You’ve got no time, no budget, and no energy to revise your marketing tactics or rewrite your marketing plan. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we have heard it all before. Those excuses are costing you customers and cold, hard cash.
Last week, a new client confided that he was afraid he was wasting 50% of his marketing budget. But, he was wrong. Instead, he’s been wasting 95% of his marketing budget on tactics that don’t work. Here are three shortcuts so that you don’t make his mistakes.
- Just Say No.
If you get a cold call from a marketing agency who promises to put you on the first page of Google, hang up the phone. The same goes for the local deal agency who promises that a 50% discount and their cool, fun writing style will make customers flock to your door. The only marketing tactics that work are those that you’ve tailored specifically to your ideal customer.
- Perfect Isn’t Good.
We see this all too often: a business owner requesting yet another round of revisions of a marketing communication, because it’s not quite perfect. Or, requesting nine unique logo concepts, or rewriting content himself. If you find yourself in this situation, you are probably wasting about two-thirds of your investment. Let it go, already.
- Don’t Do It All Yourself.
Some things are absolutely right to outsource. If you’ve never written content for a website or set up an email system, hire a professional to do it for you. For those on a tight budget – and who isn’t? – there are many ways to make this affordable. You can ask a writer to talk you through an outline and then have her edit your work. A good technical expert can set up a marketing system for you, and train your support staff to run it. I will show you the cost/benefit calculation that proves that this pays out.
Concerned that you might be wasting your marketing dollars? Email me to set up a 15-minute call. I’ll ask you to describe your ideal customer and list what you’re doing for marketing, and then I’ll recommend what to cut.
Enjoy the savings!
February 4, 2014