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Top 10 Marketing - Ask Yourself

It is understood that in today's economy, most businesses are trying to develop their capital on a diminished (read: diminishing) budget in order to combat decline in return. That is why it is frustrating to see young companies trusting their brand identity to the untrained and careless or more traditional media companies who do not understand the constant shift between print and digital advertising.

It is an easy mistake for businesses to make, hiring a low end contractor who may be able to translate a company's identity into a marketing campaign which is at least moderately effective. However, many low end contractors lack the savvy to take a business idea and turn it into a full blown strategy. While a business may see this as a non-issue because they know exactly what direction they want out of their design - the look, the feel, the end result - many times this sort of model falls short.

Conversely, when a business feels threatened by competition, lack of clientele or dwindling sales, it will sometimes buy into the high end marketing side of things; effectively wasting precious dollars on a campaign that fails to take advantage of free, powerful marketing solutions which have exploded onto the digital landscape in the last five years. Some old school advertising companies do not know how to capture this new market, instead sticking to more traditional methods of exposure - methods which cost much more considering their waning returns and initial investment expense.

What these two strategies represent do not necessarily have to be opposite sides of the same coin. Often, we are behooved to choose one or the other - print or online. Regularly, we find younger entrepreneurs fighting their elder contemporaries to post files on Google docs, to create events on Facebook, to place a Craigslist ad, to start development of a "wiki" [if any of these terms serve to confuse, feel free to contact us]. Just as likely, more seasoned businessmen are apt to press an ad in the local newspaper, send a media release or print a mailer campaign. We find that this is the quotient of modern marketing, a moving ground war of print advertising and an air strike of digital marketing drive trade. But, what if your business has tried all of this and failed. Perhaps your marketing wasn't as effective as you thought.

Here are the Top 10 reasons why a business owner must ask himself "What makes my marketing work?":

• Good marketing doesn't rely on trends to be effective; it blows them out of the water. The most emulated advertising is advertising which turns heads and makes people talk. If your marketing isn't drawing attention to your brand, then it isn't worth keeping around. Consistent, amazing design is the stuff of pure marketing effectiveness, innovative, amazing design is the stuff of marketing genius. Are you loath to hand out business cards, hang posters or otherwise get your marketing campaign "out there" because is is simply "run of the mill?"

• Successful marketing design involves more than picking a font, choosing colors and placing words and images on a page. The unskilled designer often overlooks nuances of arrangement, readability and focus by cramming too many words into a small area rather than getting a brand's message across succinctly and effectively. Is your marketing jumbled and difficult to read, perhaps overrun with unnecessary graphics and poor layout?

• Just as any good business prides itself on track record, portfolio and successful case studies; a business's marketing is only as good as it's marketing firm's portfolio. A marketing designer should have a strong portfolio documenting a wide array of projects with well known clients that can give strong testimonial to the firm's work for them. A business should be wary of designers with only two to three clients who are not able to give solid references and portfolios which include only class or family-related projects. Poor design and limited capabilities speak for themselves. Has your business studied the portfolio of it's media designer?

• Many times, business owners are great with numbers and bad with words. Poor spelling and grammar isn't regularly caught by those untrained to look for it. Does your marketing firm have a background in proofreading?

• In order to account for the success of it's marketing campaign, a brand must be able to track the effectiveness of it's advertising. A business must be able to gauge it's market through numbers and focus it's campaign(s) effectively. Are you able to find your target market throughout your campaign by tracking from whence your clientele are arriving to your door?

• With the sheer volume of advertisement and media placed before us every day, it is essential to brand, market and compose a business differently than the rest. Guerrilla marketing and viral campaigns reward your audience through emotion and benefits that a business may not know about or may be reluctant to try. Does your business fit in with the suits and networking humdrum, or are you a fresh new experience that everyone wants to emulate?

• Converse to being willing to part with traditional forms of advertising, a business must remain consistent. This does not mean that every piece of marketing includes a business logotype in the top right corner while the rest of the piece does what it wants. This means many things which can be effectively translated: when someone picks up a business's new marketing piece, they know instinctively that it is that business's "look" regardless of whether or not it's logo is seen immediately. Does your business consistently deliver captivating, "signature" advertising, or does it struggle with identity issues?

• Integration of marketing materials is an essential function of advertising. They must translate from word of mouth or traditional media to more meaningful methods of capturing your target market's imagination and thereby demographics. Does your advertising draw customers to a storefront or website on a regular basis where you can further engage and interact with them and easily convert to sales?

• Marketing takes many forms. In order to fully realize a campaign, a company must typically shop around for the best printing, hosting, advertising, mailing and material costs. This can be a procurement nightmare and may involve more legwork than is necessary. It can take years to develop a satisfactory business relationship with providers who are willing to take the time to make things right. Has your media company built business partnerships with printers, media liaisons and digital providers so as to reflect comparable or even better prices on the materials it takes to get your marketing to the masses?

• Reputable businesses are consistently in the media, on the minds or in the mix. Word of mouth is the most valuable commodity a business can have. Is your marketing designer working with you by working for you through effective identity, press and service? Are you the talk of the town, or consistently spoken of as being "overpriced," "outdated" or just plain "bad?"

For questions and ideas on how to further your brand or get it "back on track," please feel free to contact our media professionals at contact@maximumedia.com. We'd be glad to help.