It?s March Madness, the US hunt to determine the national champion of college basketball, ? how do you pick your NCAA basketball tournament brackets?
Some fans talk to their friends?
Some scan the Internet or listen to radio DJ?s picks for recommendations?
Some have hopes for their favorite team that they?ve always supported to be the next Cinderella story?
I?ve even heard people pick brackets based on uniforms?
Fans have big hopes and dreams of NCAA glory.
The recent stories and office pools got me to thinking about how business owners sometimes pick their ?winning? marketing strategies much the way fans pick their March Madness bracket?
Some business owners ask their friends for opinions on their ads and promotions.
Others search publications and the Internet to see what others are doing and swipe ideas from competitors.
And some stick with what has worked for them in the past. The problem is that friends often know nothing about what makes an effective ad or are too sensitive to your feelings? to give you their honest opinion.
Swiping ideas only works if you know for sure the idea is working first.
And some are too attached to worn out marketing strategies and want to do what they?ve always done?not realizing there is something that will work even better.
Are you basing your marketing on what you?re comfortable and familiar with or are you using what is proven to work?
It?s easy to get attached to a certain look, positioning or way of marketing.
However, clinging to old ways or jumping on the latest trends are based more on emotion and Cinderella hopes than on the evidence that shows what really works.
Here are five tips for helping you pick winning marketing strategies:
1)??? Have an open mind about your marketing. Like a fan that gets attached to their favorite team, being too attached to certain elements of your marketing can cripple your chances of finding big wins and can even cause you to turn a blind eye to something proven to work better.
Similarly dumping an old marketing media proven to work for you in favor of a new trend is hanging your business success on dreams of marketing glory.
The truth is, as marketers, to get the best results, you need to always be open to ways to improve your current marketing and pick your strategy based on evidence.
2) Get an objective opinion. Find someone who knows and understands marketing who is outside your business to look at what you are doing. It?s important to pick someone who can really be objective.? Stay away from family members and people who are too close to you or your business. (This is where a mastermind group comes in handy.)
Often times, someone with fresh eyes will uncover something you?ve overlooked, identify a problem you can?t see or give you an entirely new perspective that will resonate well with your clients.
3) Look for ways to improve the things that are already working. If you have a marketing strategy that is working for you, continue using it while you try new strategies simultaneously.
Sometimes you?ll find the combined strategies give you even better results.
For instance, social media has proven to improve brand, public relations and builds your relationship with your audience. Pay Per Click (PPC) converts traffic better than social media, doesn?t require the same demands as social media and drives traffic 24/7.? But combine the two together and watch what happens. According to the Search Marketing Benchmark Survey by leading research firm, Marketing Sherpa, companies combining social media with Pay Per Click(PPC) are improving their PPC results by almost 2 to 1.
4) Get the facts, before you jump in. Businesses too often go by what they see a competitor doing instead of what is proven to work.? For example, let?s say you see a competitor running ads in an industry publication, so you decide you should run ads there too. The problem is you don?t know if those ads are working for the competitor or not.
Instead, use recommendations from trusted sources. Watch to see if promotions are repeated and appear on multiple channels (for example in print and online). Once you have done your homework, do a small test to see if the idea transfers to your business.
5) Test, Test, Test. Dan Kennedy gives this advice over and over and he?s right. Don?t wait until your marketing isn?t working. ?Continually test and be ready with the next promotion before you need it.
When it comes to picking marketing strategy that will win you more customers, clients or patients, remember not to leave your emotions behind and not get too attached to any one method or idea.
Just like the smartest move is for you to put your money on NCAA teams who have proven they can win instead of the teams you?d like to see win, pick your marketing strategies based on their proven track records to succeed in your market place. When you do, you?ll improve your chances of advancing your results and pushing your profits to the top of the chart.
What do you do to ensure your marketing is more likely to come up a winner? ?Post your comments below.
Note: If you are looking for a proven winner that has been Dan Kennedy?s number one media choice for the 30+ years Dan has been in business, check out Unlocking the Secrets of Direct Mail Profits .? Take a quantum leap in understanding what it takes to make direct mail super-profitable along with how to generate income at will and discover how to quickly boost your net worth.
Learn more here.
Author Info: ?To change this standard text, you have to enter some information about your self in the Dashboard -> Users -> Your Profile box. Source: http://dankennedy.com/blog/small-business-marketing-tips/march-madness/
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