Make a Plan

According to The New Rules of Marketing & PR, the most important thing your company can do when creating a marketing and PR plan is to focus on the buyers.  In the world we live in with so much access to our clients, there is no excuse for not doing your very best to satisfy the needs and wants of your clients. While your product may be great, there is nothing for you to benefit from unless your clients are getting what they want.

I think a great example of this concept if Ohio Northern. Who are the clients of this organization?  Parents and students, right?  Do you think ONU does a good job of satisfying the needs and wants of the clients?  Yes ONU has a beautiful campus and a great reputation for an excellent education, but would that matter to a parent if they really want their child to be safe on campus?  No.  It is important for the University to focus on the different and unique desires of each student and their family when marketing ONU to them.  ONU was marketed to me as a great place to continue the legacy of my family members who had also gone here.  This was important to me, but this would not have mattered to another student who was the first person in their family to go to college.

Each customer is unique, and while not every customer's needs and wants can be completely satisfied, it is part of the job of a PR professional to make a marketing plan that will create a sense of satisfaction for a customer.