Tighten Up
At CSD Marketing, we pride ourselves in our open thought policy toward small business marketing. We love to pitch ideas to clients and we love to hear what they have to say about what works and what doesn’t.
Especially when working with a company that feels the need to overhaul or re-energize their marketing plans, we enjoy taking a “spray to all fields” approach, trying to determine what is effective.
But there comes a time in marketing when a company needs to take advice from the old Archie Bell and the Drells song:
Tighten Up.
As small businesses gain momentum in sales and marketing, they create a system of social media posts, email transmissions and print materials that becomes comfortable in their usage. Occasionally, however, it becomes necessary for a small business with a few years under its belt to look over its marketing materials and consider lightening the load, so to speak.
There is a business coaching philosophy known as Lean Six Sigma, which basically suggests that companies do as much as possible with as little as possible. It’s a whittling process, eliminating maneuvers of uncertain success to get down to basics in company appeal and performance.
That’s what a small business should occasionally consider with their marketing scheme. Lose the excess baggage, get all processes down to the core, and “tighten up” the marketing plan.
We are not talking about starting from Ground Zero. That’s unnecessary and could be expensive. We are not suggesting throwing out the baby with the bathwater (and don’t you just wonder about the first person to come up with THAT analogy!). You may have marketing efforts that are wildly successful, or at least consistently productive. Keep that.
But the marketing plans that have been in place for a few years and have produced mixed results are a good place to consider slimming.
Have Your Priorities Changed?
One reason to consider tightening your marketing procedures is that your company is not what it once was. For whatever reason, your priorities have changed. You are chasing a new market, or the current market is changing within itself, or your commercial environment has altered for one reason or another.
Sometimes, a firm will consider tiny shifts in marketing procedures to conform to a changing atmosphere. We are suggesting that you consider eliminating wasteful practices while searching for a new marketing ploy that provides possibilities. Small businesses deal with cost issues on a daily basis, and one wasteful practice is employing marketing efforts that are not cost-effective. There is money to be saved by eliminating imperfect procedures while conducting research (or discussing matters with a professional consultant) to find a better way to move forward.
Consider the Cost
Small businesses battle bottom-line issues regularly, and company leaders fret over misspent funds all of the time. By tightening your marketing plan, you are, at least momentarily, reducing marketing costs that could help balance the books. It can also provide guidance in how to better spend marketing budget funds going forward.
Honestly, what we are suggesting is that you clean out your marketing “closet” to determine what still fits and what can be moved out. Once that process is complete, you can then consider an addition to your marketing “wardrobe” (analogies are fun!).
We love this idea, and would love to discuss with you ways in which you can tighten up your current marketing, with an eye toward reduced costs and eventual improvement of your marketing efforts. Please give CSD Marketing a call to begin an earnest and productive conversation.
