There’s a lot of marketing firms out there. In researching, you’ll find a lot of noise about how one firm is doing things differently or better, when really it seems like they’re just jumping on the latest bandwagon. Sure, we follow trends and stay up-to-date as the industry changes, but there are a few things that will remain the same at Marketing Refresh.
Consistency and Transparency
People have an illusion that they can do a big campaign, allowing for 6 weeks or 3 months leading up to the big event, and that’ll be enough. They’ll be heavily involved and active on social media, keep their blog posted regularly, and update their website, then they have that event and then tend put everything on the back burner and not keep the momentum moving forward. They assume that they’ve achieved their goal.
The problem is, all of that work is not giving them lifetime value and consistency. If they just stop what they had begun, users and potential buyers’ thoughts and opinions of that brand and that company will be affected. The brand immediately looks uncommitted, and listeners are unsure of where they went and what happened. In Google’s eyes, and in other search engine’s eyes, that brand will look at it the same way. The sentiment is, “What happened to this company? Why did they make such a big push and then go away?”
When a brand is inconsistent, it feeds into a lack of transparency and lack of authenticity because it looks like a short term, unreliable effort. Short term effort has short term gain, but you have the potential to have long term gain as well. It’s like going on a crash diet to fit into a bathing suit to go on vacation—yeah, you took some great pictures that one time. But you were hungry, irritable, and a month or so later you were back into those old stretchy jeans. We stand for marketing plans that give your product or service longevity.
One of our clients refers to us as “Authenticity Navigators,” and we can’t think of a better way to describe what we do. In order to remain on that path of authenticity, you have to be in it for the long run. Don’t throw your money at one single tactic, it won’t teach you anything and it won’t have long term value.
Partnership and Collaboration
Our partnerships are the meat and potatoes of our business model. We know we can’t be specialists in everything, and we want our client to receive the best work in the industry, so our partnerships are critical. Our clients are experts in their fields, so we know we need their input to best tell their story.
If we collaborate with them and the partners we have, everyone’s collective input helps us arrive at a solution. Many people have the illusion that they can hire a writer or a designer and just forget about the project. Though the person is capable of doing this, it’s crucial to be involved and give input. Because no one knows your business like you do.
Keep it Fresh
Being great at what you do is really about evolving. Evolving yourself on a personal level leaves room for you to grow from a business standpoint. As we make a conscious effort to have a higher EQ, a better understanding of the brain and how it works, and the current state of our community, we’re more equipped to bring what is needed to the table.
I’m not talking about reading an article and getting so inspired by it that you throw away what you know works and what you believe in. Make sure that as an individual—and as a marketer—you’re paying attention to the changes in people’s behaviors and the way they connect with one another. So that when we talk about ourselves as marketers, we can evolve with that.
If we’re too deeply involved with the latest trends in marketing, we’ll have our head in the sand about what is going on with people and what they connect with. It’s about human connection, rather than traditional advertising, where often you tend to tell them over and over again how great you are until they change their minds. If you’ve got something that’s really valuable, and you build a story and a narrative around that product, people are going to connect with it. But you have to find those people. And we can help.
