Today, choosing how to effectively communicate can feel like drinking from a firehose. There are simply too many platforms for marketing your message. More often than not, the overabundance of choice makes us catatonic, unable to take any steps because we don’t know which step to take first.
If you feel stuck in this situation, this Mini Marketing Moment story might be just what you need.
Find a brand platform (singular, not plural)
The beauty of working in the digital age is that you can measure everything. That means you can put your brand message on Facebook, and measure it. Then put it out in Adwords, and measure the response. Then follow suit in Youtube, or Linkedin.
What you don’t want to do is choose all these platforms (and the dozen more viable options out there) at the same time. You simply won’t be able to parse the information you receive in a sensible way.
My advice, if you absolutely want to go plural? Try one platform, tweak to a point where you feel it’s performing, then try another. We did this working with a client – first we got Facebook to a happy place, then went with Adwords, and discovered our work in Facebook had only produced suboptimal results.
Know your audience? They know their brand platform.
It should go without saying that certain audiences consume media on certain platforms. Seniors aren’t rushing to Instagram. Millennials aren’t reading the Economist (wait, is anybody reading the Economist?)
I’m always surprised to see personal bias slip into brand platform decisions. You aren’t your audience. Make sure your message appears where they are, not where you are.
When it doubt, just do something
Again, it comes back to measuring. Putting your message somewhere is almost always better than putting your message nowhere. The results may surprise you – and if not, the measured results will educate you.
Business leaders today aren’t being hired for what they know – they’re being hired for their willingness to learn. The world of media is simply moving too fast to claim guru status when it comes to choosing the ‘right’ brand platform. Besides, a little experimentation keeps us all nimble and interested.
Want more stories like this? Check out:
- Make testimonials work for your brand
- Generate free LinkedIn business leads (the one coffee method)
- You’re not a commodity brand. Now prove it.
If you’re building a brand, read my book BrandDIY first.
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