I was recently reading through an interesting Forrester white paper from October 2007. The paper was on Forrester's POST method, which stands for people, objectives, strategy, and technology. As I read through this paper, I realized how important and valuable it is to email marketing and social media. Because I don't believe enough of us in the space know or follow this type of methodology, I'm going to give an overview of it here in hopes that more of us adopt it.
The first step outlined in this methodology is important, yet often overlooked: people. We all understand that it is these people who we are trying to reach and need in order to make our marketing efforts successful, but what many marketers don't always take into account during the first phase of planning is what type of technologies and platforms their customers are using. We assume that simply because we are creating a great marketing program that intended recipients will see it, no matter what avenue we use to spread the word. If you are not taking the time on the front end to understand your people, the likelihood of creating an innovative and successful marketing campaign is reduced drastically.
One thing that many of my regular readers will remember is that I am a big believer in doing work on the front end to ensure results on the back end. This methodology not only allows for this, but it also allows for testing, of which I am a strong proponent. Many clients that I work with don't have a good understanding of how their customers truly view their companies or their products. What percentage of customers will likely share your brand or product with their friends, who will in turn increase your revenue?
Of those customers who do let their friends know about what you are doing, how are most of them sharing this information? Is it through email or social media outlets like Twitter or blogs? These are some of the key items that will help you increase potential revenue on any and all marketing campaigns that you produce. It is this important information that sets apart those who still use the old "batch and blast" mentality from those who truly know their customers and leverage them to help their companies be more successful.
Indentifying your key influencers is critical, especially if you are using any type of social marketing as part of your program. Let's assume that you are trying to determine who your key influencers are and the best way to reach them, so that you fully understand the people phase. This is a great time to do some testing on various smaller campaigns to allow you to better know your customers so you are properly prepared when the larger initiatives come along. When integrating social marketing into your overall marketing program, it is important to know which of your customers will have the greatest effect on your overall objectives, the second step in the POST methodology.
Determining objectives seems to be something that many clients and prospects seem to skip when creating their marketing programs. By not fully defining your objectives, how are you going to be able to review the final numbers and know what programs were the most successful?
Strategy, the third step in POST, is the step that will determine how your customers think of you and your marketing program. Creating a strategy around your marketing programs is all about determining how your objectives will affect your relationship with them.
It is this process that allows companies to use the information that they have gathered during the first and second phases in order to implement a successful marketing program. It is here where the marketer will put together what they know about their customers, the types of technologies that they use, and the ideal outcome of the program. By building a sound strategy on top of these first two steps, you are able to optimize all of your efforts for each marketing program.
The final step in the POST process is technology. This is where you take all the information you have gathered and determine what technologies and channels will work best to deploy your campaign. These channels could include email, Twitter, Facebook, and even direct mail, but you must first go through fully understanding the prior three steps in order to fully utilize the appropriate technologies for a successful marketing campaign.
So as you start to look at your 2010 marketing calendar, think about using the POST methodology when you are creating your new marketing campaigns. Following these four steps will increase the likelihood of success for all of them.
Good luck and good sending.
Spencer Kollas is director of delivery services for StrongMail Systems.
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