Three Pronged Marketing

October 12th, 2009

by John R. Sedivy

There has been much talk about inbound and outbound marketing, old (traditional) and new (permission) marketing. Which is best? Which should you use? I will set out to answer these questions in this article.

Something interesting happened this past week which has further solidified my opinion on this matter. We had written in the past about how Amy had launched her wedding cake design business asa boston and has been working hard at building momentum. I have been working with Amy on this business, more as a business advisor (I am not one for baking or culinary design, although I appreciate both).

Now on to the interesting part. An acquaintance in our community mentioned that they had found a print advertisement for asa boston in The Knot Boston magazine. At first he did not realize that it was Amy’s ad. He had reviewed the ad and then went to the website and then it hit him – it was the same Amy that he knew from Cape Cod! Prior to seeing the ad and reviewing the website he and his wife did not realize Amy owned and operated the wedding cake design business.

Old or New?

So back to our original question – which is better – old or new marketing? Neither. You should use both – a combination of the two approaches. There are elements of both old and new which when combined can create an optimum marketing approach.

Elements of old and new marketing can effectively blend and correlate (in other words create meaningful associations) various aspects within the individual’s mind. Consider the opening example. The individual saw the ad in a magazine which prompted a visit to the website, which led to a conversation with his wife, which ultimately led to Amy being directly contacted. If either the outbound marketing (the print ad) or inbound (website) would have been missing the end result may not have occurred.

The Three Pronged Marketing Approach

This experience reminded me of the Cape Cod Branding Marketing Plan that I originally presented for my final project in business school. The basic approach is summarized in the diagram below.

Three Pronged Marketing Diagram

As shown there are three sources of anticipated revenue from marketing – print media, electronic media, and word of mouth. Print media includes magazines and other print advertising relevant to your industry. Electronic media is meant to encompass electronic advertising accomplished on the Internet such as social media, search engines, and electronic marketplaces. Finally word of mouth reflects an individual who uses your product or service, had a great experience, and passes it along to their friends.

It is my opinion that word of mouth is the most powerful. Personally I hold recommendations from friends and other like-minded individuals in very high regard. This is one reason why I view electronic media as the second most powerful prong of this approach. In many instances, such as the use of social media, electronic media is a tool to pass along word of mouth but at a much faster rate. Add to the fact that electronic media requires very little investment in terms of money or time (for either advertiser or potential buyer) when compared to print media and you have one powerful medium. The ever increasing use of electronic media is one reason why viral marketing is receiving increasing attention in recent years.

The value of print media is where my opinion drifts from others. I have been noticing an increasing trend of a general devaluing of print media, and some would argue that it no longer has value. I am not arguing that print media has not dropped in overall value, my opinion is that it has simply dropped due to the emerging popularity of electronic media. Print media is not being replaced by electronic media, it must now share the space with electronic media.

Marketing Harmony

With the Three Pronged Marketing approach each prong augments one another and provides a reinforced, complete picture through correlated information. Returning to the asa boston example, the individual randomly located Amy’s advertisement within The Knot, which prompted a visit to the website, which led to discussions with his wife and Amy being contacted.

If one of these elements were missing, the message may not have been correlated and therefore the end result may have been missed. Since each element was present, they all worked together to form a picture to the potential buyer. This is the main benefit of the Three Pronged Marketing approach.

In closing I will say that there is no single recipe for success here. The right amount of marketing in each instance will vary from individual to individual and from business to business. If money were no object I would attack all three (print, electronic, and word of mouth) at once, equally. This would provide for maximum exposure.

However, as is the case with many entrepreneurs and small business owners, money is an object, especially when first starting out. In this instance my recommendation is to focus on word of mouth, place products in the right individual’s hands and once they are satisfied customers, they will evangelize (advertise) for you. In parallel I recommend electronic media – you can begin here with no money whatsoever, and it can be an effective way to get the word out. Finally, as funding becomes available, allocate money to print advertising.

Old vs. new marketing is not an either/or question, but rather how to best combine elements of each based on your unique situation and needs!

-John R. Sedivy of Cape Cod Branding