It’s a very noisy marketplace out there. Every day, we are subjected to literally thousands of marketing messages and promises – in your email, your Facebook newsfeed, plastered on billboards, on the radio and in your letterbox. Everyone’s trying to get their message through. So how can your marketing messages cut through all this noise? In this cluttered marketing environment, taking an ad-hoc approach, or thinking that a single campaign is going to get you instant amazing results, is kamikaze marketing: it can be a waste of time and money.
There’s no ‘magic bullet’ in terms of marketing success for small to medium businesses. However there is a bulletproof strategy that works: build and maintain marketing momentum. What is marketing momentum?
A successful marketing campaign starts at ground level and branches up, compounding and building on itself over time. After a while, the campaign gains momentum, as the interconnecting activities complement and amplify each other. If people see your name and message once, they’re likely to forget about it. But if they see it many times, across multiple channels, they’re more likely to start remembering you. Initially they’ll remember your brand, then, as your momentum picks up, they’ll start understanding what your brand does, and the benefits you’re going to bring them. It’s like a train gathering speed and collecting passengers along the way.
How do I build marketing momentum? The first thing you need to remember is that a single marketing activity simply won’t be enough. Invest instead in a carefully constructed, long-term multi-pronged marketing strategy that works from the ground up to build results. In the first couple of months, concentrate on laying the foundations, setting up the systems and activities as well as creating all the materials and tools you will need. Kick off with 1 or 2 activities then build on this, month on month, monitoring your results and revising strategies and activities as required.
Diversify across channels
Don’t rely on one channel; it’s really important to take a multi-pronged attack on the market. You want people to see your message many times, in many places. This doesn’t necessarily cost more money; it’s about being innovative with your content and getting as much out of it as you can. For example, if you put a promo on your website, do a social media post about it, write a blog and send out an email or newsletter to your existing database or purchased/built database. Having multiple marketing activities going at the same time not only utilises the compounding effect to keep building on itself but means when one activity has gone off the boil another can still be pushing leads so you have more consistency and less times of drought.
So when planning your next few month’s marketing activities, think of your marketing as a train: You don’t want it stopping in the next suburb. Keep it moving ever forward, gathering its own momentum and speed. Over time, this provides more stability in your marketing funnel with less ups and downs. Marketing Momentum translates into awareness, recognition, and action from your target market, powering profitability into your business.
