MCP MarCom Professionals


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Because Marcom enables you to get the most from your marketing dollars.

There’s no doubt about it: Marcom professionals are great money spenders. Without a budget, there is no Marcom. Tradeshows, productions, advertising, PR… everything costs money. However, a good Marcom professional will find the most efficient way to spend this money. Applying experience and industry knowledge, s/he will put together the right mix of communication tools – the mix that makes the most of the available budget, and that continues to work even when budgets get tighter.

Here is a list of key Marcom steps for reaching your marketing goals:


1.	Set your marketing goals for the coming year.

2.	While keeping the marketing goals in the back of your mind, prepare your Marcom budget and yearly work plan with estimated detailed expenditures. Build several alternatives for your work plan and budget and hold an internal discussion to get input from stakeholders, along with their general buyoff.

3.	Set measurable factors to check if you have met your goals for each part of your Marcom campaign. For example: 50 new sales leads at the trade show you organize, 100 customers attending your social event, etc.

4.	Once the budget and work plan are approved, prepare a one-page spreadsheet with the action items on the plan (shows, corporate image, website, product launch, etc.) mapped out by quarters. This is a helpful tool for reviewing the year’s tasks in a single glance.

5.	Make sure you implement a quarterly review of both the action plan and the planned vs. expended budget.

6.	After each major item is completed, be sure to check if you have lived up to the success measures that you set.

Because a Marcom professional helps get your product messages across.
Marcom is far more than writing a brochure or organizing a trade show. It is the communicative and visual implementation of the four Ps of marketing: product, place, positioning, and price.
Product – Marcom is the art of translating the promise of technologies and products into clear and compelling marketing messages.
Place – Marcom means using the most suitable communication channels to reach the key local and/or international customers for each market segment.
Positioning and Price – These must be reflected in the look and feel of your Marcom mix. Marketing materials for a high-end product for a sophisticated industry must be produced with sophisticated design and high-quality professional photos. This is true for every element, from a simple information sheet to a major tradeshow.

Because Marcom organizes things in a timely manner.
A well-organized Marcom professional is able to give full attention to all Marcom items, ensuring all deadlines are met – without last-minute surprises. I often wonder at the surprise with which industry events are met. While tradeshow and conference dates are usually published at least one year ahead of time, companies often only remember several weeks in advance that a show is taking place. Expensive last minute shipments, late orders of equipment and show facilities and equipment supplies, and around-the-clock, high-adrenalin activity cause unnecessary expenses and pressure, and they make your company look unprofessional. In addition, there are irreversible deadlines, such as abstract and paper submissions for technical conferences: if those are missed, you’ll have to wait for the next event. Paying full attention to all the details will make all the difference.

The Importance of Public Relations
Public Relations is of outmost importance in the technology sector; for a company with a product and “real” news it is a very effective way to spread the word. Your Marcom professional needs to establish and maintain relationships with the technical editors of the relevant trade magazines, and deliver all materials within the deadlines and in the correct formats. Magazine editors have to meet deadlines and pressures just like anyone else. Following are some examples for effectively getting industry coverage of your technology and products:


	Write a press release containing real news, targeted to a very focused list of editors in the relevant trade press and/or widely distributed through a newswire agency. This is a low-budget and effective means of disseminating product and company news.

	Have your R&D staff write technical articles on industry problems and your technical approach to solving them. These articles are not meant to advertise your products, but to discuss real needs in your industry and the approach that you offer as a solution. The acceptance and publication of such a paper by one of the high-standard trade publications in your industry might require a big effort in time on the part of your R&D staff, but it pays off for all parties – the industry (your customers), the trade magazine, and your sales/marketing team.

	Consider advertising as part of the PR mix. There are two reasons for this: in addition to enabling you to get your message across via the actual advertisements, thus increasing your visibility, advertising supports the magazines. After all, trade magazines live from advertising, so your advertising investment enables them to stay in existence, providing an important source of information in your industry. Careful planning of an advertising plan within the overall Marcom budget and the creation of an effective advertising message are an integral part of effective Marcom management.

	Publish papers at technical conferences. I’m a great believer in these publications and view them as an important element in the overall PR plan. A well-written discussion of technology and your problem solving approach for the industry provides a valuable sales and marketing tool.

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