December 31 is coming around (like it does on an annual basis) and another year is about to roll around like a page in the book of life. We all sit around wondering where the year went, thinking about the things we didn’t get done, and hoping the year ahead will be better than the one before. But this time it’s a little different. The year will roll around more like a fat walrus on the beach than a page in the book because it’s also the dawn of a new decade (the 20s – before anyone starts arguments about when a “decade” begins).
And if you thought the last decade was hectic, it’s only going to get worse. Competition will get tougher, revenues will tighten, and expense are just itching to get loose. Successful businesses in the 20s will be the ones who manage to do more with less and that’s probably a good mantra for the new year.
More revenue with less marketing
The first place businesses look to cut expenses is the marketing budget. That’s understandable because it’s easy to do and money can be saved, at least in the short term. But simply changing the amount spent doesn’t solve any problems and cutting out a whole section could be disastrous. While there is a foundation of truth in the adage “half of advertising doesn’t work, we just don’t know which half”, technology has somewhat undermined that truth. With social media, it is very easy to see exactly how many people your dollar reached and how many actions were taken as a result. It’s not perfect, but it’s much better than the hit-and-hope methods of traditional mass media. And that, combined with its effectiveness, has increasingly made digital advertising the go-to medium in recent years. Around the world, we threw about 410 billion digital advertising dollars into the ether last year and that’s forecast to increase to about $750 billion 2023.
If technology helps us solve much of the “which half is wasted?” question, the next challenge is to maximise returns from the not-wasted half – getting that More-With-Less mantra dropping to the bottom line.
1000 times more effective
Research for my upcoming book Stop Wasting Money On Ads began with a simple challenge: How do you make your advertising 1000 times better than it currently is. The simple answer is “not in one step”. It’s just a matter of being 10 times better in three areas. You need to make your advertising 10 times better at “cutting through” and getting noticed. Then, if your advertising is 10 times better at sticking in people’s minds, you have multiplied its effectiveness to 100-fold. Finally, you have to get the message right. If you can make your message 10 times better, then the multiple is 1000-fold. More people see your ad, more of those who saw it will remember it, and more of those who remember it are inclined to act on it.
Marketing specialist
Sounds simple, right? It does get a bit more complicated when it comes down to how, exactly, you achieve those three things. But the key is through creativity and people. You need a pathway to greater creativity and you need people who can guide you along that pathway. That doesn’t’ have to mean an external marketing consultant. But giving the marketing “role” to someone who already has a “role” is the same as flushing marketing down the drain. The book sets out step-by-step processes and offers a range of models and templates, distilling a vast quantity of research and real-world examples, that can be applied to any business/organisation. If you have a dedicated marketing person in the organisation, that’s great. Otherwise, look for a consultant to dedicate a few hours of their week to your strategy.
Free look at tailored marketing strategy
Flat Cat Marketing’s big goal for 2020 (having dedicated much of 2019 to compiling the book) is to generate real-world examples of the process in action so we have proof-of-concept. It’s important that the creative marketing models and templates be applicable across a broad range of industries so we are looking for guinea pigs who would like a free look at what a marketing strategy and creative concepts for their business would be like. Normally, these strategies and concepts would be developed with considerable time and money so it’s usually only the big businesses that can afford them. But this is a way for a small business to de-risk the exercise and judge whether they see the value in the finished product. Obviously, if your business wanted to go beyond the free look and actually implement the resulting strategy and concepts, there would be a charge and/or ongoing consultancy.
Industry-exclusive marketing concepts
Flat Cat Marketing develops strategies for a business to become an industry leader and that means it can only work with one business in each sector. If you’d like to find out if your business qualifies for the free marketing strategy sample, contact us today.
In the meantime, take the end-of-year opportunity to set some goals and consider adopting the More-With-Less mantra for your marketing budget in 2020 by aiming for better cut-through, better stickability, and more effective messaging.