Page 101 - Duct Tape Marketing

85Chapter 6: Projecting the Right Image

Creating an Impression Inventory

The only way you can be sure that you’re making a consistent impression in
your marketplace is to take inventory and study every communication you
have with prospects, customers, and others who deal with your business.

You can take an impression inventory using a simple form. Across the top of
a sheet of paper label five columns with the words listed in bold and
described here:

ߜ Impression points: In this column, list every item that carries your name
or logo into the marketplace. Use the “Impression Points” list following
this section to trigger your thoughts. No item is too small to include. If
your ad is a work of art, but your proposal cover is ratty, the negative
impact of one will cancel out the positive impact of the other. Every
impression counts.

ߜ Target market: Define the purpose of each communication. Is it to
develop a new prospect or to communicate with an existing customer —
or maybe a little bit of both? If your business has a number of customer
types or product lines, you may want to get even more specific. For
instance, one ad for an insurance agency may target property insurance
prospects, and another may target life insurance prospects. By defining
the different purposes, the agency will be able to gauge how much it is
investing in the development of each product line.

ߜ Who’s in charge of each impression point? Many impressions that affect
a company’s image are made by those who don’t think of themselves as
marketers. Nine times out of ten, no one is thinking about marketing
when a cost estimate is presented, a bill is sent, or a purchase order is
issued. The key is to think about the marketing impact way in advance
so that you create materials and usage systems that advance a positive
image for your company.

ߜ Costs involved: What does each communication cost in terms of devel-
opment, media, printing, or other expenses? Once you know the answer,
you can add up what you’re spending on business development, customer
retention, and marketing of each product line. You may be surprised to
find that you’re over-supporting some functions and under-supporting
others, and you can adjust accordingly.

ߜ Evaluation: Jump to the next section, “Rating Your Marketing
Communications,” for tips on how to evaluate your communications.

With the headers in place, your next step is to list down the left side all the
“impression points” that apply to your business. To speed the process, you
can add to or subtract from the following list: