sinatraco.com Blog

I was the VP, Director or Marketing for a financial services firm several years ago and the overriding goal with the money managers was, ”mitigate risk.”  Lowering risk in the equity markets comes through diversification via multiple market segments.  In the marketing industry this same principle can also be used to lower risk.   

Small to mid-sized companies can expend a great deal of resources on marketing initiatives by putting all their chips on the table in one campaign.  Many companies have gone this route and some have done very well while others have been driven into financial ruin, much like a rouge trader makes big “bets” and either wins big or loses everything.  This is especially true with small to medium sized companies who often don’t have the resources to absorb mistakes. 

Marketing diversification can come in two forms:

• Diversification of communication tactics
• Diversification via phases

Multiple communication tactics – Using a wide variety of marketing tactics like direct mail, web marketing, brochures, and the like can help lower risk because you’re not putting all your eggs in one basket.  This is a fairly straightforward technique that many small and medium sized businesses are aware.  

Multiple Phases – When you begin to work with designers and web developers they’ll often want to deliver a full spectrum of marketing materials from web site, to logo, to print brochures, business cards, newspaper ads, etc.  Many businesses who are either beginning to gain momentum or are desperate for sales could easily spend $10K to $20K to redevelop their brand and begin to execute some marketing initiatives.

I usually recommend a different approach.  Begin with a simple web site that expresses what you believe are your key messages.  Drive some traffic to the site and watch how people interact with the different pages.  What pages are the most popular?  On which pages do visitors spend the most time?  From what city did they visit?  From what page do they exit your web site?  Then change the messaging – experiment with different ideas and continue to observe.  Determine how many people take an action (sign up for a free newsletter, for example), and how they got to the stage of taking an action.  Watch how people are interacting with your web site (Google Analytics is a free tool that will allow you to easily track your visitors in this way).

The advent of electronic media is a marketing expert’s dream.  You can test a wide range of ideas and messages and pinpoint what makes your customers take action.  In the past, this kind of intelligence could only be had through expensive market research or pricey direct response campaigns. 

While this kind of research can take months to complete, it will give you a good sense of what people find the most important about your product or service, what messages are resonating with prospective clients.  And it will not cost very much.  Another way to get good market research inexpensively, is by asking some of your existing clients to visit the new web site and ask what information they found the most valuable, what they liked most, etc.

Once you’ve done some basic research, then begin to use these lessons to develop other marketing pieces like direct mail and brochures.  Not only will these initiatives be more effective, but you’ll lower your risk substantially.  Companies can spend more money on risky marketing initiatives than on many other facets of their business.  When done right, it can have a dramatic positive effect.  When done wrong, there is no way to recover the losses.

The key to marketing success, is patience and research.  Take each step slowly and don’t feel like you have to build everything in a few months.  Marketing and branding is a process that happens over time, not a “one hit wonder.”  More importantly, building a brand is about far more than a few slick marketing pieces and mailings.  It’s about creating positive and memorable experiences over a long period of time (more about brand building in future posts).  

If you have any questions about south of Boston web design or marketing feel free to request a free consultation from our corporate site:  www.sinatraco.com