These marketing truths are universal, and will apply to every campaign you ever launch.
In marketing, few things are absolute. What works today might not work tomorrow. What works for one company might not work for a competitor. The trends you see in your market research might not reflect actual ground-level attitudes. For many, this is stressful, and for everyone in the marketing game, this is frustrating. Marketing is a system of predictions, estimates, and maybes, so there aren’t many guaranteed “sure things.”
However, there are a number of hard marketing truths that apply to nearly all companies in nearly all situations:
- Your Brand Comes First. Your brand should be evident and powerful in every marketing application you pursue. Make sure your brand is in order before you do anything else.
- Data Is Your Greatest Tool. Hard researched data will help you make critical decisions and remain objective in a subjective world.
- But Data Isn’t Everything. That being said, over-relying on data is a good way to skew your campaign and stifle your inspiration.
- More Channels Doesn’t Equate to More Reach. Getting your brand on more platforms isn’t a shortcut to reaching more people.
- The More Niche You Are, the Better. Be specific in your goals, target audience, and messaging. You’ll decrease your audience size, but greatly increase your relevance.
- Your Customer Actions Are All That Matter. In theory your campaign might be wonderful, but your customer actions are all that matter to your bottom line.
- Stories Always Sell. Always frame your ads and messages in terms of stories. People love stories.
- Diversity Is Sacred. Don’t let yourself become a slave to only one marketing medium.
- Experimentation Is Your Friend. Try new things. You can always ditch what doesn’t work.
- Everything Needs Adjustment. No matter how extensively you’ve planned a campaign, it’s going to need adjusted eventually.
The next time you find yourself aloft or frustrated with the intangibility of marketing, remember these foundations. They’ll keep you grounded, and keep best practices at the top of your mind.
