Marketing Myth #6: Doing something is better than nothing
No, no, no. I totally disagree - primarily on the basis that most decisions to 'do something' are taken on the hoof, reacting to an opportunity, without having done the thinking that will ensure the 'something' is targeted and executed well. I'm talking about price changes, new product innovations and 'not to be missed' advertising opportunities in magazines, papers and directories that your customers never read!
My other reason for saying no to doing something rather than nothing is that marketing tends to be about the longer term. Decisions and actions taken now could take weeks or even months to fully pay off and, customers being complex creatures, you need to allow for knock on effects (or what you might call integrated marketing). Unless you have the ground work in place to allow your business to react intelligently to last minute offers, the best answer is no. A bargain is not a bargain if it is something you never needed in the first place!
In most cases the worst that will happen is you will have wasted time and money and seen no return. But the worst could be that you attract interest for the wrong reasons and damage your brand and reputation in your marketplace. Or what if you are too successful - can you handle the fallout from disappointing customers who may never return? A nice problem to have maybe but one that will need a considered response not just muddling through.
Maybe you believe there's no such thing as bad publicity? Tell that to some of the big brands that have failed to manage their PR properly and have lost market share. Perrier Water struggled to recover from its mishandling of the Benzene scare in the 1990s, and Hoover have the dubious honour of presiding over one of the greatest marketing disasters of all time. You may remember it. In 1992 they launched a promotion to shift a backlog of vacuum cleaners and washing machines gathering dust in the warehouse, which ended up costing the company £48m and dragging their name through the dirt.
For you the stakes may not be as high, but the lesson remains the same. Don't be reactive be proactive and plan your marketing thoroughly to increase your changes of success. When resources are limited, be that time or money, it makes even more sense to take considered decisions on how you use them. When (not if) you do your marketing plan you will do the analysis and thinking that will increase your understanding of your customers and market. Armed with this knowledge you will be better placed to make instant decisions and take advantage of those 'not to be missed' offers, with greater chance of success!
