Have you ever haphazardly run a social media ad or sent a random email newsletter because you thought it was the right thing to do? When it comes to marketing your brand, it’s never a smart strategy to try a bunch of things and see what sticks. These random acts of marketing can make your brand feel inauthentic or unprepared, or worse, set you up to be ignored by your target audience.
Just like you’d approach any other goal, you need a plan to approach your marketing. Jeannie Ruesch, a senior marketing manager at Bill.com, says it doesn’t have to be difficult. You just need a plan, which means uncovering ways to test, adjusting where needed, and evaluating your success. In this issue of Promotional Consultant Today, we highlight three questions Ruesch encourages marketers to think about before launching a random act of marketing.
1. Is this activity an authentic match to my vision of the world? You have your own way of seeing the world. You do what you do because it energizes you to think of improving your customer’s world. Ruesch says that you create, provide or give them something they need to do what they live. Now pause for a moment and imagine what their world likes like. Contemplate your relationship with your customers. What role do you play in their lives? Their success? Their joy? Does this activity fit seamlessly? Does it complement and align with how you want them to perceive you?
2. Is this really where my audience needs to find me? It’s simple to boost a post in almost any social media channel. However, this doesn’t mean it’s worth your dollars or your time. Ruesch encourages marketers to remember that everything you put in their world creates an experience for them—from the moment they see the post to when they hopefully interact with it and take the action you want them to take. This experience is part of the customer’s decision-making process in determining how well you can meet their needs. You created the experience and now you are telling them what you know about them by showing them how much their time, thoughts and needs mean to you. It seems like a lot for a boosted post. Every time your ideal customer interacts with your brand in any way, it forms their perceptions and emotional connection to you. It’s worth considering the journey you are creating for them.
3. Is this something I can build a relationship on? A relationship between you and your ideal customer begins long before you might imagine. Their brain is making decisions at an emotional level based on what connections you’ve allowed, how you’ve made them feel, what messages you think they need to hear, and ultimately, what experience you have created for them.
Whether you take a strategic approach or decide to hit your target audience with random acts of marketing, you’re helping them decide how they feel about you. Will you provide them with an enriching experience, or will your marketing only reveal that you don’t truly know them? Don’t risk damaging your brand. Make sure your marketing adds value for your prospects.
Source: Jeannie Ruesch is senior marketing manager at Bill.com. She writes about the customer journey and how tech improves workflow.
