Marketing Basics vs Trend-spotting

by | Marketing

Many of the small businesses I work with have certainly been trying to keep up with the marketing trends. I hear it in the bits of digital jargon they throw out in our initial meetings and their attempts to test out whatever is hot this year. But underneath the swagger is a building frustration. They find the trends aren’t working out as promised or they take more time than they have to devote to the marketing mix.

They are running before they can walk.

Back to the basics (Marketing 101)

Does all of this sound familiar? You don’t need to focus on the latest trends, focus on what’s right for you and your business. Here are the key elements, the core marketing needs of any small business:

  • a well-defined marketing and branding strategy
  • a solid plan for your product, placement and pricing
  • professionally designed logo, website and other marketing assets

“But my brother-in-law has hit big in Twitter – why not me?”

And Twitter might be a good fit for the audience you are wanting to reach, but slow down and make sure it is before you spend time tweeting those 140 characters several times a day. Once you have your target audience defined a lot of the marketing trends will fall by the wayside. Just measure up the latest social network/email campaign/advertising gig against your target audience to see if it will reach them. For instance Facebook is losing popularity with teens, but is a great place to connect with women in their 40’s and 50’s (here’s a cool infographic showing the demographics for each social network).

Investments pay off in the long haul

Sure it’s tempting to get your cousin’s son to piece together a website for free – no hit to the cash flow. Just remember, a website is called a marketing asset for a reason. The resources put towards doing it right at the beginning will pay dividends for your company. You will be seen as professional, competent – as an expert even – right off the bat when your website, your logo, have been created by those who practice design skills daily.

And yes, JB Communications Group would love to work with you to develop your marketing basics, but what’s more important is that you get a professional. Leave your cousin’s son to making the family reunion website.

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