Posted by Are you trying to do marketing but don’t know where to start?
After doing hundreds of campaigns, I will give you one piece of advice that skyrocketed not only my clients but my abilities as a marketer: Get it done… fast! And modify it later. We call this philosophy “Marketing by Modification™” (MBM).
In a field like marketing, everything is subjective. What attracts one customer will inevitably repel another. You will never be able to please everyone, so avoiding action and working tirelessly on one project only prevents you from getting the desired result.
By prioritizing the speed of action, you can then analyze the outcome, utilize data and create a modified version of your marketing campaign. Rather than taking months creating one campaign, use those months to campaign, learn and grow your business.
To help put the effectiveness of this in perspective, here are some tips on how to get the most out of MBM.
Related: 7 Marketing Truths Every Business Leader Should Know
Make sure your work is quick and not sloppy
As humans, we tend to overthink and second guess our work. Sometimes, our first instincts are correct. But capitalize on your good ideas by testing out some different marketing approaches. The key is to remember that although getting your ideas out quickly is the goal, getting them out quickly is only effective if the work quality is good. The purpose behind the MBM method is to operate with a sense of urgency and curiosity while not staying paralyzed in fear of flawed marketing. Don’t rush great work but don’t be afraid to utilize the good old trial and error method.
Don’t confuse quality with perfection
It is important to remember that nothing will ever be “perfect.” It is understandable not to want to rush genius and ensure something is of great work. But as humans, we tend to get inside our heads. We create, erase, recreate and repeat until we end up so far away from the original idea we had in mind.
MBM ends this cycle. Instead of relying on the idea of perfection, rely on a new ideal: adaptation. The most popular products were never heard about with one marketing effort. Marketing takes time. So instead of being paralyzed by your perfectionism, take the chance, launch the campaign and seize the opportunity to learn and further your business from it.
Related: Use These 5 Steps to Create a Marketing Plan
Budget a little, learn a lot
MBM is a great way to save money. By utilizing small budgets for different campaigns, you learn what types of marketing attract different kinds of customers. The marketing creatives that attract men might not attract women. The creatives that attract people from Iowa might not attract people from New York. With these small marketing campaigns, you can learn much more about your audience and attract different types of business.
You might even realize the direction you never intended for your company is a booming success. No money you spend on these marketing endeavors goes to waste. As I wrote earlier, what attracts one customer will inevitably repel another. You still retain business with each strategy — even in ways that might surprise you.
Related: 10 Marketing Strategies to Fuel Your Business Growth
Be proactive with the market, not reactive to it
Have you ever noticed something trending online, and months later, when you are already over the trend, it is in stores everywhere? This situation is a perfect example of today’s market. With everything becoming digitized, products, preferences and the market are rapidly changing. As a result, we tend to see outdated trends hit mainstream platforms months after the movement has died.
This is because companies today are operating with reactive marketing. Don’t react; instead, capitalize on current trends and be proactive for upcoming ones. Instead of waiting for trends to emerge, stay on top of the trends. There is no use spending months on a marketing campaign that will lose its relevance before it is even launched.
The truth is, any action is better than doing nothing at all. By waiting for a perfect idea to come to you, you are losing valuable time for feedback from your audience and time to adapt to their needs. If you wait to finally get the vision you have in your head to come to life the way you imagined it, you are wasting time you could be creating an even more successful campaign.
Marketing is all about trial and error. As much as we wish we could, we will never get it all right the first time. Instead of fighting the system, embrace it with Marketing By Modification. Take the chance, launch the campaign, learn and modify. It is the best way to get as close to perfect as possible.