Less marketing noise.More clarity, strategy, and action. Blog
Shift your marketing focus from output to outcomes
The output of your marketing is important. Believe me, I’m the last person to say it isn’t. But if you’re so busy putting stuff out there and not thinking about the bigger picture of what you’re trying to do before you take action, you’re turning your marketing into busywork that probably isn’t serving you as well as it could.
So, let’s talk about some of those key points about busyness and how they relate to marketing.
Tactical or strategic marketing? Spoiler, you need both
When creating a successful marketing plan, it’s important to incorporate both strategy and tactics. Rather than opposing one another, the strategy informs the tactical choices. Anyone who tries to separate the strategic from the tactical is missing the big picture.
Test, measure, tweak, repeat: Maximizing the ROI of your marketing efforts
Having a marketing strategy means you should be aware of and in touch with your ideal client: understanding what platforms they’re on, what questions they’re asking, and what solutions they’re looking for so you can speak directly to them.
It means you should have a clear marketing message: one that reflects your business values, your mission, and what your company stands for.
It means you should set appropriate goals, aligned with the metrics that matter most for your company.
And it means that you should be actively testing different methods, campaigns, and approaches to see which give you the biggest return on investment (ROI).
Match your message to the moment: 5 things to consider when reviewing your brand activism marketing strategy
In recent years the tendency of brands to speak up about subjects like racism, human rights, equality, and other social justice topics has increased. This tendency, sometimes referred to as brand activism, might have you questioning whether you should shift your messaging, as well as when and how to do it.
Social media has created an environment where anyone with an account (okay, pretty much everyone) has direct access to brands. People can easily get in touch in real-time, comment or share their experience, and create buzz surrounding a particular brand.
Your marketing strategy should take into consideration your business values and company mission, and focus on matching your message to the moment.
What's your point of view and why do you need one?
Your point of view is how you see the world. Your point of view is an expression of the problem you solve, your approach to solving it, and why people should work with you. Having a documented point of view will give you a tool to center these ideas in content so you can help your customers understand the big picture of what they get when they choose you in every piece of content you share. It makes your content consistent in sharing your point of view, regardless of the topic you’re taking on.
Marketing is an ongoing conversation! Here’s how to keep it going
Whether you’re posting on social media, writing a blog post, or any other type of content, there’s a tendency to lean towards information overload.
Even when it’s the first interaction, I often see people trying to include all the details of their product or service in their content, with the intention of telling their audience anything and everything they can think of to make a sale.
The problem is that this approach rarely creates the intended impact. In fact, more often than not it results in the opposite effect: overwhelm and disconnection.
Data-based decisions: The antidote to shiny object syndrome
It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of a new social media network (hello Tik Tok!) or a nifty email marketing tool for your business. New tools and networks often have a lot of hype around them and seem to make incredible promises about the growth, success, and ease they’ll bring to your business.
Shiny object syndrome describes this tendency -- the inclination we often have to chase the newest thing, rather than stay focused on what we’re doing.
Testimonials that sell: Are you overlooking word-of-mouth marketing?
Word-of-mouth marketing is so powerful. We interact with brands and businesses every day, but if the experience is anything short of extraordinary, it’s unlikely we’re going to go out of our way to talk about it or share that experience with others (and, further, if the experience is perceived as negative, you can almost guarantee it’s going to be shared).
What should you look for when hiring marketing expertise?
I work in a very well-saturated space. There are marketing consultants and agencies everywhere—and they all have different strengths. But not all marketing expertise is created equal.
Every marketing discipline should be strategic
Marketing is one of the most important strategic functions of any business. When it's treated as a check box exercise, it's ineffective and it reinforces the too-often low value that is put on the work.
No business is immune to this mindset—it happens in large and small businesses.
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