In out last post we talked about not switching marketing horses in midstream, and now we are looking at the other side of the coin.
There are always two extreme points of view on both sides of every issue, but the truth usually lies in the middle. While you don’t want to change your IT marketing plans willy-nilly, you also don’t want to keep going the same direction when there’s evidence that it’s not working.
Sometimes you need to stop and evaluate what’s happening in the market and see if there is a need to make changes. The real question, though, is how will you know when you should buckle down and keep going or pull back on the reins?
Pull the Troops Out – Or Surge?
IT Services marketing can be much like conducting a military campaign when the question arises regarding whether the current war strategy is working. One of the dilemmas that often develops in battle is trying to determine whether you have enough troops, or whether you need to conduct a more limited campaign. Most Generals will tell you that they base these decisions on the prevailing conditions on the ground. This means that if things are going badly and you’re losing, then it’s either time to send in the cavalry – or pull back the troops and regroup!
The same philosophy should be considered when evaluating the effectiveness of your IT marketing campaign. If you have been faithfully staying the course for several months and nothing even remotely positive is happening, then it might be time to stop the press so you can change the marketing message or model. Once you reach that decision, then you have to decide what changes to make, and how.
Research, Research, Research…
The only way to make an intelligent decision regarding what adjustments to make will naturally come from research. This simply means you should know the cause of the failure before you start making haphazard changes. Should you immediately run out and hire a high-priced Madison Avenue research firm to provide that data? Only if you have that kind of money – otherwise, you should just listen to the troops on the front lines.
If you have a veteran telemarketing team with some business savvy, they should always be asking “why”? If asked, most prospects will disclose why they don’t have an interest in what you’re offering. If this data is tracked properly, a trend might appear over time that will illuminate the problem and you can adjust your message accordingly. As a result, making changes to your IT marketing will be more successful, and you should return to a healthy ROI.
John Black is the Marketing Director at MSP Telemarketing and has over 10 years of experience with IT marketing on behalf of Managed Services providers.
His experience ranges from writing articles, blogging, IT telemarketing, sales coaching, and speaking at events.
