4 Ways to Stop Committing Random Acts of Marketing (and Tell a Story that Impacts Your Business)
Counter-intuitive though it may be, more is not better. Harvard Business Review reported on one study that demonstrated this paradox beautifully.
Researchers presented shoppers at a store with two variations of a sample table: first, they offered a display table with 24 gourmet jams to try and a $1 discount coupon to buy one of the jams. Next, they offered shoppers at the same store a table with just 6 gourmet jams and the same $1 discount coupon for purchase. Not surprisingly the 24-jam display attracted more visitors. What was surprising, though, was that people who saw the large display were just one-tenth as likely to buy as people who saw the small display.
So, more is actually worse than just not better. More can decrease a customer’s desire to buy!
More without planning can also lead to a customer getting the wrong message at the wrong time, missed cues, mixed and confusing messages from different organizations in your business and other frustrating customer experiences that can lead to real, live people disengaging with your company.
What’s worse is that more isn’t just a problem for your customers. More is an expensive distraction for you. More causes you to spend time working on something that you don’t know is needed. More may prevent you from spending time on something that would really move the needle on your business.
More happens because it’s a natural response. In the heat of the moment, it generally feels better to just do something. To write another blog post, because someone in your industry just posted something on that topic. To produce a video because a campaign needs that extra oomph. To respond to a news event or customer announcement with something of your own. When you do this all or even most of the time, the result is what we sometimes refer to as “random acts of marketing.”
In fact, more happens so much that 60% of marketers confess to creating content on the fly (Content Marketing Institute’s Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budget and Trends Report)!
The antidote to these acts of random content is planning (I won’t even use the word strategy, because that can scare some folks away). You have to be strong on this point. You have to keep the needs of your customers—and your business—front and center. There is no substitute for a plan. Plan may be a four-letter word, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming.
Here’s a friendly, do-able plan to start your process now, and move towards a more aligned, effective and impactful approach:
1. Decide on three specific things you want your content to help you achieve.
For example, you might want your content to help you bring in more new customers. Or you might need it to help you convince customers that are hesitating right before agreeing to buy.
For each goal, decide how you will measure success using information you have now or can get access to easily.
2. Review your audience and their buying journey. Gather up your personas (or create them if you need to) and your buying journey map. What questions do your prospects and customers have that you’ll typically need to answer? What might they be struggling with? Where do they hang out? How do they typically find and take in information?
3. Define a small number of topics you want to build content around that will help you achieve the objectives you noted in step 1. Put them in order of priority.
You might, for example, have one major topic that you focus all your major efforts on over the course of year, and then 3-4 additional subtopics that you can weave in over time. Or, you might decide you want one topic per quarter, so you need four topics per year.
For each topic, note one or more pieces of content that you will create to support it. For example, you might do a webinar, four blog posts and an e-book for a major topic. For a less major topic, you might just do a simple blog post.
4. Create a simple content / channel plan. Here’s a simple one you can copy.
Simple Content and Channel Plan
5. Share this plan with everyone in your organization that might need to know. You can use it as a discussion point about how content helps you build your business and how everyone can help keep the content engine stoked and running well.
6. . Review this plan monthly and adjust as necessary. Report on your metrics at least monthly so you can assess where changes might need to be made.
If you’re ready to move to a more advanced content marketing strategy, I highly recommend using the Content Marketing Framework that Content Marketing Institute has published. It’s a robust, scalable and usable approach to thinking about the big picture of your content marketing plan and how it impacts your business.
More without planning just creates noise in your market. It dilutes your message. And it can actually work against you by decreasing your customer’s interest in action. Your favorite NFL team never just throws random moves into a game. Every move is planned and most contingencies accounted for in advance. Your business—and your customers—deserve the same level of care.