Businesses love “best practices”. That's because best practices promise successful outcomes. They're a system or technique that’s shown to yield statistically measurable better results.  In the best case, the use of best practices  can keep an organization sharp — leading to constant measurement and improvement.  In the worst case, it can boil down to  stagnation - establishing a standard way of doing things and then not changing for years.

How about marketing?  Are there “best practices” that apply? I think there are. Here's my list.

1. A PLAN Marketing needs a plan behind it.  A plan that supports the company’s business plan.  Objectives, audience, budget, tactics, and timing all need to be documented. Not that the plan should be chiseled in stone. The business world can change quickly. Plans need to adapt.

2. MEASUREMENT OF RESULTS There should be measurement so you can see how well your various tactics are working. That measurement can feed back into your plan and inform changes.

3. FREEDOM TO EXPERIMENT Marketing needs freedom in order to deliver the best results.  There needs to be room for experimentation and even failure. Often the only way to find the best approach is to try a bunch, some of which might not work.

Great marketing allows room for creativity. No amount of market research, customer retention management, or results measurement can take the place of the spark of human intuition or the power of a new idea. Some folks want certainty, and I'm advocating a certain amount of uncertainty.  The universe teaches us that uncertainty is part of life.  It keeps things exciting and opens up the potential for great leaps forward.

That’s my take on best practices in marketing.  What’s yours?

When you're running a business, WHO KNOWS YOU is critical.

Selling any product or service starts with awareness. Prospects have to know about a product before they’ll buy. They also want to feel good about the company behind it. The fact is, though, that many business people overlook the  importance of awareness. They want to jump right into selling something. Sadly, lack of awareness hurts sales.

How do you create awareness? You need to be visible. Here are some tools that can help you:

• WEBSITE/SEO  Most companies have figured out they need a website. However, putting up a site isn't enough. Your site needs to be found by the right people. The way to be found is by identifying the right keywords and optimizing your site for them.
• SOCIAL MEDIA   Being active and engaging on digital channels is essential.  Find out which ones your audience uses and how. Then develop a plan for how you'll use the vehicles to reach the right folks with the right messages.
• EMAIL  This is a great way to get to your prospect's in-box. Success depends on a great list and compelling message.
• ADVERTISING  This can be an effective and cost-efficient way to create awareness if you have a broad audience. Of course, that audience needs to be reachable through online, broadcast or other avenues.
• PUBLIC RELATIONS  News releases, features and case histories can get the word out about your product and company. This can be a slow way to build awareness, but the cost is less than advertising.
• TRADE SHOWS/CONFERENCES/EVENTS These are almost like a retail environment. Attendees come to learn about new things, “kick the tires”, and be entertained. It's a chance to add flash and sizzle to your presence. Make it fun. Make it memorable, too.

A combination of all the above will increase your profile in the market. Be sure to repeat, Repeat, REPEAT your message over time so it sinks in. Get known!