Marketing & Public Relations Quiz

Give yourself one point for every “yes” answer and no points for each “no.”

Customer Relationships

• I research customer needs before developing new products and services.
• I obtain customer information, preferences and perceptions and use it to influence decisions.
• I take action to make sure every customer is a satisfied customer.
• I understand my employees are a target audience, along with other internal audiences such as board members and shareholders, vendors and business partners.
• I take complaints of customers very seriously.
• I try to see if there is anything my organization can learn from customer complaints.
• I try to nurture customer loyalty.

Marketing Comprehension

• I understand the differences between marketing and public relations – and the strengths associated with each discipline.
• I understand public relations as a practice revolves around the idea of two-way communication between an organization and its audiences.
• I understand marketing involves direct communication to target audiences with a variety tools and functions, including advertising, sales, tradeshows and more.
• I use marketing and public relations tools in my written communications strategy.
• I have a written communications strategy.
• I understand everything –from how front line employees treat customer interactions to the look and feel of my communications pieces –affects how people perceive my organization.
• I have a reason and focus for each aspect of my communications efforts, including my website, corporate identity, ads, brochures and other tools.
• I set goals for my marketing and public relations campaigns.

Industry Awareness

• I pay attention to the little details that make all the difference in how people perceive my business.
• I emphasize benefits, not just features.
• I develop a communications strategy, along with pricing, for every new product.
• I evaluate the strengths and weakness of my competitors regularly.
• I test campaigns within target audience groups for effectiveness.
• I keep colleagues and employees involved in and informed of key marketing activities.

How did you score?

Below 10

You could benefit from a more organized, methodical, creative and measured approach to improve your effectiveness.

10 – 15

Some of your campaigns and activities are successful, but a comprehensive plan will maximize your efforts.

16 – 21

You have a professional, strategic approach to public relations and marketing. Keep up the good work!

*Adapted from Marketing Effectiveness