Ad Campaigns Versus Platforms and How to Tell the Difference

Companies often want to change something. Direction, focus, resources, etc. At the heart of the desire for change is usually a dissatisfaction with the current situation. So far so good. But if the proposed change is predicated on a new ad campaign, regardless how creative the creativity is, it will inevitably disappoint and miss the goal if there is not an overarching strategy driving it.

Here are a few insights that you can consider to make your company’s marketing more successful. See how many of these insights you are currently using.

1. Create A Platform, Not A Campaign
To transform a strategy you need to move away from one-off thinking and ad campaigns toward an ongoing, enriching, and evolving marketing platform. This will allow your company to establish a consistent voice and personality and allow you to tell multiple stories with far more impact. For instance, you could create a micro-site within your company Website that has solutions to specific client challenges and use videos of instruction and client testimonials to explain how they solved their problem.

A successful marketing platform will contain many ways for customers to interact and learn more about your product. When this exists you won’t have to market your specific product, or any others in your portfolio, because customers will find them due to their natural curiosity and from recommendations from existing customers who told them about your product. This will allow you to talk in your company’s voice and tell the story that general marketing and the press is not going to report.

2. Create A Platform That Tells An Interesting Story
Everyone in your company should be a good storyteller, particularly about the company’s story. But how many companies take the time to accomplish this? Only the ones who understand that a platform story is not something that goes away after a campaign has run. It’s the foundation for all marketing and communications throughout the entire company. A great story is going to be remembered and even repeated far more often than a list of features and benefits. But it’s a different way of marketing and most companies don’t see the value in spending the time or resources. So they never get into their own voice but simply use acceptable marketing verbiage that will get approved.

3. Micro Marketing Wins Customers
Every business needs to put aside the final sale and provide value in micro-size bits to get customers to engage with your product. Deeper engagement with each individual customer at their pace will occur when you match their greatest need to your product. This is not hard selling, quite the contrary. It’s all about building customers who so like your product they want to tell others about it.

All three of these insights require a better understanding of your customers and their needs. What products they find most useful and what brand messaging is of the most interest to them. That’s where the hard work of product marketing development is done. It requires listening to the needs and interests of your customers. The information you collect today can bring years of business development to your company, which is worth a lot more than a stand-alone advertising campaign.
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Tom Wants To Hear Your Branding Issues:
Tom Marin, Managing Partner of MarketCues, wants to hear from you! Follow MarketCues on Twitter for branding and social media tips, as well as the latest trends. Tom also welcomes e-mails, new LinkedIn connections, calls to (407) 330-7708 or visit www.marketcues.com. How can he help solve your branding issues?

Note: If you are a printing company or product/services company serving the print-media market, and would like to be considered for a feature in this blog, please contact Tom Marin for an interview.