I came across this mindmap years ago, and it’s one of the best resources that any marketing person (or person who wants to understand marketing) can have. It was created by Brian Carroll who runs the B2B Lead Blog and authored the book Lead Generation for the Complex Sale.

I always keep a copy of this chart printed out and hanging on my wall as a reminder of the set of tools that marketeers have available to them. This map is a little out of date by now (circa 2005), so I’ve got handwritten branches for social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube) and community (user groups, product reviews, influencers, forums). That’s why the title of this post refers to “11 ways” to reach customers and not just the nine you see in the graph.

As a marketing consultant, people often ask me if they are running the right programs. Often they are disappointed with the quality of the leads being generated, so they assume there is a better type of program out there. That’s when I pull out this map – because basically, it is a near-complete list of all the different types of programs you can run.

If you want to reach a specific target customer, you need to know if the program type you select from this list is an effective way to reach that customer. That is, if you speak on that channel, are your target customers there listening? Do consumers read whitepapers? Do developers calculate ROI? Do CxOs respond to cold calls?

If your program is in trouble, take a look at this chart and see if there might be a better way of reaching your customer. If not – it might be time for more compelling content, a more powerful call-to-action, or a different marketing message altogether.