How to get the most from your marketing mix

It seems that nobody loves jargon as much as a marketing professional. What with viral this and SEO that, it’s no wonder that when you’re defining your marketing mix, you could be forgiven for getting more caught up in the sound of your work rather than its overall effect.

What’s more, as the good old ‘marketing mix’ is always changing, it’s often hard to know what’s really going to work for you; what’s going to give you long-term brand power and what will truly impact the bottom line (well, we had to slip a little bit of jargon in...).

So, where to start?

Give it a spring clean

It doesn’t need to be spring, but somewhere during your financial year and preferably not at the end, you’ll need to have a review of your marketing plan to make sure that everyone’s on track (even if it’s just you). At this point, be sure to compare anticipated vs. actual effectiveness, whether that’s lead targets, web traffic or campaign response rates.

If you’re not quite on track, think about why that could be and where necessary make the appropriate amendments. For example, does your web content contain all the right keywords; if web traffic is low could you use Google Analytics better to help you improve on this? Is there a spark lacking in your email marketing copy? Are you sure you have enough calls to action in your newsletters? And so on.

It’s often small tweaks to your materials that can make all the difference. No-one wants to re-think an entire advertising or direct mail campaign. Sometimes it’s the only option, but keep it a last resort where at all possible.

If you hold regular and focused reviews then you’re far more likely to achieve your yearly objectives. If you work in a team then be sure to make team members an active part of the review. Simply requesting statistics and then pointing the finger will only serve to de-motivate your colleagues and undermine their hard work. Perhaps ask them to come to a meeting with their findings for an informal debrief of activity where all team members are involved in finding solutions.

Think like somebody else

It’s easy to be precious when it comes to marketing. As people responsible for marketing we can quickly descend into thinking that we have a monopoly on creativity, which sometimes serves to stifle our thinking rather than open it to the full range of possibilities. Remember that your target audience is rarely made up of marketing professionals, so doing something because you and your team of marketing experts like it won’t necessarily mean that it’s right for your business.

Market research for an advertising campaign can be prohibitively expensive, so if you want a more cost effective answer, assemble a collection of people from within your business at random. Steering groups like this should be able to give you a good sense of what the ‘average’ person feels when they look at your campaign – without you trying to explain it. Is it too wordy? Is the concept lost on them? Is it patronising or overly simplistic? A steering group can never give you accurate answers (unfortunately in marketing there’s no such thing), but they certainly give you a fresh perspective and guide you as to what may need to change.

Listen to your experience

The latest marketing solutions often sound fantastic and when presented with dazzling facts about site visitors, attendance rates, job titles and business names, it can be difficult to weigh up the facts. This is when it’s best to listen to your sense of experience. For example, if a sales person tells you that a supplier directory will generate 50 leads a month, simply compare what he’s telling you to your experience of similar sites or suppliers. A solution can often be an improvement on previously ineffective ones, but be careful to assess how wild the leap seems. Have you ever generated similar lead levels from a single source? If you feel that the answer is no, then challenge this.

And make it a calculated risk

Be very wary of words like ‘guarantee’. The only thing a supplier can guarantee you is how much money they will reimburse if things don’t come to fruition. If you can persuade someone to guarantee money back, make sure that it’s written into the contract or at the very least on an email. For example, if you are promised 20 leads from an exhibition and the cost per lead is £200, ensure that you can recoup the cost for each lost lead. So if you only come away with 10 leads, you’ll have at least £2000 back on your original investment.

All marketing activity carries some risk, but if you’re taking a greater risk than usual, it literally has to be a calculated one. If you’re particularly uncertain, unhappy or you’re unsettled by the supplier then they have to accept a negative answer.

Try to take the call...

Everyone has busy times when it just isn’t feasible to accept a phone call and some of us are even lucky enough to have agencies that do it for us, but if you like to be in the 1st line of response then try to take each call. Indeed if time is limited, finding out about the latest solutions via relevant bulletins or magazines can be tricky to achieve, so a quick discussion with a sales person can be a good alternative.

Stay armed with killer questions to limit the time you spend on the phone. If you can ascertain cost and relevance within the first 30 seconds it’s more likely to be worthwhile if you do stay on the line to discuss in more detail.

Don’t be blinded by loyalty

We all have suppliers that we enjoy working with, whether because we like our main contact, they’re cheaper than other suppliers or we’ve simply been with them so long it’s like they’re part of the business.

Unfortunately in business, loyalty doesn’t always deliver, so it’s important to stay abreast of who else is out there and what they could help us achieve. Annual supplier reviews can be useful not only in ensuring that you’re using the best one, but also in keeping your current supplier on their toes so they continue to deliver the goods.

And finally?

Keep it fresh. A clear head will help you gain the most from all your marketing activity. If you’re writing copy and the words aren’t flowing, try completing another task to bring more balance to your day, so when you return to it, your writing is enjoyable and can take on the energy it needs.

If you work in a team, then try to diversify your work as much as possible by involving everyone in each other’s tasks and changing responsibilities for a period of time. It will benefit all of you in the end.

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