RE-PURPOSE WITH PURPOSE
We are all time poor and busy, but there are clever ways that you can leverage marketing resources that you already have.
What do I mean? It may be best to share a story about how another professional services firm I have worked with ‘re-purposed with purpose’.
This firm ran a competition for fast growth businesses. Each year, they surveyed all of the entrants. The survey enabled the firm to gain an in-depth knowledge of the entrants. They were able to identify potential prospects and develop the relationship with an understanding of their problems and pressures, and the potential areas where they may provide support.
From the entrants’ point of view, taking the time for a personal interview made them feel valued, engaged in the competition process and more familiar with the firm.
But the survey results fulfilled another purpose; the raw material for a larger marketing effort:
- A survey results report was written
- A series of articles was published in a business magazine
- A series of articles was written to profile the entrants in the business magazine
- A series of articles was written to profile the reasons behind fast growth for the business magazine
- Some articles were re-written for publication on the firm’s website
- As the competition was held annually, results were compared with previous years, providing another angle for survey results to be reported on and further article content
- ‘How to’ guides were written on achieving fast growth
- Case study style insights were developed
- New services were developed from the firm’s greater understanding of fast growth
- Some of the learnings were then developed into a training course for aspiring fast growth businesses
- Lead partners of the firm used the fast growth survey as a platform for developing their own profile in this field
- A LinkedIn group was created and is now used to manage an ongoing relationship with entrants, releasing new initiatives and insights into fast growth businesses and their experiences, and enabling commentary and feedback between members and the firm
You can see that a competition aimed to profile fast growth businesses resulted in a wide range of resources and initiatives for the firm – re-purposing with purpose. Derived from the same content, the marketing of the competition results enabled the firm to:
- Maximise the return on investment in the program
- Develop a range of thought leadership content materials
- Develop a range of business development resources and initiatives
- Support the positioning of partners of the firm as thought leaders in the fast growth space
- Develop a consistent message, across multiple platforms, to broaden the firm’s market reach
- Build rapport with competition entrants
- Build rapport with their clients.
‘Re-purposing with purpose’ is an extremely smart strategy for gaining the most from your thought leadership, maximising your return on investment and feeding your sales pipeline.