The Financial Marketing Definition
After over thirty years of working in the industry, I have had numerous clients ask what is the financial marketing definition? The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines it as “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.” However, at Conach, we look at it a little differently. To us, marketing is a part of new business development, along with lead generation and sales.
Confusion
How did marketing come to stand for all areas of acquiring new clients? First, marketing has become a catchall term for everything from planning to lead generation to sales. Next, many companies claim “marketing” in their names when in reality, they offer sales, design, production, or a type of advertising. And let’s not even talk about the term “communications” that many people throw in the mix to make things even harder to understand. After all, isn’t communicating the goal when approaching a potential customer? As a result, prospects and clients get confused.
Defining financial marketing
I have always believed that the financial marketing definition needs to be a combination of marketing, lead generation, and sales. After all, these are functions in the new business development process. It not only helps clients focus, but it also helps them understand the actions and goals related to each. Here’s how I define them:
Marketing
Creates the brand to represent your company correctly
Develops messages to connect with prospects and promote the reasons to choose your company
Strategizes how to reach potential customers, including sales territories, target markets, lead generation channels, sales material, and budget
Plans the sales program
Analyzes metrics to adjust the lead gen campaign and sales program
Lead generation
Implements the lead gen campaigns
Generates qualified leads through channels proven to be effective
Builds brand awareness with your target markets in the selected sales territories
Maintains contact with current customers to garner referrals and ongoing business
Sales
Develops the sales tools needed
Follows up on leads from the lead gen campaigns
Nurtures prospects to be able to present your proposal
Develops the proposal
Conducts sales meetings and presentations
Closes the sale
Now you have my financial marketing definition, which I feel is a little more precise than the AMA’s. Is there overlap between these distinct activities? Without a doubt – and there should be. When you understand this fact that the more the people responsible for each of these functions work in an integrated program, the better your marketing, advertising, and sales efforts.
Pappy
About the Author
Paul Kowalski (or Pappy as he is called around the office) spent over two decades working at other agencies before opening Conach Marketing Group in 2008. The early part of his career was working with Fortune 500 clients at different agencies. However, working with smaller clients was his preference. This choice was because of the impact on a client’s business growth and forming closer, personal relationships.
About Conach
When he was creating Conach, his goal was to bring those Fortune 500 strategies along with years of B2B marketing experience to small business marketing clients. As a result of focusing on business to business marketing, Conach specializes in financial marketing, financial marketing, and industrial marketing. Even though we are in Mid-Michigan, Conach provides marketing services to clients across the country.
For more information, visit conachmarketing.com or contact us or call 989.401.3202.