Engineering marketing plans

When major engineering projects go wrong it is usually very public and serious. Bridges that oscillate, high speed trains that fail in snow, cars recalled for brake failure; problems where rectification can often be lengthy and expensive. What happens when marketing goes wrong may be less dramatic although there have certainly been some very public campaign failures, but the more likely outcome is damage to the reputation of a brand, customers going elsewhere and sometimes the problems are difficult to fix once the damage is done. 

Common to successful engineering projects and successful marketing is the importance of planning and testing first. Our technical marketing philosophy helps engineer marketing solutions that support and aid delivery of company objectives. Starting at the beginning of the planning process is the marketing plan. Very few companies actually seem to have one any more than they have a formal business plan. There is too often the impression conveyed that the only marketing plan is to repeat last year's pattern of expenditure - usually the last several years - which makes it difficult to find budget for new concepts. All at a time when marketing is rapidly evolving. The usual reason given for not having a formal marketing plan is lack of time. But what is the point in spending money without knowing why or having any benchmark to measure whether it is successful? We recommend not only reviewing the marketing plan at least annually, but also setting the budget that will help deliver the results and company objectives. 

Research shows e-mail still popular with buyers

Although a  much older marketing tool than social networking sites, recent market research by Marketing Sherpa found that "32% of buyers said email was their favored method for receiving product/services information, compared to 20% of marketers who believed email was a buyer’s favored method."  The research was conducted by asking a group of buyers and a group of marketers the same questions and discovering a gap between buyer behaviour and what the marketers believed it was. 

e-mail is  very cost effective marketing tool (particularly when numbers are high) compared with postal mailings, although these still have their place, . To some extent e-mails can be tracked to see who opened them and response action can then be picked up if they clicked through to a landing page. However there are a lot of factors involved so it is usually best to regard the figures as indicative not absolute. Experience shows that with a compelling offer people take action on receipt of an e-mail. So what can be done to boost that response rate? 

Well, the research yielded 4 main insights:

1. Buyers rely on e-mail more than marketers think.
   
2. Provide offers that direct readers to take the next step.
   
3. Personalised sender information can increase engagement
   
4. Appeal to buyers, personal not just organisational motivations.
   

Of course e-mail is not the whole answer, but used as part of an integrated marketing communications strategy it remains an important method for not just communicating sales offers but also explaining news ideas. Third most important motivator for opening an e-mail cited by buyers was "An area I want to learn about."

Who sold you this then?

Asked about his dislikes,  a person being interviewed on the radio this morning answered without hesitation, 'any company that offers a telephone menu'. 

I am sure we all have horror stories of calling Mumbai to try to sort out an account query and being faced with a series of options read out by a disinterested recorded voice, probably after you have already listened to some stuff about calls being recorded for training purposes. At this point you don't have any idea how many menu items there might be, or if the next one might be more relevant to your enquiry. So you repeat the list and opt for the most hopeful option. Unless you are hands free, this often involves removing the phone from your ear to access the key pad. Then you might get a sub menu - and even more levels - before another recording announces that 'we are experiencing very heavy traffic today and you are in a queue'. Some might helpfully add you are number 43, with occasional updates in between bursts of tinny music. And you may even be invited to key in a 15 digit account number before they will talk to you. By the time you reach a robotic sounding agent you are already irritated, more so when they usually are not empowered to resolve your enquiry, before brightly asking, 'is there anything else I can help you with today?' implying they have already been of some assistance. Worse still, increasingly a text message arrives shortly after inviting you to provide feedback on the call.

Today's questions are - who decides to buy and install these systems and does marketing have a say? Does anyone care what the customer wants? Oh and why so much interest in recording calls for training purposes?

It is very likely the customer would prefer to be connected to a contact, someone with both  a christian name and surname, who can answer questions or find out the answer and call back if it requires some research. Someone that is more interested in what the customer wants and not totally absorbed with post codes and first line of address before deigning to talk at all. Research shows that customer retention is far more cost effective than recruiting new customers. So why instal systems that show total disregard to building and nurturing customer relations? Creating a rapport with customers builds trust, confidence and opens the opportunity to pitch products that could be of benefit to the customer. Repeat customers who have a good service experience can be useful advocates for your business - word of mouth recommendation is a powerful marketing tool. It makes sense to make it easy for customers to talk to you - not introduce barriers to communication that give a poor experience.