The word “manifold” is rarely used as an adjective to describe marketing but I think it fits perfectly with regard to using a multi-channel marketing strategy to promote your brand and products.
Manifold is defined as numerous and varied; of many kinds…
Consistency in messaging across multiple media outlets is a well established best practice in marketing communications. You hear about it all the time. Simple enough, right? So if companies would just do it – website, social media, blog, content, events, outdoor, print, mobile, television, radio, collateral, etc., they’ll do just fine.
Okay, knowing this, do we drain our coffers now or borrow to finance marketing communications up to our debt limit? Neither is an acceptable option so the question becomes: How can a business choose which marketing channels to use and how many should be consistently deployed to produce growth and profitable sales results – all for an affordable and sustainable budget?
Take a look at your current growth pattern and profit margins.
Like most executives, you know you can do better!
Are you like some company leaders who know they MUST do better?
Having finite resources, how do you determine how many different channels you can afford, and which ones will give you the most profitable returns? In the digital world, you can do more, maybe much more!
When I hear about how some of my clients have, in the recent past, spent all of their marketing budgets on newspaper advertising with increasingly disappointing results, I “feel their pain.” I lost my shirt trying that not too long ago. The publication even had great circulation in the heart of my target market.
Image by Moma, Sao Paulo, Brazil
In previous decades, advertising in “mass media” like regional newspapers and local radio & TV was certainly expensive but very effective at getting the phone to ring and feet through the door. Now the ROI from using a traditional one or two-channel approach is proving to be negative for most businesses and some of the newspaper holdovers are finally realizing that highly effective and affordable digital marketing tactics are passing them by. These tactics always include multiple distribution channels by virtue of how people use the Internet, which is extremely multi-faceted.
Your website, social pages, email marketing, blog, online maps, directories, local reviews and other online content can be every bit as good or better than those of giants like Wells Fargo, IBM, Coke, Apple, Marcum, Microsoft, La-Z-Boy, Harvard… you name your big brand! You can compete head-to-head with them in terms of design, content quality, target market distribution, and local search engine marketing/optimization.
How do you plan a Manifold Marketing Strategy to increase growth and profitability?
- Take a look at what has worked and what hasn’t in the last 12 – 18 months. Did success or failure result from your message reaching enough of your target audience or not?
- Evaluate your message content: Do your promotional concepts align with the priorities of your target market? Are your messages clear and succinct?
- Does anyone care about your creative ideas or do they only care about what your products and services can do for them to make life and business better?
- Study your industry for successful marketing case studies. What are similar businesses doing online that’s working for them? Study their websites, blog and newsletters. Did they transition from traditional “mass media” to a more digitally-centric strategy? Did they hire new consultants or work differently with established vendors? What services did they add and what did they drop?
Once you’ve evaluated your current position and answered the questions posed, you’re ready to start leveraging your money instead of simply allocating it!
Everyone gets their business and consumer information online now. That doesn’t mean they never read print or watch TV but it does mean that you can reach them on the Web just as readily and for much less cost.
I was fortunate to build a strong brand in content marketing services with zero capital. I launched a startup business in a super-competitive market facing a legion of well-financed competitors. Struggling to scrape together about three hundred dollars in total, here’s what I accomplished in the first year: An awesome logo design, a nice website, an active blog, business cards, a highly effective email marketing program and a stellar reputation in social media. It’s fair to mention that I also had a network of professional friends that I developed through years of networking. I’m not unique in this sense. Everyone has some kind of a foundation on which they can stand and work.
If one broke man can build an established, steadily growing 5-year-old business by spending his last few dollars on marketing, think about how an already established firm like yours can do so much better! By implementing a manifold marketing strategy optimized to reach customers and resonate with their priorities, you can begin taking big bites out of your competitors’ market share and your brand can be the dominant one in your local market.
