Putting out a successful marketing piece can be quite daunting for a business owner at the best of times, but it bothers me that many marketing and design agencies will talk in terms of brochure, or email, or Social Media, as if they are the solution to the business owner’s problem.
While all of the above are valid methods of delivery, there are three keys I think are far more important which need to be considered, yet are more-often-than-not overlooked, sometimes to damaging effect.
The First Marketing Key - RELEVANCY
I was recently reading a poll in a LinkedIn Group I’m involved in, where the question asked was:
“Which format of brochure do you think is the most effective / most likely to be retained by potential customers?”
The choices were Printed, PDF, eBrochure and Video/Audio.
The overwhelming majority of people voted for the printed brochure.
If this poll was carried out a few years ago, I probably would have agreed, but today, I think business owners are missing a trick if they are thinking along these lines.
The way we consume information has changed. We can get the information we want from somewhere in pretty much any format we want, so whether you like audio, video, printed material or ebrochures, it’s pretty much all out there.
What I think should be more in focus, and what appears to be missing from many of the business owners I speak to is relevancy.
If something is relevant to me, I’m likely to keep it.
It doesn’t matter how well a brochure is put together, how well it is printed, if it’s not relevant, it goes in the bin… end of story.
Yet, you receive a brochure which is relevant to you, you are likely to act on it, or at the very least keep it for such a time in the future when it will be of use to you.
Which brings me to…
The Second Marketing Key - RECENCY
So, you don’t need a particular product or service right now, but it’s something you may need in the future…
… as time goes by you receive a number of relevant brochures from different potential suppliers for the same product or service. Then, one day, you have a need for that product or service, and you remember the last one you received. Now, you may or may not remember the others you had previously received (even if you could remember where you put them).
People generally remember the last instance of something they encountered – so you want to make sure they are the last one in front of them. How do you make sure of that?
You use…
The Third Marketing Key - FREQUENCY
If you want to maximise the return for your marketing efforts, you need to create a SEQUENCE of communication to your potential customers. The methods you use to get in front of them may change, but you need to keep reminding them you are there – but not in a ‘traditional marketing’ way, oh no.
You need to keep reminding them that they will need your product or service, but also of the benefits of choosing you rather than choosing one of your competitors.
By creating a series of frequent communications, you increase the chance of being the most recent company in front of a potential customer when they need your product or service, and if you make it relevant, they are more likely to take notice of it, and may even put it away for when they do need it.
So what do you think you are going to do…
… have a nice printed brochure…
… or something which can work for you in many different ways and create a better return for your time, money and effort?
Featured Photo by Linus Nylund on Unsplash.com
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