Developing a Marketing Strategy on a Shoestring Budget

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Developing a Marketing Strategy on a Shoestring
Budget

• The Conference for Risk Retention Pools
• August 2-5, 2009
• La Jolla, California

Presented By Paula Chu Tanguay, Chief Executive
Officer Alliance of Schools for Cooperative
Insurance Programs
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A at What We Will Cover Today

• What is marketing?
• Why is marketing important and worthy of our time
  and resources?
• How do we effectively market with limited
  resources?
• How can we tell when our marketing efforts have
  been successful?

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What is Marketing?

• Young attractive sales force bearing charm and
  gifts?
• Glossy ads and brochures in trade journals?
• Most think marketing and advertising are
  synonymous

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What is Marketing?

• Bring awareness of your products and services
• Deliver the right product/service to the right
  people
• Convert consumer to purchase your products and
  services
• Process and On-going effort

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Why is Marketing Worth our Time and Resources?

• Simple answer If no one knows how great you
  are, or that you exist, it matters not that you
  have a great product/service or bring the best
  value
• Your organization does not exist without
  customers
• There are only two functions to a business
  marketing and innovation
• Peter Drucker

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Effective Marketing Caveat

• Product must be competitive
• Service must be competitive
• Pricing must be competitive

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Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

• Bring Awareness of your products and services
• Public Visibility - Who you are
• Peer Visibility - How good you are
• Member Visibility - How good others think you are

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Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

• Bring awareness of your products and services
• Public Visibility - Who You Are
• Does your customer base generally know who you
  are and what you do?
• How visible is your organization in the
  marketplace?
• What has been your role at public meetings and
  conferences?
• What role has your organization played in support
  of your industry?

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Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

• Bring awareness of your products and services
• Peer Visibility - How Good You Are
• Do your industry peers and potential partners
  recognize you and your potential contribution and
  impact to the industry?
• Do your industry peers and potential partners see
  synergy in a relationship with your organization?

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Make Your Peers SHINE (They are truly not
your competitors!)

• Share the stage, its plenty big enough
• Co-author publications
• Make introductions
• Be generous with your time and referrals
• Learn from industry experts
• Publicize innovation and successes
• (Do onto others )

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Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

• Bring awareness of your products and services
• Member Visibility - How good others think you are
• Do your members see intrinsic and unique value to
  being a part of your organization?
• How familiar are your members with your products
  and services?
• How often do your members experience the use of
  your products and services?

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Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

• Deliver the Right Product to the Right People
• Peers and Service Partners Delivery
• Organization Leaders Delivery
• Membership Delivery
• Organization Staff Delivery

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Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

• Deliver the Right Product to the Right People
• Peer and Service Partners Delivery
• Grow your peers/partners business as your
  organization grows
• Grow your peers/partners business as their
  association and reputation grow by your
  contribution
• Support your peers/partners to ensure their
  success and profitability

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Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

• Deliver the Right Product to the Right People
• Organization Leaders Delivery
• Having Board and Committee members share their
  expertise and industry credibility with their
  peers
• Provide the environment for easy access of
  potential members and organizational leaders to
  interact
• Educate organizational leaders on products and
  services available to potential members

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Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

• Deliver the Right Product to the Right People
• Membership Delivery
• Identify the key industry leaders in your
  membership and expand programs and services to
  include their peers
• Provide value-added experience to the members so
  it can be articulated, by example to other
  potential members
• Highlight membership performance and rewards
  throughout their organization and industry

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Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

• Deliver the Right Product to the Right People
• Organization Staff Delivery
• Marketing team vs.. worker bee team
• Depth and diversity in marketing contacts
• Key attendant who answers the phone
• You are as successful as your weakest link

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Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

• Convert consumer to purchase your
  products/services
• Know your potential members needs in priority
• Responding to inquiries and RFPs
• Articulating your organizations distinction as
  it is important to the potential members needs
• Unspoken variables

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Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

• Convert consumer to purchase your
  products/services
• Know your potential members needs in priority
• Pricing?
• Coverage?
• Service?
• Others?

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Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

• Convert consumer to purchase your
  products/services
• Articulating your organizations distinction as
  it is important to the potential member
• Membership philosophy
• How your organization supports that philosophy in
  program and service delivery
• Defining a successful partnership
• Letting go can be a good thing

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Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

• Roadblock to success
• Philosophy and operations incongruent
• Coverage disputes and litigation
• Pricing is too good to be true
• Inconsistent partnership commitment--- only
  during the good times
• Unmet expectations (services, coverage)

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Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

• Convert consumer to purchase your
  products/services
• Unspoken variables
• Political undertones within the organization
• Political undertones by the decision-makers
• Subtle traditions, preferences Coke is Life

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Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

• Marketing is an on-going process
• When you get a new member
• When you successfully retain an existing member
• When you lose a member

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Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

• Marketing is an on-going process
• When you get a new member
• Walking the talk
• No surprises
• Giving more than the benefit of the doubt
• Exceed expectationsparticularly at renewal

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Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

• Marketing is an on-going process
• When you successfully retained an existing member
  - You Dont Bring Me Flowers Anymore
• Know the driver for shopping
• Know why you retained the member
• Set in motion the on-going courtship to
  solidify the relationship

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Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

• Marketing is an on-going process
• When you lose a member
• Know why you lost the member
• Know what would have kept them
• Know what it will take for them to return
• Assess potential fallout from departure
• Damage control

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Marketing Strength and Success

• Top priority to serve clients interest
• Respect the needs and interest of peers, service
  partners and those that support the industry
• Unquestioned integrity
• Sustained membership growth and retention
• Talk and walk are the same

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So even on a shoestring, we can hope for good
results!
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Developing a Marketing Strategy on a Shoestring
Budget

• The Conference for Risk Retention Pools
• August 2 -5, 2009
• La Jolla, California

Presented By Paula Chu Tanguay, Chief Executive
Officer Alliance of Schools for Cooperative
Insurance Programs
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and now its time for a break!