The First Rule Of Marketing
The First Rule Of Marketing Is To Get Attention. As Robert Greene Says “Everything is judged by its appearance: what is unseen counts for nothing.” You must find a way for your service or product to stand out at all costs. If you don’t you are as good as dead. Now you may be asking what’s the best way to get attention?
The Best Way?
Often business owners will come to me and ask “what’s the best way to market my business? or what’s the best platform to market on?”. I often respond with whatever allows you to target your audience and get their attention. Now, this often results in either a blank stare or a snarky comment, but it’s absolutely the truth. Marketing is a fairly simple game at the beginning but becomes complex when you continue to add layers and target people who are at different stages in the buying funnel. What marketers should focus on is where are my potential customers and how do I get in front of them?
Now you may be thinking well my potential customers are on Facebook or Instagram and I’ll just post content promoting my company. To me, that type of thinking is very limiting and won’t get you anywhere. If you don’t have the time or resources to commit to a full-fledged content strategy, don’t do it. Half assing things in marketing will lead to your death. Think about direct mail, trade shows, newspapers, a website, google my business profile, and even yellow pages. These strategies are far easier and less time-consuming than content strategies.
Do a little research and try to understand what demographics view these marketing platforms and choose which fits you best. You can never be 100% sure what platform is best for your company even with all the research in the world. You need to pick a marketing platform (preferably multiple, as it gives you a better chance of success) that you can afford and that you can commit to. If you can’t commit to it or can’t afford it don’t do it. You will waste your money.
Tracking – The Magic Piece
The magic piece that makes everything come together is tracking. You need to track your results. If you don’t you will lose in the long run. Without tracking you will not be able to optimize your winners and cut your losers. Most tracking can be done either through online form submissions or 3rd party call tracking platforms like CallRail. If you’re just receiving inbound calls, CallRail is great because it’s fairly simple and you can setup it up within 5 minutes. 3rd party call tracking platforms give you forwarding numbers that you would include and your advertisement and then they’ll show the results online of how many calls came through on that specific phone number/ad. These forwarding numbers easily allow you to choose the winners and losers when it comes to ads and marketing platforms. This is why you need to track everything, yes it may be a pain but it is worth it.
Commitment
The final aspect is a commitment many platforms take time and most buyers do not purchase the first time they see an ad. Realistically you need to show your ad at least 7-8 times to the consumer before they “get it”. So don’t expect results right away plan for 6-12 months before really seeing results. Yes, there are platforms that can get results quicker like search engine marketing but even they tend to take 30-90 days to warm up.
Remember that in order to succeed you must consistently get in front of your target audience, track everything and commit to a long-term plan.
Grit Those Teeth,
Matthew D. Miller
