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Marketing Strategy

Have a scary costume, not scary marketing šŸ‘»

By October 11, 2019May 27th, 2022No Comments

marketing planningOctober is my favorite month by far. I wish my birthday was in October, to make the month that much more magical. Iā€™m even getting married in October 2020! I love scary movies, sweaters, bonfires, leaf color changes, candy, hayrides, the decorations, the weather, costumes, ā€œscaryā€ attractions — everything.

But donā€™t get too distracted! You should be rockinā€™ and rollinā€™ getting ready for tradeshows, the end of the year, and 2020 marketing programs. This is not the time for your marketing to be scary.

Hereā€™s a list of scream-worthy things we see companies do with their marketing, and suggestions on how to avoid them so you have a happy ending.

šŸŽƒ Not having a social media presence is like the girl who falls when being chased by the killer – what happens is predictable and fatal. No social media presence means one of two things: you donā€™t have social media at all, or you donā€™t post. Both are creepy. If you donā€™t have social media at all, start creating accounts on the platforms that are relevant to your audience. If you already have accounts, start creating a strategy and cadence around posting consistently. Don’t ghost your followers.

šŸŽƒ Preparing for a tradeshow too late in the game. Hereā€™s our guide to help you prepare for HIMSS, which can be adapted to other big events as well. If youā€™re a HIMSS exhibitor this March, our countdown will help.

šŸŽƒ Starting 2020 budget prep in December. It can already be challenging to get a green light on the marketing budget you really need, but the odds are against you if you wait until the last minute to ask for it. Strategically plan ahead to know what marketing initiatives you want to execute in the following year, and the investment that it is going to take.

šŸŽƒ Not spending enough money on marketing. You canā€™t expect toĀ  win an Oscar with a B film budget. The average company spends 12% of its annual revenue on marketing. Below are marketing budgets by industry as reported by a Forbes poll of CMOs. You should be spending this much on your marketing if you want to see successful results!

Need help with budgeting?Ā  Check out our white paper, ā€œFive ways to set an optimal B2B marketing budget.ā€

marketing budgets

šŸŽƒ Doing things the same way because thatā€™s how youā€™ve always done them. If Nancy acted the way her friends did in A Nightmare on Elm Street, then she wouldā€™ve died too. She had to do something creative and unique to save herself.

Your marketing wonā€™t save itself, so do something about it. Staying fresh and relevant sometimes requires trying new techniques or spicing up old ones.

Whatā€™s killing your marketing?

We can define whatā€™s keeping you from the results you want and set up a plan to get you there.

Brian Shilling

Author Brian Shilling

Brian is our Executive Vice President of Client Operations with experience leading diverse teams of marketers and designers in strategic marketing, content creation, and crafting comprehensive messaging and positioning platforms for our healthcare and tech clients. To learn more about Brian's experiences and qualifications, visit our leadership team page.

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