A few weeks ago, we marked a change in seasons with the beginning of fall. Leaves start changing colors, giving the streets outside of Genius eCommerce in Philadelphia a picturesque scene. It is beauty at its finest.
The change of season may be inspiring change in other areas as well. We see clients who constantly look to better themselves and get more out of their marketing and at Genius eCommerce, we’re always willing to help. It’s who we are and what we have done for people who have questions about marketing and eCommerce since 2012.
Today, I’m here to talk to you about marketing and the ways you can construct an effective marketing campaign.
When you endeavor into the world of marketing, the main focus always comes back to return on investment. If you are going to take the time and money to increase your reach within the online community, you want to see it returned with successful results. You wouldn’t purchase a new software or pay for marketing only to never put it to use or get something out of it. It would be like purchasing a new appliance for your kitchen only to watch it collect dust instead of using it in the creation of your meals. What’s the point if it isn’t working?
That may be part of the reason why you’re here. You may have tried marketing in the past and been burned. It just wasn’t what you expected or you didn’t get the results you wanted. Hey, we’ve all been there.
But maybe you’re a bit like me and not willing to give up so easily. Maybe you’ve stuck it out and hoped and prayed for better results. The truth of the matter is that without being proactive, you aren’t going to see much of a change. And that can be a frightening thing because you may think the only way to get your name out there is to spend a lot of money and hope for the best.
There are ways to be cost-effective with your marketing and still achieve results. You’ve heard the saying less is more. It can also be true in the marketing space. In marketing campaigns, we tend to find that people are more pleasantly surprised with their results if things perform well and they didn’t invest as much money as they expected to achieve their goals or are getting a greater return on investment than anticipated.
So how can you remain cost-effective but still have a rock solid marketing campaign that produces results and gives you return on your investment?
Put it to the test, literally. In marketing, success is achieved by those willing to roll with the punches. Ferris Bueller did say that “life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” It is necessary to be able to adapt to quick changes in your marketing, to stop and look around at what your campaign results are telling you, and make adjustments based on what works and what doesn’t. Question everything. Test everything. Measure your successes and shortcomings and learn from the things that aren’t working.
Running a business may put a lot on your plate at one time. There may be days where the stress becomes too great to bear and you admit to trying to carry too much weight. In marketing, it’s really not that different. You can easily spread yourself too thin by trying to do too much too soon. It’s good to have long-term goals and see the big picture, but you don’t get there overnight. Start by focusing on just one channel or a few at a time and keep your target audience in mind. By concentrating on one channel, your message will have more exposure and reach more people than getting minimal exposure from a number of channels. Too many fish in the pond can deplete funds and make your campaign too segmented to achieve the ROI you want.
In the digital space, content is king. It’s a lesson I’ve learned for many years of writing for a variety of online outlets. The content in your marketing campaign is your message, your voice. What do you want it to say and how do you want to say it?
During college, I was a college radio DJ and I would always despise listening to playbacks of my on-air work because I didn’t like the sound of my own voice. Self-criticism can be motivating, but it can also be driving you into changes that aren’t really necessary. You may think your campaign is repetitive and boring. After all, it is your brand and your baby and it represents you. But your audience may be getting to experience you and your personality for the first time through your ads. What may seem old, out-of-date and boring to you may be fresh to a new customer who just came across your ad in a search.
Finally, never be satisfied and keep driving forward to achieve progress in your campaigns. As a sports fan, I hear it all the time from players, coaches and team owners in interviews, that at the end of the day, anything short of a championship simply is not good enough. The end goal for every team is to win the final game of the season and hold the trophy. And even the ones that do simply set a new goal to defend the title and hold the trophy again after winning the following season. In marketing, you should also never be satisfied until you achieve your goals or set new goals as you achieve success. It’s the same drive. Maintain high quality in your content and campaign. Be creative and connect with people. Use the statistics you get to measure success and create new ideas based on what the numbers tell you.
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