Methodical Marketing

As I’m sure happens within most Sales & Marketing Departments, we here at Cheeky Monkey Media have been moving through a number of tasks, focuses, changes, strategies, and more. Some days, sitting down and going through a daily task list can read like the fallout from a nuclear explosion. It seems that for every item checked off the list, three more are born like a marketing hydra.

It can be a lot to manage, and sometimes there just isn’t enough time to get to everything. That being said, if there’s one thing that is becoming more and more apparent (if not 100% adopted… yet…) is the simple principle of Methodical Marketing.

Common Sense or Smart Organization?

Like many things I’ve written, I’m sure this idea is not really an earth-shattering revelation. By the time most of us have reached this point in our careers, we’ve had to learn how to juggle our schedules, manage our time, and prioritize.

However, when it comes to your marketing mix, it can be very difficult to prioritize and commit to a schedule when you have so many great ideas and plans. The tendency to want them all to come to fruition immediately can easily lead one to an almost manic approach to execution.

With different strategies in mind for a variety of different marketing goals, it’s very easy to spend a little time on one thing, a little time on another, and so on and so on…

Maximizing Effectiveness

But, given the limited time in a day, the costs incurred with misguided approaches, and the subsequent impact on the business, too much multi-tasking in your marketing can easily be the biggest mistake made. By putting little bits of effort into multiple tasks one can easily be in a situation where absolutely nothing gets finished (or, if it does, it’s not done well). In this case, all the work, stress, and effort have been expended for a total gain of zero.

In order to maximize effectiveness, taking a methodical approach is always the easiest course of action. While I sometimes have to calm myself down because I haven’t had a chance to work on every strategy in the plan, I’m able to reap the benefits of those I’ve finished.

With each new completed goal, our marketing mix adds another bullet to the gun, and we’re able to shift focus to enacting the next idea. Not only that, but while taking a methodical approach, we invariably gain more data and information from executed tactics that we can apply to the rollout of the next one.

By consistently enacting, executing, and moving on to the next item, we are able to enjoy the benefits of data collection, analysis, and reassessment of the tactics that are currently in use. This information can then be considered in each subsequent strategy, thereby making each new tactic even more focused and better targeted to achieve our marketing goals.

Avoid the stress

If we were to embrace the scatter-gun approach to marketing tasks – always “over-multi-tasking” in order to touch everything – we would not only have less active marketing being engaged but also have far less reliable information to use in further planning. Ultimately, taking a more methodical approach to your marketing mix can save stress, headaches, and costly mistakes.

The next time you’re in a situation where you find yourself piled under a stack of marketing tasks, working tirelessly to cram a little of each into your schedule, consider embracing the Methodical Marketing mantra. Not only will you be in a better position to finish many things, but you’ll also find that you’ll improve your chances for real marketing success.