Everyone learns differently and takes advice from different places. Personally, I tend to graze a variety of platforms, from Reddit to the Marketing Association to Forbes to The NZ Herald. There's no lack of advice out there, so as with everything in life, I choose to take on what works for me.

In my browsing I came across this article by Debbie Mayo-Smith which struck a chord:

Debbie Mayo-Smith: How wrong are your marketing activities?

Now, I don't think that Debbie has cracked the solution to anyone's marketing woes in this, or any of her NZ Herald blogs, (mainly because her 500ish word opinion pieces can't explore the subjects in significant depth) but she has certainly made some points that need discussing:

1. Everyone is doing the same thing - Social, Email, Web, Search, Advertising, Content.

2. Business should be getting more business from existing customers.

3. Information > Insight > Effective Marketing

Everyone is doing the same thing.

Yes they are. Why? Because there are standards that have been set and thus customers expect from businesses. Standards of accessibility, types and number of touch-points and quality of information that your company must meet or exceed to be competitive. So yes, you should have social, search, email, web and content marketing plans in place, support them with your advertising and keep up with what your customers expect from you.

However, if you aren't good at or don't have time for all those things, don't do all those things. Pick a selection and get good first. As you improve your systems, strategies and skills you can add more to your marketing arsenal. 

Get more business from existing customers.

Well that seems like a no brainer - but Debbie Mayo-Smith is right, too often the focus of marketing is on acquiring new customers, often to the detriment of existing ones. How often have you been left feeling screwed over when you see an offer targeted to new customers when you've been loyal for years with nary a freebie to show for it? Or how many of you use the old trick of pressing 1 to sign up when actually you just have a question and you know existing customers sit in a call centre queue for an hour while new customers get priority?

Loyalty is hard to achieve so finding new customers to fill the gaps left by attrition is always part of a marketing strategy. BUT, your existing customers are right there! Don't ignore them. (Or your loyalty issues will just get worse!) Always start with what else your existing customers want and need, you'll find ideas for up and cross selling will come thick and fast.

Information > Insight > Effective Marketing

And that brings us to this gem. Which, I'm sure she was angling towards but ran out of word count. 

Your existing customers will tell you stuff. Your job is to hear it, harvest it and analyse it. When you do that, be it through social listening, CRM, web analytics, qualitative research - whatever, you unlock insights into the unique needs and wants that make up your customers. Those feed back into all areas of your business, from Customer Service (e.g. "our customers have small families" so don't call them between 3pm and 8pm, duh); to business strategy ("some of our customers cannot afford our service regularly", so expand your offering into their affordability zone to encourage repeat custom); to sales and marketing ("our best customers purchase from us monthly, shop at Pak'n Save, have 3 kids, prefer to communicate by email and catch the bus to work" - send these customers a monthly email with family oriented content and consider OOH advertising with a cost conscious message for acquisition).

The kicker is, there is so much more to these topics - you can read more articles or buy some books - there are plenty out there, but your best time for money option is actually to talk about the unique challenges for your business. Talk with customers, front line staff, support staff, management and random people off the street. I promise you'll be swimming in ideas and will have a better picture of what your real challenges are before you jump into sending out emails or signing up to Google Adwords.

And then, if you need help clarifying your marketing objectives and amplifying your activities, give me a call.