Did you know... There are more than 73 Marketing Tools & Tactics
Every time we turn around, the world of marketing evolves and there is a new platform or tactic capturing your audience's attention. According to DigitalMarketer, there are 73 marketing activities you can use to help potential customers find you, convert and grow into raving fans.
Whether it's a tactic of content marketing, digital media, traditional advertising, email marketing, or any of the other disciplines, most businesses have tried a countless number of tactics only to jump from platform to platform or tactic to tactic.
It can feel overwhelming at times trying to keep up to date with each new evolution in the world of marketing.
Shiny Object Syndrome
The list of potential marketing activities can be overwhelming. At times, there are so many tools available that developing Shiny Object Syndrome is almost inevitable.
Do any of these sound familiar?
- You develop goals but never see them through to completion because you've jumped to another goal
- You jump from one platform to another, drawn by the wild claims of each platform (Tiktok, Snapchat, Clubhouse, etc)
- You have a list of business generating ideas but nothing gets fully executed
If so, you may have Shiny Object Syndrome. Shiny Object Syndrome is the tendency to chase something new, be it a new idea, trend, or goal, rather than to stay focused.
Shiny Object Syndrome is impossible to overcome if you don't have a documented plan.
What Shiny Object Syndrome Costs You
It never feels like a mistake when it happens. It feels like initiative.
You hear a podcast on Monday about a new platform. By Wednesday you have an account, a logo uploaded, and three posts scheduled. By the following month you have stopped logging in. Meanwhile the email list you already had, full of people who know you, has not heard from you since spring.
Add up a year of that. Say you try six new tactics. Each one gets about 15 hours of setup, learning, and early posting before you drop it. That is 90 hours. More than two full work weeks, spread across six things that never ran long enough to produce a result.
Now put those same 90 hours into one channel. That is almost two hours a week, every week, for a year. Enough to send a useful email every week, or to have real conversations with a dozen prospects a month. One of those paths compounds. The other resets to zero every eight weeks.
The cost is bigger than the hours. Every abandoned tactic teaches your team that marketing is something you start and do not finish.
The Growth Trio
We help our clients implement the growth trio with the goal of providing a formula and framework for predictable growth. The Growth trio is made up of the documented journey, client transformation, plus tools and tactics.
Most companies may have 1 or 2 of these going for them. Most do not have all 3. When you only have 2 working, you can see where the overlap happens.
The overlap may be:
Stuck in the Van: You know where you’re going, but you don’t have the tools or gas to get there.
Mosh Pit: A flurry of activity…
One Hit Wonder: Tactics work until they don’t…
Where does your business fall in this framework?
Three Questions Before You Add Anything New
You do not have to ignore every new idea. You need a filter that is faster than your enthusiasm. Before any new tactic or product gets your time, run it through these three questions.
- Are our best clients there? Think of five real clients by name. Would they see this? If you cannot picture them using it, stop here.
- Who owns it, and for how many hours a week? A name and a number. "The team" is not a name. If nobody has the hours, the answer is no for now.
- What comes off the list to make room? Every yes costs something. Decide what you will stop doing before you start.
Three yes answers and you can run a test. Anything less goes on a "later" list that you review once a quarter. Most of what lands on that list will look a lot less urgent in 90 days.
The filter also takes the heat out of team debates. When someone comes back from a conference excited about a new channel, nobody has to argue about whether the idea is good. You walk through the three questions together and the answer is usually obvious within five minutes.
And when something does pass, treat it as a test with an end date. Give it a quarter, a named owner, and one number to hit. At the end you keep it or you cut it. Nothing lingers half alive.
Developing a Marketing Plan
We know that if you had all the time in the world and no other responsibilities, you would have a plan. You know where you want your business to grow. You have tools and tactics you want to try. There are metrics you know you need to measure. Now we need to put that in writing. It doesn't need to be pretty, rather it just needs to be documented.
Not sure where to start? We can help. It's our core belief that every business deserves Rockstarr Marketing.
At Rockstarr & Moon, we empower aspiring rockstarr business owners to SUCCESSFULLY START, BUILD, AND GROW their business so that they can create the lives they’ve dreamed of for themselves, their families, and their communities.
We are the small business partner who can help you develop a plan, advise on tactics, provide playbooks for overcoming challenges, document the journey and most importantly, help you define which metrics matter.
Choose the Tactic First, Then the Tool
Most of the mess we see starts in the wrong order. Someone buys a subscription and then goes looking for a way to use it.
Reverse it. Start with the result you want. Then pick the tactic. Then, last, pick the tool that makes the tactic easier.
It sounds like this. "We want 10 more consultations a month. Our best source has always been past clients. So the tactic is a monthly email to past clients with one useful idea and one invitation to talk. Now, what do we need to send that?" At that point the tool choice is simple, and you may find you already pay for something that does the job.
Do an audit while you are at it. List every marketing subscription on the company card. Next to each, write the tactic it supports and who used it in the last 30 days. Anything with a blank in either column is a candidate to cancel.
A short stack you use every week beats a long one you forgot you had. If you are comparing options, our rundown of digital marketing technologies for small businesses covers the main categories.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a marketing tool and a marketing tactic? A marketing tactic is the action you take to reach buyers, and a marketing tool is the product that helps you carry it out. Sending a monthly email to past clients is a tactic. The email service you send it through is the tool. Tactics should be chosen first, because a tool without a tactic produces nothing.
How do I choose the right marketing tactics for my business? Choose tactics by looking at where your best existing clients came from and doing more of that. Pick one or two you can sustain every week with the people and hours you actually have. A simple tactic done consistently for a year will outperform five that each last a month.
How do I stop chasing every new marketing trend? Stop chasing trends by writing down a short marketing plan and requiring every new idea to pass a filter before it gets time. Ask whether your best clients are there, who will own it, and what you will stop doing to make room. Park everything else on a list you review quarterly.
What is the biggest mistake businesses make with marketing tools? The biggest mistake is buying tools before deciding what they are for. That leads to a stack of subscriptions nobody logs into and no clear link to revenue. Decide the result you want and the tactic to get there, then choose the simplest tool that supports that one tactic.
How long should I try a marketing tactic before giving up on it? Give a marketing tactic about 90 days of consistent, weekly effort before deciding whether to keep it. Shorter than that and you are usually measuring your setup period, with too little activity to judge. If you did the work for a full quarter and it produced no conversations, replace it.