Google's Latest Enhancement: Demographic Targeting

No doubt that Google's latest enhancement to Adsense and Adwords is neat. The latest update allows marketers to select specific websites within Google's ad network--if you don't know which sites are in the network, there is a tool that allows you to submit specific phrases and terms, and Google displays the sites that complement your phrases. In addition, you can target sites based on demographic profile of your audience (age, gender, income)... Here's the catch: this program is not a pay per click program--its a CPM impression program.. I got suckered into selecting one site within their network that delivered 65,000 impressions in the course of 6 hours...which is implausible given the 'product' that I was promoting on behalf of a client. But, the good news is that Google's network includes a wide spectrum of high profile and credible sites--the frequency by which the ads are displayed is merely a function of the price you are willing to pay for 1000 impressions.

Professional Services Marketing

Excellent excerpt from last month's CMO ...for all of those law firms looking to hire marketing execs.

Throw your brochures away. Peek in the dark closets of many professional-service firms and you're likely to find cartons of unopened marketing brochures gathering dust. Why? They missed the mark.

Too many brochures, websites and direct mail pieces focus on the professional-service provider, not the client. Clever slogans and images swallow up precious real estate that should be used for what clients really want: help with their problems.

If your marketing material doesn't directly address clients' business issues, you might as well throw it away. Stress instead how your firm solves specific problems. That will get the attention of the right clients. And your practitioners will want to use the material instead of relegating it to the broom closet.

Harness the power of feet on the street. What's the professional-service marketer's secret weapon for carrying the company's message to the market? Your practitioners.

The needs of professional-service clients vary too widely for generic marketing.

The best companies are able to create evangelists of their people—in essence, thought leaders who enthusiastically spread the firm's point of view through multiple but coordinated channels to existing and prospective clients.

With the liberal use of low-cost, high-return marketing tactics like nonsponsored speaking opportunities, e-newsletters, blogs, webinars and surveys, the leading firms take full advantage of their experts as part of their marketing and sales processes. Clients want to know what your practitioners can do, not what you proclaim they can do.

Existing clients get the biggest slice of pie. In professional services, clients are the richest source of new business and referrals. For that reason, focus roughly 60 percent of marketing resources on cultivating those relationships.

Some companies have elaborate client-specific marketing strategies to generate new business and develop referrals from their clients' circle of influence. They measure the ROI of client-specific marketing by observing if the efforts result in incremental revenue.

You must also invest in prospective clients. Use 30 percent of your marketing efforts to reach prospects in your target market(s). Save the final 10 percent for building visibility in the business community.

It's not a refrigerator. What do you need a fridge to do? Keep items cold. Refrigerators vary in size and price, but the basic functions are standard. Not so with professional services. Ten clients who need tax help, for example, probably all need different types of help. The needs of professional-service clients vary too widely for generic marketing. So a critical guerrilla marketing principle applies: One size fits none.

Tailor marketing to meet the precise needs of clients and your market. And don't waste time and money trying to be too clever. You're seeking clients, not marketing awards.

Answer the tough questions. Before using resources for any marketing program, ask these questions: Why do we need this program? Is it aligned with client needs? What are the desired results? How will we measure effectiveness? How will the company be involved in rolling it out? Is there a better way to use these resources?

CMOs must answer these questions and be able to pull the plug on any initiative that is not generating business. Marketers can't solve all the problems facing those selling professional services, but as Peter Drucker said, "The aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous."