Brand marketing is like a car: it’s a handy tool that ticks along, getting you to where you need to be. You only realize how much you rely on it when it’s out of action. Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to set and forget your marketing approach, assuming that since it’s working today it’ll be working tomorrow.
Like any vehicle, your marketing plan needs regular TLC. Just as you wouldn’t want to forego your regular tuneups, you don’t want to skip out on the care and maintenance of your marketing efforts. Sure, you might be able to get away with it in the short term, but sooner or later wear and tear will start to rear its ugly head. And the repair costs will pile up.
Here’s what to know about keeping your marketing efforts on track and tuned up.
We’re Not All Mechanics
Maybe you’re capable of doing your own oil changes, but the majority of us prefer to leave our car maintenance to the professionals. This is especially true when it comes to costlier and more involved repairs and tuneups. The knowledge and effort involved in getting it right are beyond most of us and is seldom the best use of our time.
The same is true of marketing. While posting a tweet or writing up a flyer might be doable, putting together a fully-fledged, holistic marketing plan requires skills and expertise that most of us don’t have.
If you’ve been trying to handle your own marketing efforts, you may find that once the experts pop the hood they find some things that are broken or in need of repair. Sometimes it takes getting up close and personal to be able to provide an accurate quote or strategy – but once those issues are identified and dealt with you’ll be back on track.
Yes, there’s a fee associated with outsourcing your marketing to the professionals, but that fee comes with peace of mind. You know that the experts will not only be able to deal with any issues or problems as they arise, but they’ll have a roadmap for keeping your marketing efforts on track in the weeks, months and years to come.
Steady Maintenance is Key
Most of us are pretty good about keeping our gas tank filled and our tires inflated. After all, those are the minimum maintenance requirements needed to get us from A to B. Skipping them can mean finding yourself stranded on the side of the highway. It’s much easier to delay things like oil changes, alignments, and belt changes, as the impact of deferred maintenance doesn’t always show up right away. But when it does, the consequences can take you off the road – and drain your bank account.
Your marketing is the same way. It’s not enough to do the bare minimum. Scheduled maintenance delivers much better results than ad hoc emergency repairs. To keep on top of your marketing efforts, put together the marketing equivalent of a maintenance manual, and make sure that you’re making the necessary adjustments and changes at each milestone. Once you have the right systems in place and a steady foundation to build from, you can run with your plan, making tweaks along the way to ensure optimum performance.
You can also simplify your marketing by assigning a professional marketing “mechanic” like the team at StellaPop to do the job. We’ll help you create and stick to a plan – and will let you know when services need to be performed or parts replaced.
See Also:
How To Develop a Winning Business Strategy: Knowing What Not To Do
Retention Marketing: Building Loyal Customers That Spend More Money
