Don’t Spread Your Marketing Message Too Thin

It’s a not-so-often-heard-of idiom called the “Raspberry Jam Rule”: The wider you spread it, the thinner it gets. This particularly applies to marketing in that the broader the audience you attempt to reach, the weaker the impact.

When engaging with new clients, we take the time to get to know each of them, their business goals, their marketing goals, and their key audiences. In response to our query about their target customers or clients, they sometimes state that they want everyone to hear about them.

But do they? Really? And does “everyone” really need to hear about them? Highly unlikely.

As you enter into the next quarter – for many organizations the last quarter of the year – and begin planning for the year ahead (or for the second half of a fiscal year), make a decision now to review your target audiences to determine if you’re marketing to an ever-growing audience type. Scope creep, especially in times of economic downturn, can be dangerous for businesses as they try to be more things to more people. Additionally, utilizing valuable marketing resources (both people and funds) to spread the “jam too thin” is a dangerous business philosophy.

It may seem counterproductive to minimize rather than expand the number of people you want/need to reach to meet your business objectives. However, if you spend those dollars and streamline the marketing efforts to further focus your efforts on your primary audiences and/or industries, you’ll find the outcomes significantly more impactful.

Next, determine the right mix of marketing strategies to connect with those audiences. Similar to the Raspberry Jam Rule, not all marketing efforts are met with the same success so streamline, integrate, and leverage your activities. What does that mean?

• Streamline. Identify those efforts that meet your target audiences where they are at, not where you want to spend marketing dollars.
• Integrate. Individuals get their information in several ways, so use more than one tactic (up to three is usually best) per audience type. Use consistent messaging for these audience so they hear about you through several avenues such as advertising, influencers, media stories and social media.
• Leverage. Utilize your marketing message to work for you. Did you have an awesome story in the media? Share it on your website, in your customer newsletter and on your social media platforms. Have a great review by a client? Use that (with their permission, of course) in your collateral, online and on a referral board. No need to make up new tactics when you and leverage existing ones.

Let’s face it, we all want a bite of that jam sandwich, but the only way it truly tastes good is if you can actually taste that yummy fruit flavor. Focus, streamline and call Chartwell Agency for assistance to help you identify your key audiences and make the most of your marketing efforts.