Domain 5: Promotional Activity | Do Your Socks Match?
Posted by Communications2 on Nov. 8, 2022 / Member Resource / Subscribe 0
Applying Appropriate Objectives to Promotional Activities
Written by Matt Rich | R&O Construction
“I went into this bar and sat down next to a pretty girl. She looked at me and said, “Hey, you have two different colored socks on.” I said, “Yeah, I know, but to me they’re the same because I go by thickness.” – Steven Wright.
To me, Steven Wright is one of the funniest people to ever exist on this planet! In high school and college, I spent a million hours listening to his sardonic standup routines. His deadpan delivery and creative ironic spin fascinated and entertained me. I listened to his shtick over and over and over again and never stopped laughing! That’s true to this day. He still cracks me up. He made me laugh and he made me think. His thought provoking perspective on matching socks could serve as an opening question in a discussion to find acceptance and meaning in life while trying to express our own personality in an Orwellian world that often oppresses anything thought to be different. Or it could just be a funny bar joke about his socks.
While Mr. Wright had the luxury of creating his own definition of what “matching” meant, too often in the marketing world we plan and execute promotional activities without remembering to match them to an appropriate objective. Here’s a couple examples: ‘I don’t know why our revenues didn’t double this quarter. I posted several times on Instagram.’ Or maybe it’s your CEO who didn’t understand that even though the new marketing swag was killer it did not automatically gain market share in a strategically identified emerging market. In both examples, promotions happened and objectives existed but do they match? Even the most ironic comedian would probably say no.
We’re nearing the end of the year; holiday parties, ugly sweaters and way too many break-room cookies for me to make progress in the battle for for my waistline. For many of us, it will also be a time to look back and review the year. What pieces of our marketing plan were we able to execute? Which campaigns never got out of the gate but are worth another effort? And which ones, make no sense anymore and need to be tossed into the drawer of mismatched socks never to be seen again. If you’re getting ready to review and recharge your marketing plan for the coming year, I offer this well-known reminder, ‘Marketing activities are not Swiss army knives to mismatch your socks with. You have to choose the right tool for the right formal occasion.”’ Okay, maybe it’s not a super well-known reminder and I might have mixed my metaphors a little bit (I promise no more sock references or mixed metaphors… okay… maybe one more at the end). Said more succinctly: ‘Any specific thing cannot do everything.’
There is not one tool in your marketing bag that will simultaneously grow your customer base, increase sales, engage your internal audience, inform your external audience, improve profitability, affect brand perceptions and introduce a new service. In your marketing plan, it’s important to specifically identify which objectives each strategy or tactic is meant to address and make sure they match. Doing this will be invaluable when assessing your firms progress and will also be a valuable tool when justifying budgets to your executive committee. One way to do this is to make sure each part of your plan uses the SMART method to assess the viability and suitability of any promotional activity. Are the objectives Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant and Time-bound. Applying this process for a promotional activity like a tradeshow would go something like this:
Specific – Is the objective sufficiently detailed to measure real world opportunities and goals. Your goals should tell you exactly what you want to achieve at the end of the event. You should ask yourself questions such as ‘What exactly do I want to achieve?’, ‘What are the conditions and limitations I might face?’ and ‘How and when do I need to achieve this goal?’
Measurable – Can a quantitative or qualitative element be applied to create a metric. To understand whether your trade show has been successful, you must find a way to measure your goals. Instead of setting basic targets such as, ‘increase client base’, set a goal like, ‘convert five potential leads into clients. A measurable goal will help you quantify your success at an event.
Actionable – Will it improve performance and if yes, which aspect of performance… be specific. How will I do this? What tactics will I use to accomplish this at the trade show and then after?
Relevant – Can the activity reasonably be expected to affect the objective(s). Test the objectives relevance to the activity. Here’s where you make sure your socks match. Do the objective(s) match the activity. You can have more than one objective. You probably will. But will the activity have an effect on the objective(s). In this example, the goals that you set for the trade show should also be relevant to who your company is and your current position in the market.
Time-bound – Can a specific time period be set so targets and goals can be consistently assessed. Every goal that you set for yourself should have a timeline. Timely goals will enable you to answer questions such as ‘When will I accomplish this goal?’, ‘What can I do exactly four months from today?’ and ‘What can I complete today?’
Promotional activities shouldn’t just happen. They need to be defined, planned, measured, adjusted and measured again. You should decide what you want to accomplish and then develop the specifics of how you’re going to accomplish this. Promotional activities tied to specific and relevant objectives will provide the direction and drive to purposefully work towards your short and long-term goals. Next up: Making sure everything is tied to the strategic plan… but that’s a sock of a different color.
Matt has focused on business development and marketing for the last 24 years. He loves working with the people in the AEC industry, especially the incredible people at R&O Construction where he works in their Salt Lake office. He has held multiple board positions for SMPS Utah and is currently serving as the president-elect. He earned a B.S. in Marketing from the University of Utah and an M.B.A. from UCLA. Contact him at 801.870.5340, or [email protected]
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