So you’ve been assigned a big marketing project. It’s all yours, from conception to completion. Woo hoo! Congratulations!
But let me ask you a question… Is your project really that big of a deal?
Yes, you say. It’s the Fall Marketing Campaign, and it’s the only annual campaign that builds our customer base. So it’s really good for business.
But is it?
What’s in your marketing plan?
If you’re like most companies, you rely on the basic marketing pieces that everyone else uses: website, email marketing, direct mail and content marketing. If you’re cutting edge, you also have a social media presence.
But each of these platforms will exist in a silo of sorts. They won’t connect. They’ll each have their own strategic objective and voice.
The problem is that marketing is often approached with a focus on projects (like the Fall Marketing Campaign), rather than overall strategy.
Or, as might be the case, project-oriented tactics are perceived as being strategy.
If you ask me, this mindset is responsible for much of the ineffective marketing that floods the marketplace.
It’s the difference between strategy and tactics
Strategic goals involve the basics: increased traffic, better lead generation, more sales and improved ROI. SEO, your blog and the summer marketing campaign are just tactics.
But here’s where it really falls apart: The copywriters and project managers who are assigned the projects, because they haven’t been briefed on your strategic goals, will treat each project as a stand-alone assignment.
For well-integrated, big-picture marketing, it’s important that everyone involved be one the same page.
Even if strategy is developed in the C-Suite, it should be shared with the worker bees who make it happen. That way your marketing will have one voice and one message, regardless of the platform, copywriter or project manager.
What do you need to focus on?
Corporate story. You don’t want your company to come off as schizophrenic. Your brand should be consistent, and it will be if you do a good job of communicating your strategy with all employees.
What do you focus on? Your brand and promise. Everything must align to this.
Ask yourself. What does your company stand for? What do you want your story to be? What’s your value proposition? Does every message that leaves your office communicate it clearly and consistently?
Sales process. Your goal is to turn leads to prospects and prospects to customers in a smooth progression. Begin by outlining your sales process. Then evaluate every marketing campaign and/or project by how it fits within that framework.
Each project must connect with prospects at a different level of the funnel and lead prospects deeper into the process.
Communication gaps will cause funnel leakage. So be prepared to create content or collateral to fill those gaps. Otherwise, you’re wasting marketing dollars.
Keep it simple. Keep it streamlined. And you’ll get better results with lower investment of time and money.
Delivery process. Ultimately, you want to develop a business process that’s completely customer oriented. It should stretch from marketing to sales and customer support.
Ask yourself. What is your customers’ actual experience once they’ve purchased your product? Is that what you want them to experience? Does your marketing accurately communicate the experience?
All marketing must reflect the reality of the relationship that will be forged. At the end of the day, your customers don’t care whether you got a good return on your marketing investment. They only care that you deliver on your promises and that they can get help when they need it.
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Do you have a process in place for your marketing, or is it a project-driven enterprise? How do you keep your entire marketing department on the same page? And how well the entire customer experience unified? I’d love to hear about your challenges and the solutions you’ve found.
