MIKE BOND MARKETING: MARKETING STRATEGIES IN 2020 Leave a comment

As we head in to 2020 I thought it might be useful to consider the idea that a marketing plan might be beneficial to most dental laboratories. In my experience most laboratory owners view success in its most basal format. All they want is the ability to earn a living while working for themselves (sorry for the generalisation!) and most desire a life that’s replete with abundance in one fashion or another. Whether that’s the abundance of time or money, it’s a recurring theme that compels most to immerse themselves in the shackles of work, attempting to wield their dexterity and flesh out their ideas to generate an income.
No matter what shape or form your lab has taken, without an effective strategy for marketing a business, success will seem fleeting at best. No matter how good a product or service might be, getting the proverbial word out is one of the most daunting tasks.
Adding to the melee, having the wherewithal to grow and scale any business, established or new, takes an effective plan with clear and concise steps. It takes boiling things down to their basic and most fundamental elements, seeing what already works, and then implementing a strategy that will help you progress towards your goals over time.
But how do you do it? How do you institute the right strategy to market a company, especially if you have an almost non-existent marketing budget as most labs do? Clearly, this isn’t easy. It requires the fundamentals of a sound business that adds value to the world and looks to help others or solve a big problem first and foremost.

What Is A Marketing Strategy?
Any culmination of activities, whether online or offline, that helps a business to move closer to its short term or long-term strategic sales goals are part of its marketing strategy. It includes a thorough evaluation of the market dynamics, demographics and competitive environment of the industry to creating an overall plan of action.
Overall, the plan is developed by not only scanning the external factors outside of the business, but also the internal factors as well. This is often a prerequisite to determining both the opportunities in the marketplace, along with the threats that might exist from other opposing factors.
However, beyond all the technical facets that might be involved in developing such a strategy and plan, being able to acutely understand where a business is right now, and how a laboratory can move the needle towards its goals is far more complex than it sounds. It’s obvious that creating and executing an effective plan can be a difficult undertaking.
Developing an effective marketing plan
Data and research are king in creating an effective marketing plan and it can be use ful to ask yourself these three questions to get a clear idea of your current business.

1. What’s currently contributing the greatest amount to top-line sales
2. What’s currently contributing the most to profit margin
3. What’s currently contributing the most to sales growth velocity (what segments of existing products and services are growing the fastest)

The answers to these questions when ranked in order can strongly point to certain key areas of the labs operations, and these can be optimised to speed up rapid or hyper growth.
Additionally, it is vital to consider the principles that a business harbours which are crucial to developing the right message and brand positioning to ensure success.
Top tips to create a great marketing plan

1. Have a strong storyline – What do you or your laboratory stand for? What’s the story behind it all?
2. Build a strong emotional attachment with your customers – Part of that bond is born from the storyline. But the other part is born by being transparent, honest and working to help solve a problem or fill a need, and ultimately providing immense amounts of value.
3. Be Consumer-centric by adding value – Every strategy must place the consumer at the heart of the message
4. Be Multi-channelled and multi-platformed – You want to reach customers on different platforms such as Facebook and Adwords, for example, but also advertise to them on other channels like YouTube, Instagram and anywhere else they might congregate.
5. Think scalable – Any effective marketing strategy must be scalable – Small tests need to be done before doing a big ad spend. Once you have an offer that converts, you can scale that offer to infinity.
6. Remain agile – You have to be prepared to pivot your plan and be agile enough to move things around. Don’t overcommit to something and be so entrenched that you’re unable to pivot when necessary.
7. Leverage thought-leaders – Everyone’s heard of influencer marketing. By getting the right thought-leader (advocate) on board, you can really take your marketing reach to the next level.

Sam Walton, the iconic entrepreneur behind Walmart, once said that, “There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” The more your strategies adhere to this central principle, the more likely you’ll be to succeed.