you're ready to develop a lead-generating tactical marketing plan.

The first step in developing a tactical marketing plan is to identify all your potential customer contact points. In other words, what are the opportunities to get your message in front of your prospects?

Virtually all your possible customer contact points will originate from three sources: (1) publications, (2) conferences and tradeshows, and (3) professional membership associations.

Publications

Publications (both print and online) provide you with direct mail lists for your direct marketing campaigns, advertising opportunities, bylined article opportunities and key editors that you can submit relevant press releases and announcements to in hopes of getting media placements.

Many publications also have editorial calendars that present additional opportunities for editorial coverage.

Conferences and Tradeshows

Conferences and tradeshows provide you with exhibiting and/or networking opportunities (sometimes just attending these events can generate valuable sales leads), speaking opportunities, sponsorship and advertising opportunities and attendee lists for direct marketing purposes.

Professional Membership Associations and Networking

In addition to often sponsoring their own membership publications and tradeshows, joining membership associations provides you with networking opportunities and the ability to better understand the needs of your buyers.

Additionally, when penetrating new sales channels or markets (i.e., broker distribution channels, public sector), joining their respective membership association can be the best way to familiarize yourself with the new channel.

Building the Tactical Marketing Plan

Now that you have identified your potential customer contact points, its time to build a 100 day marketing plan.

Press Releases Try to generate at least one press release per month and distribute it to key editors and writers covering your city. Also consider sending your releases over a wire service (PR Web, Business Wire, Internet Wire) and place it on your web site. Chances are a few of these will make it into key industry publications and be viewed by your target audience.

For most releases we do NOT recommend spending $500+ on national distributions since you typically do not get your moneys worth. Instead, keep your release to under 400 words and select your local area only (i.e., Cleveland) as the distribution point. A little known secret is that local distributions will hit all the Internet portals (i.e., Google and Yahoo!) and all the trades. We believe the main value of a wire distribution is to get on the Internet so you can show up in Internet searches (i.e., Google and Yahoo!) and on eClipping services. Services like PR Web are a great complement to the wire services because they will get your releases to all the key journalists covering the Coaching space  journalists that are typically not included in a wire distribution list. Submitting your release to the Internet will dramatically increase the exposure of your press releases.

Direct Marketing Campaigns

Consider at least one direct marketing campaign per quarter  repetition is key as not every buyer is at the same purchasing stage. The key is to stay on their radar screen so when they are ready to buy, they think of you.

Advertising

Just because you may not be able to afford full-page 4 color ads doesnt mean you cant benefit from advertising. Consider sponsoring a targeted eNewsletter or purchasing a product listing advertisement in a popular industry publication. Again, repetition is key.

Tradeshow Attendance

Many vendors only attend the tradeshows they exhibit at without realizing that equal value can be obtained by just attending a conference or tradeshow. Exhibiting at a few major tradeshows a year is great if your budget permits it, but you should also consider attending (not exhibiting) at least four other regional events per year  especially if you have sales personnel in these regions  in order to conduct competitive intelligence and network. If you do exhibit, consider implementing other marketing tactics around the event. For example, you may do a direct mail campaign prior to the event inviting attendees to your exhibit, advertise in the conference program guide, sponsors magazine or other industry magazine that has increased distribution at the event, place a promotional door drop in attendees rooms (if permitted) at the hotel during the show and do a follow-up direct mail campaign using the attendee list.

Speaking Opportunities Most major conference organizers accept speaking proposals from Coaches and vendors  so long as they are not promotional. Keep your eye out for these opportunities and apply  its a great way to promote yourself as a trusted opinion leader and to generate sales leads.