I get a lot of questions from prospects & contacts about why their marketing strategy isn’t working. And my answer is always the same: consistency. Actually, the lack of it. The hardest part of executing a strategic marketing plan is consistency (it’s the #2 marketing mistake I see over and over again).
In the digital age, not only do you need to have a long term marketing strategy in place, but you also need to do the daily, weekly, and monthly work that it takes to consistently execute the plan.
Your strategic marketing plan also needs to be long term – quick fixes or hacks aren’t going to cut it. I talk about this in Random Acts of Marketing – there is no shortcut that’s going to give you the kind of results you really want to see from your marketing efforts. It’s not even about having that one good idea. It’s all about being consistent.
Make your Marketing Plan Long-Term
The old marketing rule was that it took 16 impressions to get to a sale. These days, we’re so inundated with information that it takes a lot more – 32, 48, maybe even 64 impressions. The only way to cost-effectively break through is to build an audience that you get to talk to over and over again. In order to stay top of mind, you need to be consistently:
- Building an Audience on LinkedIn
- Capturing Emails on your website and via RECOVER
- Following up regularly with insight-driven content posted to your website and shared on LinkedIn and to your email list.
It can be really easy to let the long term strategic plan fall by the wayside because the need to sell is the immediate priority. But success comes from the daily execution of that plan and being consistent. We’ve laid out the strategy you should implement in our B2B Word of Mouth Marketing Podcast. The foundation is always the same.
Take an Iterative Approach
The first few months are the most difficult, because although you may get lucky with a few early wins, the data is directional: here’s what’s working and what isn’t, and how we’re going to iterate and improve. The real value comes from applying this approach long-term. From taking what you’ve learned from the data and making changes to improve your approach. Make time to regularly look at the data and analyze what is happening. Then make the changes to improve your plan and its execution.
It’s not a miracle. It takes time. I don’t recommend starting unless you’re willing to commit a full year to this approach. You’ll see results sooner, of course, but consistency is a core ingredient in great marketing.
Learn more by listening to our B2B Word of Mouth Marketing podcasts.
All the best,
Bill Bice
CEO
