Keep saying it until it’s all they can remember

Marketing doesn’t always work out as we planned. It’s even harder when you’re not a big player and don’t have a lot of dollars to spend. In fact, if you lack the resources to reach your entire audience, you need to be smart in your approach. In truth, there are a lot of strategies to allocate your money for the best return.

Key Take-Away

Begin by defining your key message. Remember, it must be memorable and straightforward. Doing your groundwork is always essential, even more so when you have limited resources. What is that one distinctive quality that defines who and what you are?

If your message is about expertise, then every message marketing delivers should build your expertise story and make a case for it.  Make the message strong. Support it whenever you can. It needs to be the one thing your audience remembers about you.

Stay The Course

One of the pitfalls companies with limited resources fall into is trying lots of different things to see what sticks.

The problem is this scattershot approach confuses the market. A potential customer only sees some of your marketing efforts – a trade show booth, an ad, or your website. If each one of these is different or tells a different story, your audience may not connect them with your company.

Another pitfall is always starting over when you think something isn’t working. Success is rarely a straight line, and it’s essential to adjust your course based on what you learn. Tweaking your message and how you reach your audience will have a more significant opportunity for success than a shotgun approach.

Take the time to do an after-action review and learn what did and didn’t work. Use that data to build on what works. Unless there was a significant misstep that needed damage control, don’t just scrap everything and start over. That is as big of a mistake as continuing to do the same thing over and over and hoping you’ll get better results than last time.

Marketing is a lot like the story of the tortoise and the hare. It’s not a tale of being getting it done fast and hoping it’s enough. Instead, it’s about being consistent in your message, learning from your mistakes, and building your brand.

It’s About Consistency

Remember that one key message I referred to earlier? That is the core of marketing. That is what is consistent. That message should always be the same. You can still change your trade show booth and launch a new campaign. However, the underlining value proposition represented in your messaging should be consistent.

Change For The Sake Of Change

Another caution is this; sometimes, no matter how good your message is, you get bored with it. You feel as though you’ve lived with it too long, and you want a change. It is essential to learn to be disciplined and keep yourself from changing it. Because over time, it becomes an asset with equity. You will be throwing your money away. Besides, you will throw away awareness and all that you’ve built, only for the sake of change. In the end, you will be starting all over again, losing the momentum you created.

There are times and reasons to change your message. You’re growing bored with it is not one of them. Put a new coat of paint on it; create a new campaign around it. Only change it if it’s not the right message. Not because you want to see something new right now.

The one strategy to help you stand out is to be consistent. Especially if you don’t have a big budget, say it, support it and keep saying it until it’s all anyone can remember.