Tactics – One-off or winner?
Being tactical is great when it comes to getting things done. You have a specific activity and you complete it. You feel good. Marketing is constantly being executed across a series of tactics. But where do all these tactics lead? We know you feel busy and productive, but is it time and money well spent?
We are told all the time, “I’m spending a lot on marketing and we do a great deal, but I’m not sure I’m getting anything in return.” Most likely you are getting far less than you could by running a strategic approach to marketing. Let me give you an example:
You sign up to have a booth at the largest tradeshow in your industry. Your target audience will be attending in droves, you have a prominent spot and a great-looking booth. Your sales team is at the ready to meet & greet and sign up clients left and right. You invest time, resources, people and money to make the show fantastic. You feel good standing in your booth and seeing the activity.
After all the confetti is swept up, you and your team return to the office and clean out your inboxes. You still have no more leads than before. Was it because you took too many people off the “road” to attend the show? Was it because the message was off? Was it because your sales team tired by the third day?
Nope, it was none of these things.
It was because the show was a one-off tactic in a yearlong effort to grow business. There was nothing before the show (except hard work and disruption) and there was nothing post show.
The key is to develop an overarching strategy that helps these high effort (and low effort) marketing tactics to build on each other and leverage opportunities.
Imagine if you had handled it like this: First, prior to the show, you crafted a 3 piece direct mail or email campaign to key prospects letting them know you would like to meet them at the show. Then, you sent another 3 pieces post show reminding them about what you stand for and have to offer. In addition, this was supported by a sales effort to schedule visits with each prospect at the show or post show. You had set up a turnkey approach to add each person you met at the show to your CRM and you had a package at the ready to send each contact from the show once you got back to your office. Your marketing team was also actively monitoring your key prospects’ social media to help the sales team gain insights to incorporate in their conversations. And, finally, you simultaneously launched a new section on your website with content that would inform and give your prospects great ideas and insights. You promoted this content in the direct mail or email campaign that surrounded the tradeshow. All these activities took a 3 day tradeshow and stretched it out over 6 months!
Tactics make everyone feel productive – as if things are going in the right direction. But, it is only when they all interconnect and build consistently toward your goals, that they compound your investment, build your brand, generate leads and win results.
