In Marketing: Maintenance is Key

Going into 2023, I am sure I am not alone in saying that I had many ‘new years resolutions’ or goals I wanted to achieve in the year.

One of them was to broaden my knowledge base of ‘marketing’.

As a self-taught marketer – relying on research of target audiences and thinking about the most sensible way to do things – I often wonder if I am missing tricks that my peers with degrees and qualifications in marketing know but I don’t.

I wanted to learn new tactics, find out what strategies other marketers use and develop my skills in brand awareness initiatives.

On my quest for knowledge and insight I have opened up my awareness to the knowledge that is around me. I have subscribed to new podcasts, signed up for webinars and actually read the marketing materials that flood my inbox rather than auto deleting.

While I have undoubtedly learnt new things already, there is one thing that I am noticing about all these resources.

All of them focus on new ideas.

Now, new ideas are great. I love to learn about new trends on Instagram or the best recommended ways to write up a new campaign plan.

But for me, creating something new is the easiest part of marketing.

Starting a new campaign or the start of a new product launch is always the most exciting part of the process! It is new, it is fresh, it is the time you have all the ideas and the team is buzzing to get going.

But what about what happens next?

How do you maintain energy when the fruits of all your work sometimes take over a year to materialise? How do you keep chipping away at the market when the challenge seems insurmountable? How do you keep you and a team motivated to keep going for the entirety of a lengthy campaign?

Make a Plan

Getting a plan in place ahead of time is really important. That way you (and your team if you have one) know what is coming up and large campaigns can be broken down into smaller bitesized tasks.

You can plan as far ahead as you feel comfortable and it will depend on your actual business plan and goals as to what is best for you. But this forward planning of tasks allows you to take a step back and plan a strategy over a long period of time.

For IQ Glass UK we tend to plan in detail 3 months ahead at a time, with some further planning for specific events. This allows us the flexibility to change things as needed but ensures we know what we are doing every week. Whereas the content for Sky House Design Centre is planned less far in advance to allow us to be more reactive.

Break Down Goals

If your sales process is long, you might not see the end results of your marketing campaign for a while.

To keep energy up, break down your goals into smaller chunks that can be reviewed regularly.

If you are launching a product your end goal is to sell that product. Some sales funnels can be very long so there may be a long period between the initial launch and when you sell your first order.

But there are many touch points you can measure between the launch and order.

Did you send a marketing email? What were the stats? Were they better than the industry average? How did it compare to the last campaign you sent?

It is likely that anyone buying the product will look at the web page before enquiring. How many web views has the page received? Where are these coming from? Which of your activities has generated the best result?

All this micro data reflects the ongoing effectiveness of your campaign. Checking in on this and celebrating the small wins will help keep motivation going.

Maintain Your Course

I am very lucky that I work in a hugely collaborative environment where all directors and department heads are interested and invested in the difference marketing can make. I get so many good ideas and suggestions from the people I work with; it helps keep the ideas flowing and our approach applicable to the business.

But that also means…

I work in an environment where all the directors and department heads are interested in marketing and invested in the differences marketing can make.

I am constantly being provided with new content ideas, new areas for possible development or growth, new targets to look at, new USP’s, new pictures, new stories. If I where to implement every idea I got sent I would over saturate our marketing channels with too many different messages (not to mention there are only 8 hours in a working day!)

When choosing what to talk about in your marketing activities, keep in mind the overall business aims.

The brands I manage don’t get paid for web visits or for the number of likes we get on social media. They each have their own goals which marketing plays a huge part in achieving.

It is my responsibility to cut out all the noise, filter through all the ideas and suggestions getting fired in from all directions and maintain the best message to achieve our goals. Sometimes that means pushing back against ideas of people I respect and admire. But I have to have confidence that the plan I created was the right one and I am going to see it through to the end.

Create a plan and stick to it. Assess the results at the end. Sometimes you will find things didn’t work, so tweak them for next time. Some elements will have worked and you can integrated those strategies into your next campaign.

Consistent Hard Work

There is no magic spell or shortcut when it comes to marketing. And while new trends are always great, the key components of marketing are still the ones that count.

1. Know the target audience
2. Understand your message
3. Get your message to your target audience

Working for a well-known brand within the industry, there are always those who look to copycat what we have created. 90% of these attempts fail. Not because the company wasn’t a good one but because they didn’t keep at it.

Getting a flash website designed is only the beginning. You have to put in consistent work to fine tune your marketing. You have to maintain attention to detail, be productive but don’t rush things, bring in new ideas whilst not forgetting the old ones, trawl through lists of data without getting side-tracked by data, focus on the micro whilst keeping focus on the larger goals…

None of it is easy. And none of it is quick.

Ahead to 2023

So, while I will continue to read my new marketing books and trial the new strategies I have learnt, I will be keeping all of the above in mind.

Don’t get side tracked by shiny new trends and strategies. Make sure you have the basics down first. Maintain these, work hard and find ways to keep your energy up through the slog.

What tactics to you (and your team) use to maintain focus and energy throughout a marketing campaign??