Many organizations tend to believe that marketing is easy. Why, all we need to do is create social media accounts, buy some ad space, and it's good...right? There are so many articles online about how to market that no one really needs help outside of reading another article, right?
This concept is far from the truth. While there are many great articles online about how to do marketing, those are not suited to everyone. Your organization might not profit from any of the strategies listed on small business blogs. This is when you might need professional help. Here's how you know if you are messing up your marketing.
Spending Too Much
One major mistake in marketing is spending too much on one avenue of marketing. You might wonder why you aren't seeing results when you have spent X amount on a marketing campaign. But, did you really need to buy a hundred links or a thousand Twitter followers? No, not really. Buying followers or fans is a bad idea, as is buying links. Those followers or fans are usually fake accounts, and paid links can be from any blog on the Internet - including unsavory ones.
A few thousand dollars spent on just one avenue can be a waste, too. Even if the method you choose is a viable one, the content you are using may be out of date quickly. Choose a few ways to market and choose a reasonable price based on your profits for each. Most advertising companies let you choose how much you want to spend - use that option and be conservative until you see results. A good marketing firm can give you plenty of viable options designed to match your budget.
The Wrong Platform
If you are a video service, why use traditional print advertising? Your choice of advertising or marketing platform should match your service or product. It doesn't make much sense for a writing company to advertise with audio or videos instead of showcasing their writing talent.
Match your website or marketing to your service. While you might want to follow the latest trend, it makes more sense to stick with what you know unless you are using the advice of a professional marketing consultant. Small or large associations can actually save money by hiring a consultant to help them identify the right marketing for them. Marketing and advertising companies can give you great advice on what could be working for you.
Think You Have It? Take the Quiz
These are all to be answered either true or false. It is a short quiz to see how well you've figured out the complex nature of marketing.
Q) You will win awards to let you know your marketing is good.
Q) For websites, the click through rate is the best way to determine the effectiveness of a campaign.
The answers to these questions are simple; they are all false but widely held beliefs. If you wonder why this is the case, here are some simple explanations.
A) Not all good marketing or advertising gets awards, it is entirely subjective.
A) There are many factors that can be a better guideline than click through. Retention rate on how long they stay on your site, conversion rate to show how many click throughs resulted in a new membership, and social media shares are all a good indicator of a successful campaign.
The Bottom Line
As you can see, while marketing is complex, there are professionals able to help guide you through the difficulties. With the proper guidance and a strong team, your association can be on the forefront of success by targeting the right demographic in the right way.