Effective marketing will help you sell more, and to a premium price (in addition of gaining more loyal customers). In one way it’s easy. Scientific studies show how you should think and act. The problem is that few follow best practice. Or, see it as a unique opportunity to grow when you competitors don’t understand…
During one year I have written 100 insights for more effective marketing. You find them all at sfinxagency.se/blog, but if you want a crash course version, start by looking into these 7 conclusions:
1. Balance short term activation with brand building
You need to balance long-term brand building with short-term activation. An optimal split tends to be 50% on brand building and 50% on activation. Spend a higher portion on branding if you have a premium position or have a complex and long buying process.
2. Focus on acquiring new customers
Marketing is more profitable when it focuses on acquiring new customers rather than increasing loyalty. To do this reach as many potential customers as possible since broad reach is more profitable than targeting narrowly.
3. Don’t forget tomorrow’s customers – the 95-5 rule
Around 95% of your potential customers is not in the market today – but they will be tomorrow. If you intend to build your business over time, you need to include the 95% in your marketing plans. They are not triggered by hard core selling. They want inspiration and ideas in order to plan for future investments.
4. Get on the buyer’s list
92% of all purchases goes to a company the buyer listed day 1 of the buying process. Therefor you need to build mental availability, ie being a company potential customers consider to be supplier option.
5. You must invest
There is a direct correlation between media investment and increased sales. The key metric for growth is that your share of voice should be higher than your market share. Owned and earned media is important, but paid media is needed to grow.
6. Measure – but distinguish between effect and efficiency
Effect measures what you aim to achieve, primarily in terms of commercial development. Efficiency measures how well you use your resources. Avoid using ROI as a metric. Campaign-level ROI has low or no correlation with long-term business value, as campaign ROI tends to favor “low-hanging fruits”.
7. Creativity boosts effectiveness
Relevant creativity supports mental availability, i.e., makes your brand top-of-mind for customers. Creatively awarded campaigns produce 10-12 times more effect than boring campaigns.
These conclusions are the basis for long-term growth and effective marketing. Follow them, adapted to your business model, and you are heading towards market success.
Finally, quite a lot of people asked if the insights for more effective marketing will end by no 100. No, it will continue since marketing is evolving constantly, but you will not see two insight per week…
But as always, if you want to discuss profitable growth, let’s have chat. You reach me at ulf@sfinxagency.se
