Sales & marketing

What’s the cost of delaying your marketing?

It might sound a little dramatic, but bear with us. Taking an excessive amount of time to source marketing agencies and, therefore, preventing getting your marketing campaigns off the ground accumulates unnecessary expense.

Assuming that your marketing campaigns will create business value in the form of opportunities, leads and revenue, then delaying it creates a cost.

Cost of Delay = the effect of time on business results marketing is hoping to achieve.

Procrastinating about building a digital presence is not an effective approach. The best way to ensure business success is to promote your business by using targeting, to attract customers that are interested in your product or service.

After all, in the online space we live in, customers expect to find a website and a social media presence. When potential customers want to know more about your business, their first action is to go online and find out more about you.

Our point isn’t to ask you to sit down and calculate the exact cost of delaying your marketing efforts. Merely to take it into consideration, so that your business can focus on delivering value and speed.

Something is better than nothing

Take the launch of a website as an example. In all probability, your so-almost-ready new website is going to generate new leads better than your existing site. And chances are, they’ll be better qualified leads, too. The longer your old site stays online, the longer you’ll have to wait until those qualified leads come rolling in.

Your digital marketing plans are not set in stone. Business marketing efforts are an ongoing process with iterations over time. The sooner your marketing plans are unveiled to the world, the sooner you’ll find out what works and what doesn’t. Then, you’re in a much better position to tailor your activities to your target audience and serve your customers better.

What makes a marketing campaign successful?

There are a few elements that make a marketing campaign successful, and we’re going to share them with you:

• Defined audience
• A solid offer
• A hook
• Brand awareness

Defined audience

A defined audience is the first thing to think about. Take time to create customer personas, based on existing customers or your ideal customers. Things to think about include their pain points, how your business can solve their problems, how they interact, the platforms they browse, and any barriers to purchase.

A solid offer

You must give your target audience a reason to become loyal customers. That reason(s) must be good, and they must be demonstrated in marketing campaigns clearly with the benefits there for everyone to see.

A hook

Anything that grabs the attention of your customers is a hook. A teaser, if you will. Something to make them sit up and want to know more about your business’s offering.

Brand awareness

Your marketing campaigns must feature all of the aforementioned. But that’s no good if your brand awareness isn’t up to scratch. Customers will want to buy from you because they trust you, and your brand has a strong reputation. Be sure to have a clear brand focus in all your marketing campaigns.

More marketing for less money

Whether you’re a startup or an established business, you’ll want to get the most return for your marketing budget.

Digital marketing is an extremely cost-effective method of promoting your business. Marketing in this way allows you to stretch your budget and refine your target audience. For example, marketing on social media is particularly effective, as you can set a daily budget for a targeted audience that already has an interest in your brand or ethos. And importantly, it enables your business to exclude the consumers that would never buy from your business – a tactic which saves you time and money.

How to work with a marketing agency

Working with a marketing agency is super-effective at achieving your business’s goals. But firstly, you need to establish what those goals are. Things like, “I want more money coming into my business” is not a great goal. Be specific. Examples include:

• Increase the number of leads my website generates by x 3
• Reach new target audiences on Facebook to segment as part of a new marketing campaign
• Increase website conversions by x 2

Measurable goals are what will make your marketing campaigns successful. When you know exactly what you want to measure, you can work in a focused way to achieve them.

Don’t delay

Talking of focused… it’s vital that you don’t waste days, weeks, or months on end, waiting around for quotes from several marketing agencies.

To get it done means, quite simply, means to get it done.

Choose a marketing agency that practices what they preach, with a quick and easy turnaround on all marketing deliverables.

If your marketing agency succeeds with their own business using tactics they recommend for your business, you’re on to a winner.

Originally posted 2022-02-15 13:00:44.

Becky Cable
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Becky Cable

Becky integrates her skill set into all work that she produces, from top-notch copywriting to optimising content for SEO purposes. When the cogs aren't turning with content ideas, you'll find our active girl Becky either walking, striking a yoga pose or sweating away in Cross-fit. But of course, you could also find her with a gin in hand and her head in a book.

What’s the cost of delaying your marketing?

by Becky Cable Time to read: 3 min