Shameless Plug ;)
By MODintelechy / Marketing
So our header has already told you that we are here to help you gain insight on a fairly broad range of topics, right?
Well, we figured it was about time we wrote some marketing material of our own, [not that the info we normally link you to isn’t awesome, if it wasn’t we wouldn’t share…]
And now that we’ve created this comprehensive list, we will now boldly go where some have only dared to go before,
Today we present to you:
5 ways to suck LESS at marketing campaigns.
(and don’t be offended by our suggestions, you know we’re right)
1. You are not in control.
You’ve heard this before…..With the rise of the Internet, consumers and businesses have more control over the buying process than ever. This is true. However, the dirty little secret is that brands were never really in complete control….
2. Inbound, inbound, inbound.
Whenever we get a phone call asking for us to do a marketing campaign, here is how it typically goes down…
Client- We want to do an outbound email so we can exceed our quarterly revenue targets. Stop. Pause. Uncomfortable silence.
Do you see anything wrong with this statement? Put yourself in a buyer’s shoes these days. We’re all bombarded with more and more marketing messages and have all well-developed defense mechanisms to combat them (spam filters being just one of them. ADD is another). Will one well conceived email turn prospects in to buyers with one fell swoop? Doubt it (it hasn’t happened yet)…
3. Do not launch any campaign without first having somewhere to send prospects (AKA, call to action).
This may sound obvious but you don’t know how many big brands we’ve worked with that don’t understand this premise (and spend lots of money on campaigns that have a) no call to action and b) if there is a call to action, nowhere to actually send people to do something- download a white paper, trial software, buy the product).
4. One email blast does not make a campaign.
Marketers often think campaigns are a series of events rather than a process that can bring in and nurture a sustainable flow of prospects that need to be educated (awareness), walked through the merits of your product and service vs the alternatives (often your biggest competition is doing nothing or no choice), and then finally getting the sale. We still cringe every time we hear the phrase ‘email blast’…..
5. User experience and design matter.
As the well-documented success of Apple has driven home like a hammer, design and user experience matters. Especially in markets with complex products (think technology and medical devices) or heavily commoditized markets (soft drinks and food products), the experience the consumer or buyer has with the product is the new competitive battleground…
And those tips are just the beginning.