Six Steps to Getting the Word Out About Your EAP

11/17/2011 12:50:09 PM

Getting noticed and separating your company from the rest of the pack is a common problem for employee assistance programs. EAPs that succeed have a sharp focus on their customers, and leverage all of the many channels available to attract business. You can create a marketing plan by following these six critical steps.

1. Create a target market analysis. A target market analysis helps you determine which industries and markets for which you are best suited. You'll want to create an ideal customer profile, which is essentially the minimum requirement your customers must meet in order to benefit from your product. An example profile for your EAP might be health care companies that have a minimum of 3,000 employees and $1 million in revenue.
2. Build a distribution list. Once you've determined your ideal customers, build a database that includes all the pertinent contact information for your potential clients. Maintain it and update it frequently.
3. Develop a marketing campaign. The most effective marketing campaigns plan a year in advance on how to best reach target audiences using several different methods multiple times.
4. Implement the marketing program. It is not enough to depend on one newspaper advertisement or mailer. You must tell people about your product creatively using different methods frequently before they gain awareness of your product or service. There are many different options and some of them are even free. Email blasts, blogs, Facebook, direct mail pieces, and cold calls are all examples or relatively low-cost ways to reach your audience.
5. Follow-up calls. One of the best ways to gain business is to simply follow-up with a contact with a phone call and an email. If you met someone at a trade show or networking event, add him or her to your distrubition list and reach out to this individual within a few days after meeting.
6. Tracking and reporting. The great thing about developing a year-long marketing plan is that you can track your results and make adjustments as needed. Be sure to ask new people how they heard of you. Create a spreadsheet so you can track which methods are working.

Summary

Marketing isn't an exact science. What works for one company may not work for another, but planning ahead and tracking your methodology will help you get ahead of the competition. Avoid making marketing decisions based on desperation or emotion by developing a program based on your customers' needs and a long-term plan.

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By Shelley K. Plemons

Employee Assistance Report