Is your marketing strategy outdated?
Let’s face it, with the advent of new media such as social networks, smartphones, tablets and the WWW in general, the world of marketing and advertising just doesn’t work quite like it used to. Traditional techniques and marketing strategy don’t have the same kind of impact they did a decade ago. Heck, social media strategies are changing everyday it seems with the FB ‘Like’ no longer serving as the golden ticket to social media marketing success. In order to make the same lasting impressions, you’re going to have to get with the times which likely means you’ll have to broaden your scope and tweak your game plan. Charles Darwin knew what he was talking about when he made the observation, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” What worked this year likely won’t do the trick in 2013 so make the changes necessary or risk watching from the sidelines as your competition skyrockets–the choice is yours. Not convinced? Here are just a few signs it’s time to update your Marketing Strategy.
1. SPAM: If you don’t eat it, don’t feed it–People’s inboxes fill up quickly enough as it is. With all the daily deal sites and blogs I subscribe to I can barely keep up. Believe me targeting random users through unsolicited email advertising is going to do nothing but irritate current clients and give potential clients a bad first impression of your brand. You want to be the expert, not scream desperate.
2. Cold Calls Get You Nothing But A Lot Of Cold Shoulders–Once again, contacting people at random to try to get them to buy into your business sounds a lot like begging. Even if your business is tight on resources, you don’t want to let people onto your desperation. Plus, people are busy. Unless they are expecting a call they probably aren’t going to answer and you can almost forget about leaving a message because it’s pretty much guaranteed they won’t call you back. It may be impersonal but that’s the reality of the digital world we live in.
3. You’re Still Stuck on Snail Mail–Speaking of the digital world, unless you’re sending out thank you cards, invitations, or a really epic piece of print collateral you should not be wasting your marketing dollars on mailed advertising. If it’s not eye catching or there is no type of perk involved your efforts are likely going to see nothing but the depths of a trashcan (as sad as that truth is).
4. Inconsistency–If your marketing is all over the map in content and/or frequency you’ve got a problem. Make sure you have a solid sense of who your target audience is and what message you’re trying to convey. Maybe your product or service has many benefits but if you’re too wishy washy in your advertising you’ll confuse people and quickly lose their interest. You can highlight different aspects of your brand but just make sure that no matter what you are talking about you are being YOU. In addition, it’s important to remember that because technology has allowed us so much accessibility, we can’t just shut off at random. Develop a schedule for your marketing strategy so that you’re not leaving your audience hanging.
5. Promotion Over Quality is the Name Of Your Game–No marketing campaign, no matter how great, can fix a broken brand. You won’t get far by simply claiming to offer quality products and services. You have to make sure you can deliver before you go boasting to the world. If you don’t have something unique to bring to the table people won’t hold interest for long so make sure you have a stable brand strategy in place as a foundation for building your marketing strategy.
6. Your Social Media Efforts Lack Humanity–If you’re taking a traditional advertising approach to social media you’ve got it all wrong. Social networks were designed to connect people on a more personal level, to give them a place where they can engage in more casual everyday conversation. Just because Facebook has a “News Feed” does not mean that you should use it as a universal loudspeaker. It’s called a “social” network for a reason. The idea is to create an ongoing back and forth interaction between your brand and your audience so save that complex industry jargon for press releases and let your brand’s personality shine through fun, engaging conversation.
Don’t wait until 2013 to update your marketing strategy. Get ahead of the game and contact us today. We’ll help you figure out your strengths and your weak points and from there come up with a plan that fits the specific needs of your brand.