marketing tips
Information Overload July 2009
We live in an amazing world of communication with cell phones, email, mini laptops, BlackberrysTM and PDAs. Needless to say, business moves at the speed of light. Those who fail to keep up quickly find themselves struggling to catch up.
Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, Blogger and on and on; not to mention industry networks you may be required to monitor. We can all admit we've asked ourselves at least once if these are a benefit or a distraction. It can often be difficult to decifer the indespensible from the trendy. We don't want to be left behind and we don't want to waste time going down a dead end.
Simple fact is we honestly can't afford to keep up with all these things and be effective with any of them. As the saying goes, "A Jack of all trades, a master of none."
Saturation is an essential element to a successful marketing strategy. However, most small companies don't have the resources to saturate multiple campaigns. This is where a careful evaluation of options and dedication to follow-through are important.
A month of research and planning will be more valuable than a year of misguided marketing. Know your customers, what they want and the diversity of their needs. Understand how and where they get information about their next purchase. Is it by radio, television or Twitter?
Evaluate the trends and test market those areas before commiting substantial resources. When conducting multiple market tests, be careful to keep results separate to maintain their accuracy and integrity.
Saturation means very little if the campaign can not be sustained over an extended period. Adequete resources and personel should be dedicated to the campaign to insure sustainability.
Coca Cola is the single greatest example of all these things. Only during the Holiday Season will Coke run television ads. Yet in the course of a day the average person is exposed to their marketing (branding) no less than fifteen times. This has been their strategy for the past thirty years and it obviously works well.
Seasoned salesmen know that it takes several good calls on a potential client to ultimately make a sale. Advertising and Marketing follow the same basic rule. Shotgun Marketing will never produce results as great as a carefully aimed Rifle Shot. Saturation and sustainability in target markets will yield a consistent return on your marketing investment.