As marketers, many of us are accustomed to using multiple channels for marketing communications, such as email, search engine optimization (SEO), social media, direct mail, and advertising, among others. But how many of us do one-to-one marketing? I don't mean sending out personalized mass communication. I mean marketing to one person at a time.

Of course, one-to-one marketing is time-consuming, but a recent social media campaign I developed and implemented taught me a valuable marketing lesson that sales professionals have known for eons: The personal touch—communicating directly with the end user or decision maker—can be very effective.

The Challenge

As chair of the American Marketing Association's 2011 Nonprofit Marketing Conference, I really wanted to see a substantial increase in registration over 2010 levels. But the economy had taken its toll on everyone, especially on the nonprofit sector. When corporations don't meet their revenue projections, shareholders and employees can suffer. But when nonprofits don't raise enough funds—especially in human services—vulnerable people's lives are at stake.

The conference marketing plan included a variety of communications channels that many of us use regularly to market products and services. We mailed a full-color brochure; sent emails; posted articles, podcasts, and registration notices on the organization's internal community platform; mailed postcards; tweeted using a unique hashtag; set up a Facebook event page; and created banner ads for the association's newsletters.

Sponsors and exhibitors promoted the conference in their own channels, including a media partner with excellent reach to the target market. Some of the other planning committee members and I included blurbs about the conference in our targeted client e-newsletters.

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A Lesson From Sales Pros: How One-to-One Marketing Can Pay Off Big Time When Your Budget is Zero

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

image of Elaine Fogel

Elaine Fogel is president and CMO of Solutions Marketing & Consulting LLC, and a marketing and branding thought leader, speaker, writer, and MarketingProfs contributor. She is the author of the Beyond Your Logo: 7 Brand Ideas That Matter Most for Small Business Success.

LinkedIn: Elaine Fogel

Twitter: @Elaine_Fogel