Back to Where we Started, but Right on Track

This was an exciting week for our team! We had our second project meeting with Drew, and it went about as well as we could have hoped. Going into the meeting, we felt good in terms of understanding our client, what they need, but were having trouble putting our ideas into concrete, measurable action. Although after our meeting, we regrouped and are looking at a major shift in terms of where we lie in the big picture, it somehow seems like we've made a lot of progress. Our team's initial strategy placed the client in Q1, but after our first meeting with Drew, we decided to change to Q3--at that point we thought our initial view of the category and competitive landscape was too narrow, and we opened it up so that we could account for services like Lynda.com into the competitive mix. However, after this week's meeting, we're back to where we started. We had a major "aha" moment which helped us identify exactly what we need to do and how to do it to help our client meet their goals. We're looking at an aggressive direct marketing strategy. Due to the nature of our client's services and the geographic area they serve, we know exactly who our target customers are, so a DM strategy makes the most sense to reach them and show them the value our client's services can add to their organizations. At this point, we're contacting national nonprofit associations to draw on existing market research that shows the actual impact our client's services have on improving their customers' effectiveness. From there, we'll be able to craft a compelling direct marketing campaign and give our clients the raw materials like mailing lists, names, and letters for their campaign as well as putting together an event for potential clients to gain exposure to our client's services and trial offers. Although we have to regroup and restrategize, our plan feels much more cohesive at this point, and we feel really confident it will get the results our client wants.