marketing plan

Marketing Your Business Blindly & Building it in a Bubble

Brand Awareness, brand management, Creative Marketing Campaigns, market research, Marketing in the Moment, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Trends, personalized brand experience, social media marketing, Uncatergorized

I am working on a video tutorial today on how to research and test before you build your business. It will also be useful if you are looking for ways to make it grow.   I will be sure to share it on this blog once it’s posted.  Market research is really important, yet most brands keep on fumbling along without it.

So many companies that I work with tend to build in a bubble. They forget to find out more about their customers, investigate the competition or look for trends on the horizon.

You need to know the lay of the land. You can’t promote just because everyone says “oh this really works”. You need a marketing map people. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to marketing your business and you can’t build anything big in a bubble.

CXBubblePost-1

 

Image from SunCityCamp.com – recreating the Martian experience.

 

Marketing in the Moment

Creative Marketing Campaigns, customized promotions, grand openings, Marketing in the Moment, Uncatergorized

Through trial and error and years of experience we have learned that the timing of promotions, media relations and marketing campaigns can make all the difference to your success. Too early and you can cause too much angst and anticipation, too late and you will probably miss the opportunity to maximize on your  opportunities and engage with customers.

Buzz-building Guidelines for Media and Consumers  –

  • Start 4 weeks for pre-opening promotions to lure new customers in the first day you open. Anything more and you will frustrate new customers who post things like “When are you opening in my area already!!!!!!!!!!!” on your Facebook page.
  • 6 months when pitching long lead editorial (think a season ahead, ie. send new sun protection products to beauty editors in February)
  • 3 to 5 months when sending releases to trade publications (a bit shorter, but they should get the news first, before consumer media and before your actual customers)
  • 6 to 8 weeks for weekly printed magazines (tighter deadlines, but still not 2 weeks out, you’ll miss your target issue date)
  • 3 to 4 weeks for television and daily papers (the same goes for news blogs, unless it’s critically important news)
  • 4 to 6 weeks for invites to events (with a save the date sent out first, followed by an invite and then an RSVP Reminder to keep the head count high)
  • And 2 to 4 weeks for limited time offers and about 2 to 4 minutes when engaging with customers through social media.

And when taking a 360 degree lifestyle marketing approach, it’s important to understand where your customer lives, plays, vacations and works before and after they experience your products and services. This will also help build on and offline promotions and campaigns that are both timely and effective. Would you like to discuss the timeliness of your campaign, well we think it’s time we met.