Let’s focus not upon the process of marketing and positioning, but on you. How should you become the best marketer you can be, even if you are a first time entrepreneur or a seasoned CEO?
There’s an answer for that. The title of this insight helps us find a formula: LALA.
Berkonomics books available at berkus.com
Listen! The first rule of marketing and positioning is to listen to the marketplace. Interview potential customers, hold focus groups, meet with existing customers. Hire consultants. Attend trade show education sessions. Ask you field representatives to debrief you about what they are hearing. But listen!
Adapt! Create, change, throw out, tweak or put more resources behind those efforts or campaigns that are working. Listening does no good without action. And the first thing in marketing is to adapt your product or service to the needs of the marketplace.
Learn! Measure the results of your changed program in as many ways as possible. Create metrics for customer acquisition, retention, conversion, reach, or anything that helps you to better understand the effects of your changes to the program.
Adapt (again)! It’s not unfair to reinforce the cycle by again adapting to the market after learning from your changes. Start the cycle all over again, and never stop.
LALA: Listen, adapt, learn, adapt.
