I was on the therapy table of my favorite chiropractor, Dr. John Clendenin. He was helping me with an injury I sustained during one of my athletic “misadventures.”
This kind of injury is common among males who get older but never actually grow up.
One of my vertebrae was out of alignment and “stuck.” Dr. C was working to get it unstuck. I noticed that besides working on the stuck vertebrae, he was working on the whole spine. I asked why.
“It’s like a combination lock,” said the young but wise doctor. “You get all the tumblers in alignment, and it all works together to open the lock.”
I realized that concept is also true with marketing programs.
MISALIGNED MARKETING
Just like my spine, components of a marketing plan are often misaligned. The result is that the plan doesn’t work. Your marketing does not return what it should.
Examples of misaligned marketing programs are campaigns that depend too heavily on one medium. It may be the one you’re most familiar with, or the one with which you feel you get the best deal.
But soon you’re leaning to the side of the medium that you’ve used over and over. That’s not a bad thing until you lose sight of the main goal — which is to make sure you’re using the media that your target prospect and customer prefers. Don’t be surprised if that has changed over the years.
BALANCED IS BETTER
When you’re sure you’re right to invest 90% of your marketing budget in one medium, that’s exactly the time you need to consider a more balanced approach.
And as I mentioned in a previous column, sometimes the balance is thrown off by too much focus on the media and not enough on the message. That’s where your program may need some therapy.
THE RIGHT COMBINATION
Every marketing program needs the right combination of research, customer and stakeholder input, message development and redevelopment, media planning, advertising, PR, and customer relationship management.
Of course, that’s why you hire a consultant like Farris. We help you find that balance. As Dr. C would say, “It all works together to open the lock.”
(Dr. John Clendenin has offices in Niles and Boardman and can be reached at 330-652-4222.)
Stay tuned and stay smart
“Hey!” to a few of my friends:
Keith Downard • Sonny Sunderland
Don Caspary • Jim Echement
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