Without mindshare, superior technology never gets adopted, marketing efforts become misguided and even the most promising companies fail to blossom.

Few outcomes are more disheartening than when a company fails because it refused to invest in building mindshare. Perhaps it believed that its technology could sell itself. Or that its sales force was so good it could succeed without marketing support and find customers solely from its existing referral network.

Engineering-driven startups often consider marketing a necessary evil. They concentrate on what's important to them—advancing the technology—and do little to get the word out beyond peer-level communications with early customers. Other emerging and mature firms commit significant funds to marketing, but end up with little return on the investment because the company image didn't resonate with prospects or match market expectations.

If you fail to position yourself in the marketplace, your competitors will do it for you.

Today's corporate communications activities are more intimate and riskier, putting you right in the face of your end consumer. Pervasive, tailored communications can be created and delivered instantly by virtually anyone in your company who wants to communicate directly with your customers. And often, these unauthorized communicators aren't aware or don't care about the corporate messaging strategies your public relations, media relations, analyst relations and investor relations specialists developed so meticulously. Plus, in this era of corporate transparency, any poorly executed attempt to persuade or affect the behavior of of key organizational audiences—whether by unauthorized or authorized communicators—can quickly backfire.

It is absolutely essential that your business communications be congruent with your organization's performance, at every level.

A few years ago, marketing executives were satisfied when their PR programs produced a couple of articles, issued regular press releases, scored speaking opportunities at trade conferences and booked the occasional deep background interview with key journalists and analysts. Today, PR must also provide custom communications to niche publics, monitor buzz generated by blogs and instant messaging, manage e-campaigns (custom direct e-mail and streaming video) and more.

While this sea of "new media" makes it easier to get your message to the ultimate consumer of your product or service, you must ensure that your entire organization is aligned with the message. To successfully navigate these waters and get traction and ROI from your communications, you first need to build mindshare.

Whether your company needs to launch new products, increase market share and ROI, or enhance, perhaps even re-invent, your corporate identity and reputation, the CommPros' Mindshare Builder service, directed by Murry Shohat, can move you ahead of the competition and keep you there.