Select a handful of marketing tactics, implement them consistently, measure results to determine effectiveness, and when a tactic is not working, pick another one. This is what I advise at my marketing workshops and seminars for small businesses and nonprofits, knowing full well the question will come: “How long should I be executing before I know something’s working or not?” Some tactics can take months to yield meaningful results (networking), others can give returns almost instantaneously (coupon or sale ad). Waiting for my toast to pop this morning, I discovered a useful, if stretched, analogy to answer the question better: marketing is like a toaster.
You want toast, hence you need a toaster. After you research toasters and buy the right one for your needs, you will first work to find the setting that will toast a slice of bread to the crispiness you desire. Set the dial to a number you expect to work, put the bread in, wait for the pop, check the bread, put it back in, repeat until you’re happy. You’ll probably have to put it back in a number of times to get there. Next time you’ll have to start afresh with a cold toaster to achieve the result in fewer tries. It’ll take a while to find the right setting. And it’ll take even longer to find the right settings for different family members and types of bread or bagels. You’ll burn the toast, too. But you’ll get there.
Marketing is the same. You draft a strategy, determine the appropriate tactic, start implementing, and tweak until you get the desired result. It’ll take a while, a few tries, a few hiccups, but you’ll get there. It’s all in the research and in the results you’re seeking. You wouldn’t want to make a toast in your microwave oven.
Now, once you find the right toaster setting, you probably won’t be timing how long it takes for the bread to toast as long as the right dial gets you the right toast. But if your bread keeps getting toasted unevenly or if toasting takes way too long even on your desired setting, you’ll want a new toaster. How long is too long? When you’re starving. When your coffee gets cold. When your kid starts crying. When you’re missing the bus. How long is too long really does depend on how fast you want your toast and how crisp you want it.
And so with marketing. Results will take time to manifest. How much time will depend on the results you seek and on the tactics you select. There are no universal answers just like there are no universal toasters. (Side note: Maybe it’s time for a new tag, “postmodern marketing”.)
How is your toaster working for you?
Image credit: mkudel
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Personally, I’m more of a toaster oven type, but that’s beside the point…
Great analogy, how marketing is like a toaster. Especially when you venture into new areas of marketing, like social media, it’s going to take a good deal of trial and error to get it right. And, it’s never the same process from one company to the next.
Keep working at it, keep trying new things and with time you’ll find what works for you.