Focus Pocus: It’s Not Magic, It’s Strategy

Concentrating your marketing dollars on a single initiative is hard. It’s like choosing which of your kids you like best.

But I promise you, unlike in parenting, it will be simpler in the end (take it from a mom of two newly minted adults…).

It’s All About Sharpening Your Focus

Focusing on a single core audience, with a single message, around a single offering helps you make real hay with your restricted marketing resources. Even when you need to support more than one part of your business with marketing investment, focusing on growth one-by-one can lead to more responsible spending.

Here are four approaches I keep front and center when building out a marketing plan:

1) Consider a launch program that utilizes assets you already have in-house.

You have these” Your email list. Your existing collateral. Your barracuda sales team. Start where you can spend less, and earn more. Focus helps you create impact. But, make sure you have enough “owned media” to deliver on your goals.

Every asset you can control, from your personal LinkedIn profile, to your on-site content, to your reputation are pieces of your owned media cornucopia. Use them. Re-purpose them. Rinse and repeat is not a crime in marketing. It’s a way to focus on core messaging wherever your audience might see it.

2) Start with a single target audience. The question is: which one?

Your opportunity audience will be a two-part harmony, and it’s up to you to pick the part. Customers that may provide higher revenue per new acquisition are an obvious choice. But, consider the purchase cycle—the time it takes to make a sale after the first contact??

New customers who deliver a lower revenue point may actually provide greater revenue opportunity if there are more of them, or if they are easier to onboard.

Remember, this isn’t forever, it’s just a place to start. As your marketing delivers results, you’ll take the learning and move onto the next area of focus.

3) Time is actually on your side.

While you’re building out your priority marketing program, consider what you need to learn for the next one. Which channels have better ROI over what time period? Think twice about the role of ROI in your marketing. Watching the clock for payback will cost you – paid channels can deliver this intel faster than organic ones.?

What messaging approach might apply to more than one audience type, providing efficiency? When you build content for a single target vertical, how can that content be adapted for others??

?Build the right plan. Learn and optimize. That will make the next initiative better informed and more likely to succeed.

4) Consider the buyer journey in terms of time and cost.

It may take longer to generate awareness and engagement than it does to nurture those already in your database. And, while we’re all focused on new customer acquisition, a current lead database or existing customers may deserve some much needed love and attention.

I ascribe to the philosophy of generosity. Nurturing current leads with new high value information they can learn from and use is always a profitable approach.

And never take retention for granted. Customers can be your greatest source of new business. Feed them all the good content you’re using to generate new leads. They need to be reminded of your value over and over again.

Reap the Rewards of a Marketing “Reality Check”

Focus doesn’t mean certain goals aren’t important, ever. Focus simply asks you to allocate resources where it will work best for your business, according to the timeframe you have for growth.

If you’re seeding an audience for the next round of new technology, begin early, even before launch. It’s unrealistic to expect instant recognition and allegiance to new category entrants if you haven’t been talking the talk all along.

And if your revenue needs are more short term, particularly in uncertain times, leave the big beautiful awareness-generating investments for another day. Drill down on near term opportunities with the channels that will work best to engage them.?

In all cases, marketing should pay for itself. With luck and smarts, it can actually pay for your next campaign.?

Next up: Protect Your Business with Nimble Marketing Solutions

About Ilene Rosenthal

As a fractional CMO, I help ambitious leadership teams say bye-bye to the waste and risk inherent in most marketing plans.

My clients are ambitious B2B CEOs who have marketing and sales teams in place, but are still frustrated with the return on their marketing investment.

I also run the Marketing Strategy Lab for small business.??

After 16 years in leadership roles on enterprise brands at Y&R, I’m the CEO of White Space Marketing Group, a marketing strategy consultancy established in 2012.

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