If you are new to the world of marketing and feeling a bit overwhelmed, don’t worry—you are not alone. Marketing is a complex and ever-evolving field. It requires dedicated time, a persistent effort, and a clear strategy to be successful. There’s no ‘magic button’ that will bring instant results, but there is help. Here are seven important things you need to know before diving into the marketing pool. Let’s get started!
- Marketing is not a one-time effort: Many people mistakenly believe that marketing is a one-and-done type of activity with instant results. In reality, marketing is an ongoing process that requires consistent effort and investment to build brand awareness, strengthen SEO, attract leads, and convert them into customers. For the best results, you need to be out there on numerous channels (see #2 below) so that, when they’re in the market for what you offer, they can find new and original information about you. This includes, but should not be limited to, frequent website updates, regular social media posts, blog posts, original video, carefully crafted email, and more.
- Marketing requires a clear strategy: Without a well-defined and documented marketing strategy, your efforts are likely to be scattered and ineffective because priorities aren’t clear and supporting staff has no idea what’s next. It’s important to identify your target audience, understand their needs and preferences, and develop a plan to reach and engage them effectively. If you’re not out there, where they are and when they need your product or service, they’ll never find you when their hunt begins. Who they will see are competitors that prioritize marketing and have a plan, budget and resources in place to design, develop and implement.
- Results take time: Marketing is a long-term game, and it takes time to see tangible results. Building brand awareness, establishing credibility, and nurturing customer relationships all require patience and persistence. Effectiveness hinges on many variables, so it’s critical to set realistic expectations and understand that marketing efforts may take months or even years to fully pay off. For a B2B company, in particular, results may not even always be tangible. If you don’t see the results you were hoping for, it’s important to step back and reassess strategy, budget, resources, and workload. If even one is missing or unclear, you are setting yourself up for failure.
- Data-driven decision making: Marketing is not just about creative ideas and intuition. It’s also about analyzing data and making informed decisions based on insights that come out of that, not relying on a gut feel or individual preference. By tracking and analyzing key metrics, you can identify what’s working and what’s not, and adjust your marketing strategy accordingly.
- Budget is essential: While it’s understandable that businesses want to minimize expenses, investing in marketing is crucial for business growth. Without some sort of budget, it’s almost impossible to execute an effective marketing campaign, reach your target audience, and stay competitive in the market. It’s important to allocate resources for marketing and consider it as an investment rather than an expense. It is naïve to think otherwise.
- Consistency is key: In order to build brand recognition and trust, it’s important to maintain a consistent look-and-feel across a variety of marketing channels. That’s because you never know when a potential customer might need your product or service. Incorporating a similar look and tone across marketing assets reinforces your brand image, helps strengthen brand recognition, and keeps you top of mind for potential customers. Content that doesn’t share a common look across channels looks disconnected and projects a poor image.
- Marketing is a collaborative effort: Marketing success requires collaboration and coordination between different teams and departments. It’s important that both copywriters and graphic designers are utilized in the marketing process to ensure that messaging and visuals align with the overall brand strategy. Putting something out that is technically correct but not brand-compliant can make the company look cheap, unprofessional and, worse, less than trustworthy.
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