In a time where it seems the only constant in business is constant change, some aspects of business marketing have not changed at all. Although the means of getting the message across has changed more rapidly in the last decade as the internet has become the main means of accessing marketing messages. The fact that you need a message that resonates and a brand that sells are but two of these so-called marketing constants.
This article examines these marketing constants and discusses how to ensure that your business marketing campaign is successful in the modern era by providing some continuity in a time of flux.
Marketing Message
The message of a marketing campaign is the main reason for the big spend and can be the lifeblood of a brand and the associated business. The trick is to ensure that the right audience receives the message that your business wants them to hear. The message thus needs to be consistent, clear, and empathetic. Consistency is about having the same intrinsic brand message across all platforms.
Secondly, the message must be clear in that there should be no confusion as to what the product is, what its USPs are, and what value it provides the buyer.
Lastly, it must be an empathetic message, walk in your customers’ shoes, try to understand their actual needs rather than the perceived ones, and ensure that every contact point is not simply used to sell. Finally, the listener or audience needs to feel that the message is directed at them and is about them. This is the only way to create a clear call to action.
This has been the case since the birth of marketing. Whether it is being shown on a billboard in the 1800s, a banner advertisement on a website, or social media marketing, your marketing efforts will not yield results unless the message is actually heard in the way that you need it to be. The message may have well have fallen on deaf ears. It is all about communication and the main reason that many in the business have tended towards accepting applicants with MA communications to make them more credible and give them the means to understand the most fundamental principle of marketing, communicating the brand message, and how to create and sustain it.
Hybrid Marketing
It has become a bit of a buzzword, but hybrid marketing is the only way forward in the modern era. It is essentially the amalgamation of traditional marketing with digital marketing and aims to create a much more extensive outreach campaign that suits the modern information age.
Traditional marketing comprises the so-called old-school forms of communicating with customers and clients, and potential buyers. The main elements would historically comprise of:
- Flyers
- Newsletters
- Television
- Trade Shows
- Radio
- Billboards
- Word Of Mouth
The use of social media, blogging, text, email, and display advertising are the current digital trends, previously considered as ‘new media’ and now the norm.
Creating a mix of these two previously distinct forms of marketing is the ideal of hybrid marketing and is proving the best way to reach a modern diversified audience. The specific mix of marketing types and modes will depend on your market research and the type of demographics you are reaching out for and the product itself, and how it lends itself to each of the specific marketing avenues aforementioned. The skill of a modern-day marketer is to figure the precise balance of each marketing type for each product at a specific time in its development. The result will be personalized hybrid marketing.
Content is Still Critical
The content of a campaign is still one of the most critical elements, and in the modern age, content marketing is the way to go. There is now a marked trend towards providing customers and potential clients useful information as a means to solve their challenges or answer questions, rather than simply trying to sell the products and services. It is an interesting field, in that millions of messages are sent out by businesses daily, most of it is regarded as spam, and as such true content market is about the relevance of the information and the value of the information provided. Content is still king and will be for the foreseeable future in marketing.
Integrity and Ethics
A brand’s integrity cannot fluctuate or change; it must be constant and be made clear in all marketing and advertising. For many, the brand’s integrity is linked to the quality of the products and services and should be the golden thread of simplicity running through the business process, simply highlighted, and popularized through marketing. However, there is no marketing without a genuine product or service that provides actual value and usefulness for those who purchase and use the product or service.
Many a brilliant marketing campaign fails simply because the product cannot walk the talk. No level of marketing wizardry will substitute for a well-made, professional product that positively enhances the life of the buyer. This will remain constant for all time, and the marketing gurus need to be honest and true as to this simple fact. You very well may be able to sell sand in the desert, but this may not be ethical nor show any integrity.
Concluding Comments
Marketing as a field or subject, and as an extension of this, the practice of marketing has come a long way from traditional means to the most modern of product and brand communication. However, marketing still has some of the very cornerstones that the subject or concept first emerged with. In fact, the brands that have kept and maintained these constants throughout have done their best. Therefore, although performed with the most up-to-date tech and e-sophistication, success in modern marketing must be based on the same old foundations as the successful marketing campaigns and brand of old but applying them to new formats and techniques.
Main photo by Adem AY
