What is the most effective type of marketing? 

Everyone wants to know the magic ingredient with marketing, what works best, which tactics to use and what is going to get the best results.  If I had an answer to this question, I would be a very rich lady!  The truth is, there is no instruction book or great step by step guide to follow.  Sometimes with the best will in the world it often comes down to trial and error.  

Often people can be wooed by a new social media channel because everyone is on it, it’s the nest big thing or your teenage daughter says you should.  Maybe a salesperson is calling to see if you want to take out an advert with them, or perhaps there is a new piece of marketing software that looks great.  This is when marketing becomes reactive, you end up wasting money and don’t get the results you were promised…and hey ho, marketing doesn’t work!  

So, here are a few things to consider when those marketing opportunities crop up, you need to ask yourself… 

1 – Does it reach your target audience? 

You should have a good idea who your target audience is?  Please don’t say “everybody” because usually it isn’t.  You can often break your target audience up into groups – they may hang out in different places online, read different publications, go to different places.  There will be different ways you can reach them.  So, you always need to ask yourself do you reach your target audience with your social media, advertising etc.  

2 – Do you have the budget for it, and can you measure ROI? 

The great thing about a lot of marketing is that it is free – social media, PR, email for example.  However, sometimes we may get tempted into spending money on marketing – are you guilty of ever boosting a post on Facebook, then I’m talking about you here!  Always question if you have the marketing budget to invest in that marketing and what are the ways you can measure if it’s been a success?  What is the Return on Investment – you want to get a great return for your money than what you invest.  So, really question whether it is worth it. 

3 – What do you want it to achieve 

If you have done any sort of business or marketing strategy, you will have a clear goal of what you want to achieve.  Without aims how do you know what direction you’re heading or what you want your marketing to do.  You need to be clear with your aims, otherwise it’s like firing into the dark and hoping it works.  Think about the point of what you are doing…what is the point of posting on Twitter, what is the point of taking out that advert, which of your marketing aims is it going to achieve.  If you’re not really sure, then don’t do it. 

Now, if I’ve gone through these points and you’re not sure who your target customer is, what is a reasonable marketing spend or what you want to achieve, I suggest you need to go right back to basics.  You can read my blog about marketing strategies here:

https://acorn-marketing.co.uk/blog/what-is-a-marketing-strategy-do-i-need-one/ 

Or  https://acorn-marketing.co.uk/blog/how-to-create-a-marketing-strategy/