We’re often asked what is the most important element of a marketing program. We believe there can’t be just one, instead there’s a few things that firms need to get right for their marketing to be effective. On the list is: THE LIST.
Too many firms don’t pay proper attention to cultivating a pipeline of prospects. They fall into the trap of buying a list, mailing to them once and when nothing happens they give up never to use that list again. Alternatively each partner hordes business cards and puts them in the bottom drawer never to see the light of day again.
For your marketing to be effective you need a good list. First step is define who you want on the list – you may have a couple of lists. Then you need to build it. You might buy one from a listing company, you might round up all the loose business cards in the office or you might grow your list guerrilla style and using yellowpages.com or manta.com, collect names of your target audience.
Set a goal for the firm. Maybe it’s add 100 names a month and give a prize for the person who adds the most names. Or it might be the job of your dedicated marketing person to spend 20 minutes everyday adding 5 names from web searches.
Your marketing ROI will improve as the quality of your list improves.
Now get to it!
