It’s that time of year again- when we start wrapping up this year and planning for next year. As you work your way through the piles and decide what to store & what needs to be handy, I strongly encourage you to take a good look at your marketing efforts for the year.
One of the key elements of the guerilla marketing tactic (and the Clear Message Communications tactic) is to be analytical & strategic. We develop 12 month marketing strategies for our clients all year long, but no matter what time of year we start – as the end of the 12 months comes up, we take a good long look at the previous efforts to decide how to proceed for the next 12 months. This way we know our clients are moving forward and continue growing.
So what should you think about when you’re looking back and planning forward? There are several variables you should look at, including: changes in the marketplace, changes in the habits of your target, technologies and advancements affecting your industry, and a whole lot more. But in the interest of keeping to one point I’ll stick to one element – analyzing your previous marketing.
When you look at your previous marketing, you need to go beyond the surface. Something I hear all too often is, “I tried ___________. It doesn’t work.” This always makes me chuckle because it’s usually not the medium’s fault.
A good example is direct mail. Successful direct mail isn’t just a matter of sending out a postcard and waiting for something to happen. Before you decide direct mail does or doesn’t work, you need to look at each component of the mailing & determine if it all measured up:
- The List. Is it too general to get a response? More names don’t always equate to a bigger response. If you’re buying a list, make sure it’s appropriate for your message and is reaching people who need what you offer. Make sure they can afford your product/service and can make a decision to act.
- The Creative. Does the creative (the look & feel of your piece) say what you want it to say? Does is accurately portray the image you want people to see & does it appeal to the people you’re trying to reach? Does your creative looks “DIY” or unprofessional? Does your piece hold it’s own against one from your competitor?
- The Offer. Do you have an offer and a call to action on your direct mail? It amazes me when I get a direct mail piece that doesn’t do anything but say, “Hi. I’m here.” Direct mail needs to tell your audience to respond & you have to give them a good reason to do it. Give them a discount for responding within a certain timeframe or offer them exclusive access to information, or whatever. The offer needs to support the goal for the mailing.
- The Tracker. You can ask how they found you, but without a tracker you won’t know for sure. People try to remember when they’ve seen your marketing, but they aren’t always accurate. One of the easiest trackers is to put a promotional code on your mailer. Next to your offer include a line that says “must mention promotional code MAILER2009 to take advantage of this offer” or something similar.
- The Repeat. Unless you have an amazing mailer, you’ll typically need to “touch” your audience a second or third time. If possible, put a different tracker on each one so you’ll know which version got their attention.
- The Follow. Before you send out your first mailing, have a plan in place for following up with those who contact you. If they respond and never hear from you again – the direct mail worked, you didn’t.
Take this same type of analytical logic & apply it to the rest of your marketing for the year. Once you do, you’ll be prepared to sort your good from bad marketing campaigns & be more effective with your marketing in the next year. You won’t have to ask “Should I?” because you’ll be better prepared to know what you should & shouldn’t do in the next year.
Speaking of learning from the past, a final note: When I started this blog, I made a commitment to post weekly & Thursdays seemed like the best day of the week to do it. Since then a lot has changed with my schedule & I find myself writing my blog all night to get it done on time. I don’t feel too bad about missing this past Thursday (wasn’t gonna think about blogging on Christmas), but several people have told me they look forward to reading it & I don’t like disappointing them. So, for 2009 I’m gonna shoot for posting on Mondays.
This will be my last post of 2008. My next post will be on the 5th, then I’ll be skipping a week while I travel to a conference. And my next post will be on the 19th. Hope everyone has a very happy and safe New Year’s and I’ll talk to you all in 2009.
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