WHAT YOUR STOCKS AND MARKETING HAVE IN COMMON
Just like a well-balanced portfolio of stocks, your marketing strategy needs the same well-thought-out plan with an eye for the future. While short-term, sales-driven campaigns are necessary for immediate conversions, they won’t sustain you for the long haul.
Are you always sending or posting marketing messages with the next special promotion in hopes of a constant windfall? If you are not finding that to be sustainable read on for a better way!
BENEFIT FROM WHAT GAP, ADIDAS AND TRIPADVISOR LEARN IN 2019
Three well-known retail giants realized their need for a marketing strategy course correction in 2019. Prior to the pandemic, Gap, Adidas and Tripadvisor all publicly stated they must develop a more balanced, long-term marketing strategy and not rely so heavily on short-term lead activity.
Likewise, if you want a healthy business you need to prepare for the long term. Understanding how to develop balanced marketing campaigns that make the public continually aware of your brand, why you exist, and how your brand promise will affect them is vital to your company’s health and growth. In essence it builds brand equity, which is how much value consumers assign to their perception of your brand name versus a particular product or service. It takes building positive brand equity to build brand loyalty.
Upper and lower funnel marketing messaging is different
Developing marketing campaigns that re-elevate the upper funnel and broaden your brand-building reach work best in tandem with lower-funnel marketing messaging designed to influence customers’ purchases and narrow reach. Consumer perceptions are your target at the top, while immediate consumer purchase is at the bottom. Together these will prepare your business to see sustained growth and make a powerhouse out of your brand.
Are you losing customers due to lower brand equity and value?
In the real world, this means how many times you lose an existing customer who is willing to trial a service or procedure with another provider. This is the impact of brand equity loss that is affecting your brand’s retention rate. If your repeat customers begin to think less of your brand, the more likely they will be to trial another.
In a recent survey, Neilson measured a financial services brand’s effectiveness to drive sales across 20 markets. What they found at the beginning of the survey was that customer perception about the brand varied, and brand awareness and consideration for use of that brand was not always favorable. After a stronger focus on upper-funnel tactics, the correlation to the brand’s marketing efficiency was shown to be exceptionally strong. (0.73)
Long-term business success
In today’s world with so much competition, brand equity is harder to maintain. While in the short-term, immediate conversions can drive great sales for a quarter, they cannot always be repeated. Too many factors are outside your control.
Therefore, a great long-term business growth strategy always includes a balancing act that targets both the upper and lower sales funnels. Nielsen data shows that marketing accounts for 10%-35% of a brand’s equity. So when it comes down to it, being top-of-mind may make a difference when a sale is at stake.
Are you preparing for 2023 or just hoping to make it through? Are you relying only on marketing to your current customer base and direct traffic with no thought of growing your base? Let us help you build brand equity and loyalty while also making the short-term conversions your business needs.
