First Steps
In the inaugural posting of this blog, a general discussion of the city's underlying problems, potentials, and needs was presented. This posting will address some of the immediate first steps that can be taken within the economic drivers of the city to build on a trend toward the positive development of a sustainable local economy. The city is at a point where initiatives are needed from motivated citizens working on the promotion and growth of both the micro and macro economy of New London. It is of critical importance going forward that these actions by organized to create synergies which benefit both the individual endeavors and the general economic base of the city. This is a process which may begin with some very simple, effective, and indispensable first steps.
To begin, every individual business and economic entity needs to be primarily responsible for it's own promotion and marketing. Attracting and, more importantly, keeping customers and patrons on a continuing basis is obviously the single most important factor in any success formula. Doing so in an efficient and cost effective way is of course highly desirable for any economic entity. This is the micro-element of developing a sustainable local economy; the macro-level is, attracting a larger overall number of potential clients into the city on a regular basis. We will focus first on some thoughts for the individual economic entity (as a clarification: I consider any entity which operates in the marketplace to be an entity of the economic community. Businesses, housing, non-profit theaters, employees, and artists are all examples).
Having and executing an effective and consistent marketing plan is the essential and often overlooked aspect of any economic venture. Marketing and sales are a science to which enormous amounts of study have been devoted, and yet too often marketing by small entities is given only secondary consideration. Advertising through various media is the obvious approach to drawing in customers, yet budgets are spent without measuring the effectiveness of the dollars spent.
In the city of New London, which continues to experience unique economic stagnation in the midst of a slow economy, the need to effectively compete for business requires greater than typical effort and diligence. This is a process of discovery and understanding, requiring constant testing, diligence, and the consistent delivery of the core value which an enterprise delivers.
The subject of establishing and operating an enterprise at a level and manner which attracts and keeps a regular clientele is a subject for another time. Obviously any economic entity must offer something unique which is of value to enough people with the means to make the enterprise a success. For now we will assume that this has been accomplished, and look at the most effective ways to inform and attract people to your enterprise.
Identifying your market is the obvious first step, though in practice the actual market for a successful venture can at times come as a bit of a surprise. Generally speaking, though, it is possible to match what your enterprise does with that segment of society most likely to be a customer or patron. It may in fact be necessary to adjust your plans and model to be better aligned with the actual available market. This is why what follows in this text is so critical to the success of your enterprise.
New London, as noted frequently, has a serious problem with the lack of foot traffic and people who actually spend money in the city. For this reason I am treating the general question of promoting individual enterprises as though they are all newly established, struggling ventures. Given the high rate of business closures and empty business real estate, this is not an unreasonable position to take.
It is thus essential that economic entities, whether for profit or non-profit, carry out a wide reaching promotional and marketing effort, as a way of identifying primary market areas, and the media which most effectively reaches their market segment.
This, of course, needs to be accomplished without spending monies which would stress an entity or which simply do not exist. Again, our purpose at this point is for a maximum number of enterprises to attract a maximum number of paying clients and patrons, which will have the added mutually beneficial effect of increasing overall traffic within the city.
Press releases and media packages are one of the most effective ways of accessing a wide media, including print and online media. I would add that what are essentially press releases, distributed through social media outlets, would be counted here. This is not an especially illuminating statement, I realize; but, having been on both sides of the press relationship dynamic, I can say that simply going through the exercise of sending out press notices is not enough, especially at this time. Press and media relations are only useful if they get published and distributed and, most importantly, read and responded to by customers and patrons. And, part of the reason for utilizing media relations is to identify markets and the media which reaches them, to a point of bringing in new business. Media relations, then, are a first line tool in developing an effective and sustained marketing strategy which will sustain and build on the fortunes of your individual economic endeavor.
The next post will delve further into the process of using media relations to build a marketing strategy and successful market presence.
Having and executing an effective and consistent marketing plan is the essential and often overlooked aspect of any economic venture. Marketing and sales are a science to which enormous amounts of study have been devoted, and yet too often marketing by small entities is given only secondary consideration. Advertising through various media is the obvious approach to drawing in customers, yet budgets are spent without measuring the effectiveness of the dollars spent.
In the city of New London, which continues to experience unique economic stagnation in the midst of a slow economy, the need to effectively compete for business requires greater than typical effort and diligence. This is a process of discovery and understanding, requiring constant testing, diligence, and the consistent delivery of the core value which an enterprise delivers.
The subject of establishing and operating an enterprise at a level and manner which attracts and keeps a regular clientele is a subject for another time. Obviously any economic entity must offer something unique which is of value to enough people with the means to make the enterprise a success. For now we will assume that this has been accomplished, and look at the most effective ways to inform and attract people to your enterprise.
Identifying your market is the obvious first step, though in practice the actual market for a successful venture can at times come as a bit of a surprise. Generally speaking, though, it is possible to match what your enterprise does with that segment of society most likely to be a customer or patron. It may in fact be necessary to adjust your plans and model to be better aligned with the actual available market. This is why what follows in this text is so critical to the success of your enterprise.
New London, as noted frequently, has a serious problem with the lack of foot traffic and people who actually spend money in the city. For this reason I am treating the general question of promoting individual enterprises as though they are all newly established, struggling ventures. Given the high rate of business closures and empty business real estate, this is not an unreasonable position to take.
It is thus essential that economic entities, whether for profit or non-profit, carry out a wide reaching promotional and marketing effort, as a way of identifying primary market areas, and the media which most effectively reaches their market segment.
This, of course, needs to be accomplished without spending monies which would stress an entity or which simply do not exist. Again, our purpose at this point is for a maximum number of enterprises to attract a maximum number of paying clients and patrons, which will have the added mutually beneficial effect of increasing overall traffic within the city.
Press releases and media packages are one of the most effective ways of accessing a wide media, including print and online media. I would add that what are essentially press releases, distributed through social media outlets, would be counted here. This is not an especially illuminating statement, I realize; but, having been on both sides of the press relationship dynamic, I can say that simply going through the exercise of sending out press notices is not enough, especially at this time. Press and media relations are only useful if they get published and distributed and, most importantly, read and responded to by customers and patrons. And, part of the reason for utilizing media relations is to identify markets and the media which reaches them, to a point of bringing in new business. Media relations, then, are a first line tool in developing an effective and sustained marketing strategy which will sustain and build on the fortunes of your individual economic endeavor.
The next post will delve further into the process of using media relations to build a marketing strategy and successful market presence.
(identifying market territory and population; identifying best media resources; quantifying marketing; marketing calendar, overall marketing plan/program)
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