I probably shouldn’t say this, but I don’t think Marketing is all that complicated. But I suppose an expert in Marketing would say that.
What I’ve found is Owners, Managers and Non-Marketers do get bamboozled by jargon and the mythical “marketing strategy” which inevitably ends up being a PowerPoint the Marketing Manager puts together, the leadership team grill them as they present it to them once and then it’s never looked at again.
Only for someone to go two months later, what’s this TikTok thing? Why aren’t we on TikTok? Because we’re an Industrial Light Manufacturer Keith.
In my view, the first and most simple question to ask yourself when thinking about marketing, is who are your audience and where are they?
You don’t even need to get overly complicated with “personas” and “customer profiles” and all of those things, although of course they can help… but if you want to start simple, just think, who needs what I am selling.
Then think, the people that need what I am selling, where are they? Where do they spend their time? What do they read? What do they search for on Google? Are they likely to be on TikTok? If the answer, great – get TikTok.
Once you’ve figured who your audience are and where they “hang out” digitally, or otherwise then you need to look at your budget and think about which channel might get the best return.
Often, the answer is Search Marketing – SEO and Paid Google4 Ads, but it could social media and paid social media. It could old fashioned trade magazines.
But for goodness sake, don’t just do something because someone else has… Keith here again, telling the Marketing Manager how much he liked the latest Compare The Meerkat advert… sorry Keith, not going to happen.
Unless this industrial lighting company has a massive budget and some of sort of cute mascot that could feature in a TV advert… but even then, go back and think where Keith’s audience is. Some people buying Industrial Lighting probably watch Coronation Straight but it will be a tiny tiny minority.
By the way, I have nothing against the name Keith, or Industrial Lighting Companies, in fact, if there are any out there looking for some sensible marketing, get in touch.