5 Signs That Your Marketing Is All Over the Place

Here are some telltale signs that your marketing could use some help.

1. The “throw it up and see if it sticks” approach. You know how it goes: a sales rep from Magazine XYZ  or Radio Station WTFC calls you with a great offer. You’ve never advertised with them before, but you’re familiar with their name. It’s a great deal – and the offer is only good for 2 days, so why not, let’s give it a shot…

2. Branding confusion. You’re not clear on what your company stands for or what your mission is. Your team each has its own interpretation of your company’s key messages and they create their own explanations of what your company does at cocktail parties and emails to customers. There’s a lack of consistency to your message.

3. Uniqueness? You’re not sure what makes you unique. Yes, you’ve got clients, and many of them really like you – but you are not sure which things you are doing that they like you for. Hopefully you won’t stop doing the one thing that keeps them coming back.

4. What’s working? You’re doing marketing – a lot of it actually, but you’re not quite sure what’s working. If you were given the OK to double your marketing budget tomorrow, you wouldn’t know which tools are the most effective.

5. Off and on. Your marketing efforts are sporadic – when there’s time, or when things quiet down – that’s when it’s time to juice up the marketing again.

Sound familiar? The good news – these are all fixable and you can get help for all of these ailments. What you might consider as a next step is a plan – a guide of sorts, which will help you to save time and money. By identifying who you are, who your customers are, and clearly setting forth your strategy for reaching out to them, you will see something amazing happen – as your plan gets clearer, opportunities that were seemingly everywhere and overwhelming to you begin to fade away. Instead, you will see only those that can actually help you meet your marketing goals. So the “last minute advertising deals” that sounded promising before, will not tempt you anymore.

When you have a plan, you’re in charge – not the sales people pitching you.

A well-thought out plan will help you to crystallize your goals, identify your USPs (unique selling proposition), uncover untapped revenue opportunities, and spell out which marketing tools are the right ones to reach your goals.

It’s also important to remember that a plan is completely customized – no two are ever alike. They are designed to meet your goals – not another company’s. The primary goal of the plan should be to execute and deliver results. That’s why it’s important to focus on the details of your company, and formulate a plan based on your budget, needs, and offerings.

If your marketing results are lukewarm, that is a symptom of a lack of direction. Don’t wait another month – get started on a road map. You’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.