Don’t expect one size to fit all.
It is confusing to be confronted by all those marketing communication buzzwords and strategies. Preparing for this article, I made a list of the most common slogans floating around, initially thinking I could scratch the surface of some and maybe lure you into thinking a bit more about others: communication strategy, omnichannel marketing, multichannel delivery, cross-channel outreach, social media marketing, direct mail, personalized video, inbound marketing, outbound marketing, cross-selling, up-selling, email campaign, multistage cross-channel campaign, and many more. However, before heading into at least some details, let’s remember one thing from the very beginning: No matter what you will hear in the following, marketing communications is a Cinderella story; there’s no one-fits-all shoe, strategy, or advice.
Size Matters
No matter what everybody says, size matters. And location. And goals. If we take these three prerequisites to get started, we already have at least three different strategies we can work on: stay in business, grow the business ($$$), and/or grow the business (geo-reach). Let’s pick one goal to take a closer look at what can be done. To keep it simple, let’s opt-in for “stay in business.” As simple as it may sound, nothing’s really simple in our day and age, not even the staying-in-business game. Customer expectations are changing fast, as your customers must be ready when their customers are ready, or even before. And so should you. Be prepared before your customers are. Meaning? You need to lead the way for your customers’ future, inspiring them to stay relevant for their customers. How do you do that? Update your understanding of your customers’ businesses before they know they need your help. If you wait until your customers ask you for help, it’s almost too late, as somebody else might have already planted the seed for change, and they’re just checking in with you about whether you are aware of the changes that are on the horizon—a vicious cycle. And a cycle that applies to all businesses equally, large and small.
Getting Started
With the size question out of the way, let’s look at where you should get started and when. I prefer the summer break to think about the upcoming year. What do we want to achieve, and what do we need to do to get there? Why the summer? That’s way before the next year! I hear you, but if you don’t get your head around it in advance, how can you be ready? Everything takes time. Set goals, find the best possible strategy and maybe even a team that supports you, review your product portfolio, software/hardware/services, and check-in with your know-how, your market, and above all, identify the gaps in your market. Understand what your market (existing and new customers) needs. After that, one thing can lead to the next.
Tools
Today’s marketing can use more tools than ever before, which complicates things just that tiny bit more. However, there are a few things we can all agree on. No business can go without a website in our day and age. And various ways your customers can reach out to you—phone, email, in some cases still fax, and social media platforms (e.g., LinkedIn, Facebook, to name but two) and chat tools such as WhatsApp, Teams, and others. And then, we have email and mail. To make the latter a bit more exciting, let’s add augmented reality to paper (and no, it’s less complicated than you think, AR comes in many shades and forms of complexity). Depending on who and where you are, please also think of video, display/signs, the good old phone book, and magazine and local directory ads.
Take It to the Next Level
If you’re already well versed in marketing/communications, review your package, your audience, and their needs, and take it to the next level. Add channels and media your customers appreciate (and which you can manage, hint: half-baked chatbots!), and attract new customers’ attention. Don’t overdo it, don’t overwhelm your audience with too much information or too fancy media; stay realistic. And no matter what you do, only share relevant, timely content.
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