Building Your Marketing Blueprint: The Art of Balancing Consistency and Change
Finding the Shape of Your Marketing Wheel
We’ve all heard the saying, “don’t reinvent the wheel,” and while this holds true in marketing, it’s important to recognize that your “wheel” isn’t a universal concept. In Plato’s “Theory of Forms,” there’s an ideal version of everything, including the perfect wheel. However, in the real world, your marketing strategy—the wheel that keeps your organization moving—depends on your specific products, target consumers, team size, and many other factors. Understanding the shape of your wheel is crucial because deviating from it is, in essence, reinventing the wheel for your organization.
The Importance of Tried and True Marketing
Marketing practices become “tried and true” for a reason—they work. Before the internet, direct mail was a reliable way to reach customers. With the rise of social media, marketers found ways to engage consumers during their leisure time, bypassing traditional mail. Additionally, optimizing websites for better search engine results became essential, rendering the yellow pages obsolete. These adaptations weren’t about reinventing the wheel but about creatively applying proven methods to new platforms.
Where the Rubber Meets the Road
In marketing, the “tires” represent the points where your brand connects with the marketplace. While a perfect wheel is circular and supported by an engineered system of spokes, even the most efficient organizations rarely achieve perfection. The key is to understand how your wheel functions and support the critical areas where your brand and customers intersect with the right marketing “spokes.”
Building Your Marketing Spokes
Your marketing spokes are the activities that drive your brand forward, such as email marketing, social media, paid ads, influencer partnerships, TV commercials, streaming, and more. Each activity, despite its differences, aims to fill your sales or recruiting pipeline. The right spokes for your business are those that have historically supported your growth. Understanding why these spokes are effective for you should serve as the blueprint for future marketing strategies.
Discovering Your Tried and True Strategies
While TV commercials may be a staple for Fortune 500 companies, they might not be part of your marketing mix. Your “tried and true” strategies involve evaluating past successes and using data to guide future efforts. Analyze which email topics and social media posts garnered the most attention. This data reveals the formats and content types that resonate with your audience, allowing you to create an effective blueprint for growth.
As your marketing evolves, understanding the unique shape of your wheel is essential for long-term success. By focusing on tried and true methods that align with your business needs, you can create a stable foundation for growth. This involves not only maintaining successful strategies but also being open to adapting them to new mediums and technologies. Ultimately, your marketing wheel should be a dynamic yet consistent force that drives your brand forward, ensuring that you remain connected with your customers and ahead of the competition.
