Articles: Anthony Mora Communications

Surviving The Marketing Maze
By Anthony Mora

11/23/09

Synopsis:  A business owner's objective is not to jump on the marketing treadmill in an effort to keep up with each of the latest marketing tools, or to utilize every social media site on the internet, but to design an effective, streamlined marketing campaign that grows a company and builds a business. 
 
In the current business worlds, it appears that marketing is steering the ship, but not in the usual sense. In the past, having marketing drive your business meant just that, your marketing drove business to your company.  Your PR and advertising reached your target market; it sold products, brought in clients and grew your business.  Now having marketing drive your business, generally means  jumping  on the marketing treadmill in an effort to keep up with each of the latest marketing tools, which generally results in driving your business around in circles.
 
With the advent of the internet and social media, the myriad marketing options available grow on a seemingly daily basis.   The dizzying number of choices often cause businesses to come to a virtual standstill, as companies struggle to figure out the most effective marketing approaches.  The mistake many companies make is to decide to try every option available.  The decision is often made out of the fear that something will be left out of the marketing-mix.  So companies start a blog, target every social media site, launch an online video campaign, an ezine, an email campaign and continue with their offline marketing efforts.  Most of their time is spent trying to make sense of the marketing mix, than reaching clients.  That is not an effective marketing campaign; it is a marketing train wreck. 
 
As the owner of a Los Angeles public relations firm, I can tell you that even marketing firms can get lost in the maze.  For awhile there I believed that we had to utilize every tool on the web to be effective, but that's not the case.   As a business owner or marketer, the most effective way to launch an effective campaign is to take a step back, study your business.  View your company, product, or service as a customer would.  Now use that as your guide.  That is your marketing north star.  Does having thousands of Twitter followers across the country or in Europe or India really help your business?  If not, fine, eliminate that from your marketing mix.  Go with a less-is-more approach and keep your focus on where your customers or clients truly find their information. 
 
When devising your marketing plan, you want a public relations outreach to offer your company the validation and credibility that comes with being featured in the news.  You may or may not benefit from traditional offline advertising, but you definitely do want a marketing presence online.  You're job is to figure out which online direction serves you the best.  Perhaps it's article marketing, perhaps it's blogging, it might be social media, but don't get caught in the trap that you have to do them all.  Be selective, stay targeted.  Build an individualized, well-thought-out limited, marketing campaign that serves your specific needs, and watch your business grow. 

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2009

For further information visit:
www.AnthonyMora.com

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