We all know that marketing is one of the crucial factors in a small businesses development. However, the most important factor in marketing itself is strategy. Growing a business is definitely a marathon and not a race, and your marketing should reflect that.
Ideally, you need to look at the big picture and always work towards a greater goal. Think about where you want to see your business a month from now. Now think about where it should be in a year, or in five years. Your marketing should drive these goals and always play for the present while planning for the future. Below are some pointers on what you should do and what you should avoid when marketing strategically.
Always Be Consistent
Effective marketing is all about building a brand. Sure you want to get your name out there, but what you really want is the customer to recognize that name time after time and to know what it means. If your audience sees your name with a different message from media to media then they will simply be left confused, and your product or service will not attract their interest.
On the flip side, if you can create a consistent message that is associated with your brand then that message will have a greater likelihood of sticking with your audience. Ensure that your customer or potential customer knows what to expect when they experience your brand and your marketing will be that much more effective. Creating a relevant, concise brand that provides value is the key, and to project that value through a consistent marketing message will yield the best results.
Don’t Fit Into Business Clichés
In marketing a lot of companies seem to feel the need to use big words and fancy productions to try to impress the customer into choosing their product or service. The fact is that the customer is smarter than that. Using technical jargon and flashy presentations will usually just serve to alienate you from your audience. Avoid business cliché’s like the plague, and instead use your marketing to talk simply with your customer and get your message across. If you portray honest and clear ideas to your audience, they will be more likely to respond positively to your marketing.
Get the Right Reaction from Your Marketing
Where you position your marketing can be just as important as the marketing itself. It is essential to build a marketing strategy to educate, inform and engage your target audience where they work, live and play. Today, the customer is in control and your marketing needs to cater to them.
It is essential to define the factors which will create an emotional response. You need to analyze which marketing channels will get the best reaction, and use that knowledge to your advantage. Experts have determined that if you can’t trigger an emotional response from your customer then they will have no motivation to take action on your marketing. Understanding the “Rule of Balance” between logic and emotion will greatly help in the pursuit of evoking that emotion from your customer while logically delivering your message and brand.
Don’t Focus Too Much on Appearance
While of course your want your marketing to look appealing, you have to always remember that content is the main goal. Effective marketing has to be remembered, and you want to create an experience for the audience. If a customer feels a personal connection with a brand, they are more than likely to be loyal to that brand. Ideally your marketing should hit all of these points:
· Establish familiarity with your brand
· Create a memorable experience with your marketing
· Present a clear value to the customer
If you can accomplish these three things, it really doesn’t matter how pretty it looks.
For more information on how to effectively build a strategic marketing platform, we recommend The 5 pillars of an Effective Marketing Strategy
