The art of being brave

Marketing and advertising like any business disciplines have always evolved. The way products and services have been promoted has changed over the decades with new channels such as Radio, TV and the Internet becoming available to marketers over the last 50 years. Innovation has also been applied to mature channels with techniques and tactics being refined and redefined to ensure that the returns being made are increased or at least held constant.

2011 is no exception to the rule, other than the changes and the rules are now not in decades but in years and more often in months. Technology is the driver for this and new developments with mobile, web and apps are occurring on a regular basis and when social media marketing is added to the mix it is clear that the amount of knowledge a marketer needs to have is growing by the day.

It is possible to sit back and do nothing and in part this is the right approach as if you just dive into everything in one go and keep constantly changing and following new trends just because they are there you will struggle to give a clear message to anybody let alone those you are trying to engage with. A lot of action can result in total confusion!

So what is the art of being brave?

Believing in your brand, your products and/or services is a start, because if you do not believe in them no one else will. Having a clear approach to how you promote, market and advertise is essential and if this is based around a solid strategy with clear measurement and success criteria in place this can help you focus where your activity should be focused.

There are however 4 key areas to being brave:

Listen - the art of listening is often forgotten in this day of shouting from the roof tops, but listening is the most informative area of marketing just as it is in selling. Stop for a while and listen to the issues being talked about and learn, then respond and answer the concerns of your potential customers.

Wait - doing nothing is not a viable long term strategy but don’t do something just for the sake of it, or because others are doing it. Wait for the right opportunity and then act in a manner different from your competitors.

Different - advertising needs to be compelling, different and interesting. Too many businesses and brands just do the same thing year in year out and wonder why their marketing does not really give a return. Let your marketing be different, if everyone else is being funny be straight, if your competitors only do trade shows go to ones they do not attend.

Simple - is best, don’t try to say everything at once keep your advertising and marketing messages simple, far to many companies try to say everything in one advert or flyer but the brave and most successful advertisers stick with one message and a call to action where more can be revealed.

So don’t rush in and do everything at once, and don’t do nothing for ever, but plan, attack and deliver!