The 3 M's In Marketing

I am constantly asked "Does _____________ work?" You can fill in the blank with everything from yellow pages to radio. I answer all of those questions with the same answer: "IT DEPENDS!" "Does Radio Advertising Work?" It depends. "Does Yellow Page Advertising Work?" It depends. "Do Flyers Work?" It Depends.
What does it depend on? It depends on the 3 "M's" of Marketing.
The First "M"
The first "M" that your Marketing success depends on is your "Message". If you look at the advertising of most small business owners, the message is: "Our name is ___________. We do ____________. Our phone number is ______________. The message does not answer the most important question that should be answered in your ad or introduction at a networking group: "Why should I choose you over anyone else? And, why should I stand in line to pay you more?"
The next time you see an ad, look for that. The next time you go to a networking group, listen to each person that introduces themselves. It will go something like this "Hi, I'm Sue and I'm a CPA. We do taxes." Wow, I never met a CPA that does taxes in my life, have you? What if the CPA introduced herself and said "I'm Sue, and I'm a CPA. Are you getting the most out of your CPA? To make sure, I have a Free Report that reveals 10 Costly Financial Mistakes Most People Make". Or, she could tell SPECIFICALLY how she is different or what unique problem she can solve. Every small business owner should have a powerful 60 second "commercial" that can be put in an ad, and introduction, or a brochure. What about you?
The second "M"
The second "M" is "Method". Does the method of advertising (or marketing) reach your target market? Is everyone your client? I hope not! If you try to be all things to all people, you won't be anything significant to anyone.
Referral Marketing works best to get high end clients in my industry. A great exercise is to sit down and evaluate all the different methods or marketing "vehicles" available to you. Determine those that have the most promise and do lots of testing.
The 3rd "M"

The 3rd "M" is "Money". Is the advertising vehicle able to generate enough profit for you? In other words, if you spend $2,000.00 on an ad, and your cost of doing business is 50%, you will have to do $4,000.00 in business just to break even. In order to make just $1,000.00, you would have to do $6,000.00. You should track the ROI of all of your marketing efforts.