Photo by Mike Warren

Everyday we’re bombarded with product names and messages. As a business owner, we’re hoping our name rises above the marketing noise and is latched onto by our prospective customer. But the reality is, your marketing effort is more likely than not to fail.

Shouting louder won’t help. We’ve all been to parties where people struggle to be heard. What do you do? You try to talk over everyone else. At the end of the evening, you likely have a sore throat and pained ears, and the sense that you missed some important conversational tidbit.

Being unremarkable won’t help. Keeping up with your competition means you’ll always be seen as “me too”. People want to be aligned with leaders, not followers.

Being disposable won’t help. If people know that if they ignore this marketing message that it’s not a big deal. There’s a similar one coming soon after.

Being unconnected won’t help. The average person seldom buys from strangers. People buy because others have validated the purchase (whether that be Amazon customer ratings, Yelp scores, surveys, or magazine reviews) to ensure they don’t wind up with junk.

So what can you do to increase the chance that your marketing will succeed?

Study the marketing flotsam. What have been the results of similar campaigns been by others? Save your money and time by first looking  through the marketing graveyard.

View each marketing message as a part of the dialogue. A single message is unlikely to convince. Build your message over time, repeating the core values/benefits of your offering.

Measure ROI. Ensure that each action you take you can measure its results. Repeat what’s working.

To ensure that your message is at least noticed, make sure it’s relevant, consistent, and well-targeted.