My family played a game one Christmas called, “Fact or Crap.” One player reads a statement and the other players hold up a card that either reads ‘fact’ or ‘crap’ depending on whether they think the statement is valid or a load of you-know-what. This month, I’m playing my own game of “Fact or Crap.”
Fact: Business owners lack the time to be consistent with, and stay up to date with the research required to effectively run their social media platforms. They often turn to costly automated platforms.
Crap: Automated platforms typically regurgitate content found elsewhere on the web. Automated platforms lack the ability to be up to date with your specific industry’s best practices for results when it comes to: frequency, timing, language/copy writing and creative content/imagery. As one expert puts it, “…this is where thinking matters. I don’t know that any fancy push button software will get you there. That would be nice, but it’s just not the same as the connections and ideas your brain generates.”
Fact: Many people assume web developers/programmers or graphic designers understand what Marketers understand and vice versa. Since you can basically find a quote on website design that ranges anywhere from $500 to $50,000 business owners try to cut corners by hiring just a programmer or designer.
Crap: ...How your website will perform if it doesn’t take into consideration: user experience and smart design, and compelling copywriting and eye tracking patterns and where to place the call to action and integration with other marketing channels and the list goes on. I guarantee you someone with a four-year degree in graphic design doesn’t have the same skill set I have. For example: I hold a Master’s in Science. Yes science. It focuses on the social science in business, meaning the sociology and psychology as it relates to consumerism, as well as the analytic sciences, qualitative and quantitative research, as they relate to business. This is not a slam against the other professions. You need a combination of us.
Fact: Some business owners try to offer every service or product from their category rather than focus on a niche market. And/or, business owners assume everyone on planet earth could use their products and services.
Crap: If this is your strategy, I can guarantee you, it’s crap. Let’s look at it this way. Law firms are great examples of niche marketing. Are you more likely to hire the niche firm, the one that spends day in and day out fighting cases like yours, or the firm that offers legal services in 50 different areas of law and comes across a case like yours every so often. Do not insert a “but” or a “well I’m not a” or any other excuse. Brands/businesses never have a target market that’s universal nor can they meet every need their consumers have.
If you have a question about a marketing strategy, tactic or rumor that you heard and want to know if it’s fact or crap, be sure to reach out and ask before making a money wasting decision. #victoryforbrands