Now available at Milwaukee and Madison airport bookstores and nationwide, award-winning marketing book — which you can finish reading on one plane ride — gives business leaders a simple six-step marketing process to keep campaigns on track
By Lonny Kocina
Chief Executive Officer
Media Relations Agency
Since the pandemic started, it seems businesses are either growing or going under. Marketing is a necessity to remind customers why they should be doing business with you, but spending money without a systematic approach is scary. If you’ve ever laughed at a funny TV commercial but had no clue what it was advertising, you know how costly a marketing mistake can be. A simple, proven marketing process can help keep creative people on point, ensuring smart use of your budget.
“Creative ideas are great, but only if we remember why we’re marketing something,” comments Lonny Kocina, author of “The CEO’s Guide to Marketing,” now available at Milwaukee and Madison airports. “Unfortunately, too many companies allow the creative tail to wag the dog. They allow their marketing folks to go nuts without giving them clear direction. It’s unfortunate how much money is being wasted and sales missed over something that is relatively easy to solve.”
In his Amazon bestselling book, which is also a 2018 Axiom Business Book Silver Award winner, Kocina outlines a six-step process called Strategically Aimed Marketing, or SAM 6. “Following SAM 6 will assure creative people stay focused, on track and doing their best work. If you give creative people structure, they will produce amazing results,” he explains.
He adds, I’ve worked with hundreds of clients across the country. I get to see what’s behind the scenes. I can tell you, the companies that follow a logical process are the ones getting the most bang for their marketing dollars.”
At 236 pages, this fully illustrated book provides both an easy-to-understand overview of marketing and a six-step implementation process applicable to any business in any industry. “The CEO’s Guide to Marketing” has been included on several must-read business book lists and cited in marketing trade publications.
“It’s great stuff. Reminds me of Gino Wickman’s EOS work,” commented one Wisconsin-based vice president of sales and marketing. The host of a nationally syndicated business radio show has said of the book, “The way {Kocina has} laid this out is just brilliant. It’s simple. It’s easy to follow. Yet it’s practical.”
The six steps of the Strategically Aimed Marketing process are:
1. Gain competence in marketing concepts and principles. “Dentists know how to fix and preserve teeth. A competent marketer has a clear understanding of the broad concept of marketing as well as a working knowledge of specific marketing concepts and principles.”
2. Create code sheets about your company and its products. “Code sheets are a means of documenting important information such as your product positioning, vision, mission, primary messaging themes and value points. Having all of these compiled in one place helps direct and control your creative staff.”
3. Select the appropriate channels for each project. “The promotional mix channels you choose to employ depend on many variables including your message, the market and your resources.”
4. Maintain a schedule calendar. “Your marketing calendar’s purpose is to figure out which products and messages should get the most attention. Scheduling will keep your promotions organized and help with budgeting.”
5. Develop a control template. “Your control template provides the guidelines for your writers, designers and other creative staff to follow.”
6. Engage your creative team. “You need to assemble the right people for the job, and then let these creative souls work their magic within the parameters you set. The composition of your creative team will depend on your calendar.”
After more than 30 years of product marketing leadership, Kocina has seen the benefits of well-orchestrated, integrated campaigns. “Marketing is about the shortest, fastest, least expensive and most direct route to a lead, a sale and a brand. But marketing has always been about being persuasive. You’ve got to tell people what they need, and cause them to desire it more than their money. If you lose sight of that, you won’t see more leads and higher sales. What makes me feel good about the SAM 6 process is that it’s a good fit for everyone in business.”
Those who might benefit most from reading “The CEO’s Guide to Marketing” include:
• Marketing managers will discover how to get their whole team to work together efficiently. They’ll learn how to produce the most effective content, with the fewest rewrites and redesigns. They’ll also discover where to share it to get the best return on their investment.
• CEOs will appreciate this academic-based process. When you understand SAM 6 you can quickly determine what types of marketing your company needs and what it doesn’t. You can also use SAM 6 to assess the competence of your marketing team.
• Industry professionals such as graphic designers, writers and web designers will discover marketing secrets that will put them miles ahead of their peers. “SAM 6 will help them use their talents to create content that gets results. It can add rocket fuel to their marketing career.”
Kocina predicts that following the six-step Strategically Aimed Marketing process will bring order and clarity to your marketing. “It will lead to more leads, higher sales and a stronger brand.” You may purchase “The CEO’s Guide to Marketing” on Amazon.com or at most airports nationwide.
Biography: Lonny Kocina, Chief Executive Officer, Media Relations Agency
Lonny Kocina is a marketing leader and author of three books on marketing including his Amazon bestseller and Axiom Business Books award winner, “The CEO’s Guide to Marketing: The book every marketer should read before their boss does.” Kocina also pioneered the concept of our nationally trademarked Pay Per Interview Publicity® business model which enables clients to purchase publicity by the story. “It’s a familiar concept. If you pay for a pizza, you get a pizza; if you pay for a car, you get a car; and with us, if you pay for media coverage, you get media coverage,” he explains.