Lots of things. Mostly, that it’s an investment and it’s a crap shoot! I’ve been coaching for quite some time now, but the landscape of business and marketing has certainly been evolving like crazy over the last couple of years. What we thought to be true just five years ago has already matured, changed, mutated.
Here are a few take-aways I have from hunkering down in the marketing trenches day after day.
Content is king but only if it has eyes. The key is getting visibility and conveying value.
In other words, you can have the most compelling, original, relevant copy but if no one sees it, who cares? Don’t spend the money on quality content if you’re not going to promote it for visibility – and not just for everyone – for the right people at the right time.
Social media is good for visibility but takes a long time to generate good qualified leads to sell to.
Social media isn’t for the impatient. Building trust and rapport takes time. We’re talking months and years. You can’t just jump into the Facebook pool and expect people to hop on the raft with you. You need to invest the time and energy into selling your product, on the right platform and to the right audience. Daily attention….that’s what it takes. Talking, collaborating, asking, telling, sharing… you get the drill.
Strategize on where to spend. Stay on top of it, and don’t let zealous marketing get unfocused.
It’s easy to get flush with the marketing budget. There are a lot of promises out there. Don’t be fooled and don’t lose focus. Know where your dollars need to go. Save the rest.
It's all about the product; it should sell itself.
Edwin H. Land once said: “Marketing is what you do when your product is no good.” Truer words have never been spoken. Forget the flashy, behind the curtain marketing stuff that takes attention away from your product. If you have a quality product, it should be able to stand on its own two feet. Another quote that seems relevant here… “If you build it, they will come.” This doesn’t just apply to baseball fields. It applies to good, quality products that will sell themselves over time if you build them up in the right way.
Marketing is a top line thing; don’t forget the bottom line. Be wise about what you do and how you use it.
Plan for marketing in your operations, understand capacity and capability, and have a clear approach at the grassroots level. Be sure you can support your marketing efforts, internally and with investment. If you’re not losing market share, don’t jump straight to marketing. Look at your operations first and make adjustments there.
Marketing planning is a craft. Get help from someone who knows how to do it and who has done it – well.
That’s where Infix comes in. We can help you plan for and invest in a better marketing plan in 2020 – one that will meet the challenges of an evolving business landscape and help you grow. We can do that because we live it every day. Contact us for a no-obligation 30-minute consultation.
