Occasionally, struggling businesses come to us with the idea or expectation that marketing and advertising can fix all (or most) of their problems, as if we have a secret prescription that a business can take for an overnight marketing miracle. These prospects tend to be impatiently seeking a "get sales yesterday" pill that will magically make their business tons of money without the need for ongoing marketing or sales efforts. Unfortunately, this is short-term thinking. Yes, quick wins are important, but modern marketing is a marathon, not a sprint.
For those of you chasing that illusive marketing miracle, we hope you will consider re-evaluating your approach and nail down the following before throwing too much of your marketing budget at shiny objects. Once you have clarity on the first two and are able to add a little "diet and exercise" to the old marketing regimen, you'll be better equipped to re-invest in new channels and strategies.
1. Verify and identify your market fit first
If there isn’t a real market need for your product or service, a mix of marketing and advertising cannot create one for you. Now, some people may not know about you, so they might not know they need your product. In that case, your market exists, you just have to help them find you. This is where marketing strategies can help. For instance, clear personas can help ensure that you are solving a problem for your market (even if they don’t know they have it). Keep in mind, it has to be a real problem. If they don’t relate to the problem you are describing or don’t really think it’s a problem, they will not buy from you.
Start small: Often times, there is no reason to start with a national reach. Instead, look to prove your product or concept regionally, even locally or within a niche. Once you have fine-tuned your product, you can tap into target marketing and start to broaden your reach.
2. Clarify your message and brand personality
At the end of the day, there are business decisions that affect the marketing of a product or service. If the product or service doesn’t match the brand experience that you have set up in marketing, then your product or service ultimately will not succeed. That doesn’t mean we can’t make small gains, but if you are looking for large sustained growth, that probably won’t happen.
Tell the truth: Tell your audience what makes you different, how you solve their problem better then anyone else. But most of all, match what you’re saying about your product or service with what you really do.
3. Commit resources for the long haul
This is a concept that can be very difficult for someone to swallow (especially if their business isn’t profitable or as profitable as they think it should be). People seeking quick wins have a tendency to look for short-term plays that will show immediate success. But we have to keep in mind that in marketing and in business you're not playing one game that begins and ends. In fact, if the game ends, the business dies. Instead, the goal should be to play continually, making strategy calls and adjustments to the field. The goal is to stay in the game and move up the ranks, not to end the game all together. So, it is very important to think big picture and not throw dollars around at half baked strategies without a realistic time frame to see results.
Choose select channels to start with: This concept is similar to starting small from above. We often see businesses spread themselves to thin, trying to hit all their channels regardless of their budget. Instead, try focusing on 1-3 channels max and fine-tuning your message, brand and target. Once those strategies show results, test another channel—starting small and growing where you see success.
While none of these will produce a "marketing miracle", they will get you moving in the right direction. At the end of the day, you have to build trust with your customers by providing a product or service that matches what you are marketing, offer a product or service that people actually want, solve a real problem and re-invest consistently in your marketing efforts to see real business results long-term.
Need help getting your marketing and sales on track?
At TANK New Media, we believe there is a better way to approach moving your business forward towards your short-term AND long-term goals. Our approach makes things like inbound leads and sales more and more predictable for you over time. We call it modern marketing. It's certainly not for everyone, but with the right mindset and consistent effort, the results can be game changing for your business.
