Robyn's head shot
       Have you heard the story about the CEO who spent a great deal of money and time putting together a multi-faceted marketing plan that included sales, marketing and PR? When the campaign broke and his phone wasn't ringing off the hook, he deemed it a failure. The truth is, he didn't even give it a fighting chance.

      Read on to find out why.

 

Best,  Robyn    

 The Magic of Marketing, PR, Sales and Branding

 

The CEO in the story was smart to put together a plan that included sales, marketing, and public relations. His fatal error, however, was in sitting back and waiting for the calls that would result in sales. The chances of that happening are about the same as winning the lottery. Unless he is in possession of the next iPhone, he'll have to step in and make sure his staff is diligently working their own "luck" according to their expertise.

 

Distinguish between sales and marketing.

Since "sales" and "marketing" are often spoken in one term together, many people in fact believe they mean the same thing. Not so. Sales and marketing are two distinct functions that should work together.  The role of marketing 

communications (MarCom) is to create your brand image, to make your target audience aware of your brand or product, and to generate leads. Rarely, if ever, will MarCom alone make the sale for you. The role of your sales staff is to turn MarCom's leads into sales.

 

If your sales aren't where you think they should be, look at the number of leads that were generated by your marketing efforts. If leads are low, your marketing plan may need revision. If marketing has resulted in leads, but sales are low, your sales staff needs to step up their follow-up efforts or the way they follow up on leads.

 

Your marketing efforts should generate leads, which your sales staff should follow up on and convert into sales.

 

Sales (does not equal) Marketing

BUT

Marketing + Sales = $$$$

 

Every business has a sales funnel which tells you how many leads, proposals and presentations your sales staff usually needs to make a sale. If you don't know your sales funnel, go back through your sales records and tally how many proposals were presented, on average, before a sale was made. How many presentations did your sales staff make before they were invited to submit a proposal? And how many leads did they follow up on before they received an appointment for a sales presentation? Your sales funnel can be translated into this formula:

 

# leads = # presentations = # proposals = # sales

 

Understand the types of PR and their roles.

If people are confused about sales and marketing, they are even more confused about public relations. Many believe if they send out a press release, they are fulfilling the PR component of their campaign. First of all, after sending out a press release, your PR staff needs to follow up with editors and reporters - give them a nudge to take action on it. Picture your press release buried in a pile the editor received that day. Which one is he going to look at? Yours, when you call and ask him to write an article about your announcement.

 

Second, PR is much more than just press releases. To be most effective, your press release should be part of a press strategy that also includes case histories, authored articles, biographies of your spokespeople, and product or service reviews or information. Try to meet with editors and reporters face-to-face and develop a long-term relationship. Bring spokespeople with you so they can be interviewed on the spot. Do whatever you can to make the editor's job easier.

 

Consider other PR vehicles, too, such as trade shows and speaking engagements. Develop case histories about your success stories, including comments from satisfied customers and/or channel partners.

 

Integrate PR and branding with sales and marketing.

A recent study showed that companies who use PR and branding as part of their outreach and sales efforts were 60% more likely to experience fast growth than companies that ignored PR and branding in their sales and marketing.*

 

Whatever your current PR activities are, be sure you include them in your marketing, and that your sales staff includes them in their pitches. Invite potential customers personally to any events you're holding or trade shows you're attending. Give them copies of pertinent PR materials, such as articles in which the company or spokesperson is featured. Reinforce your brand - what your company offers that's different and most beneficial - at every opportunity. If you aren't sure what your brand is, now is the time to determine it.

 

You can make your efforts and dollars spent on marketing and PR work their hardest by paying careful attention to how your marketing, PR and sales teams work together to give your marketing program the best chance for success.

 

About RMR & Associates

Headquartered in Rockville, MD, RMR & Associates, Inc. (RMR), has been addressing the unique needs of clients serving commercial, B2B, B2G, B2C, government and IT sectors for more than 25-years. RMR's integrated marketing includes public relations, social media, advertising, direct mail, media buying, list rental, website design and interactive marketing. RMR's unique national experience and knowledge base has helped to build an extensive network of key contacts among venture capitalists, key organizations and key business leaders. With more than 500 product and company rollouts and repositionings, RMR has garnered results for local, national and international clients such as AOL, Insoft Corporation (acquired by Netscape), Telogy Networks (acquired by Texas Instruments), and consumer accounts such as Subway, .ORG, the Public Interest Registry and UMUC.
 
For more information on RMR, please contact Seth Mininsohn at RMR & Associates, Inc., 5870 Hubbard Drive, Rockville, MD, 20852 by phone at (301) 230-0045 ext. 360 or by e-mail at smininsohn@rmr.com. General information can be obtained by accessing the Web site at www.rmr.com. You can also find out more about RMR on our Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/rmrassociates) or our Twitter Page (https://twitter.com/rmrassociates).

 

*RMR can provide specifics of the study.