You’re a 21st-century marketing professional. That means that you’ve got umpteen priority-one items on your plate and nowhere-near-enough resources to get it all done. You’re trying to be strategic and tactical at the same time – all while measuring results and proving ROI.
Sometimes you get so wrapped up in it all that you lose sight of what really matters. We can all use a little reminder from time to time to help keep us on track. Here, in no particular order, are 27 tweetable tips to help you do just that.
1. Don’t think about what you’re selling, think about what the market is buying.
2. Nothing is ever single-purpose – get creative about uses, formats, vehicles and distribution channels.
3. Avoid “me-too marketing” – build your plans based on business need, not what your competitors are doing.
4. “That’s how we’ve always done it” isn’t a marketing strategy. Test your sacred cows.
5. First impressions matter – make sure presentation and packaging match the offering. It’s a critical investment.
6. When you report on marketing program results, deliver metrics the business cares about.
7. If you follow your competitors, you’ll never beat them. What’s your strategy to break away from the pack?
8. Do you REALLY need a tagline? Or do you just need to do a better job in general of articulating what you do?
9. It doesn’t matter how good you think your sales tools are if reps don’t use them. (If a tree falls in the forest…)
10. Does your website support your business’ goals? If not, (re-)design your home page to deliver on key objective.
11. Just because you can measure it doesn’t mean it’s important. Make sure your marketing metrics matter to the business.
12. Don’t get trapped in your comfort zone. Test a lot of new things. Some will fail but that’s OK because others won’t.
13. There is ALWAYS room for improvement in your marketing programs. Insist on it.
14. If you have to justify successful marketing programs, you’re not communicating your successes effectively.
15. There IS a foolproof formula. Marketing Success = Solid Planning + Flawless Execution (I never said it was easy.)
16. Just because the competition does it, that doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do.
17. Your prospects don’t lie awake at night thinking about your product. Understand what their real concerns are.
18. How to build a marketing plan: goal, audience, strategy, tactics, timeline, metrics, budget. Boom.
19. Don’t get so wrapped up in your own thing that you can’t recognize what your audience does – and does not – care about.
20. A marketing campaign/program isn’t successful until you can prove it. Metrics matter.
21. Prioritize. Plan. Execute. Measure. Evaluate. In that order. Lather, rinse, repeat.
22. When you set marketing goals (which should drive strategy & tactics) did you make sure they were aligned w/ sales’ goals?
23. Measure what matters. Don’t know what matters? There’s the first problem you need to fix.
24. Spend precious marketing resources on what makes a real difference to the business (hint: it’s not the logo or tagline)
25. Marketing rule #1 – Strategy first, then tactics. There are no exceptions to this rule.
26. Understand the why of a marketing failure so you don’t repeat it – understand the why of a success so you can optimize it.
27. You are not your target audience. Don’t forget it.
