How to plan for long term success but with short term wins
How to plan for long term success but with short term wins
There’s uncertainty in the air and sales will take a hit. A decrease in construction contracts is forecast, there’s reduced output and a lower demand are factors that are forcing businesses to make tough decisions.
One such decision is the marketing budget and the allocation of resources to promote your business and communicate with your audience. It is often an easy decision to cut a marketing budget, but what will the long-term impact be?
Marketing during economic uncertainty
Data2Decisions, a leading econometric modelling consultancy, conducted a study which showed the short-term gains of reducing costs is far outweighed by the reduction of profits over the following four year period, and also a reduction in brand trust.
But what does this mean?
Put simply, businesses that continue to invest in their marketing will flourish (if done effectively). They will have loyal a customer-base, as well as taking market share from competitors. Their brand will be strong within the marketplace, and when the economy picks up again they will be at the forefront of their customers’ minds.
How do you plan for the long-term vision but still achieve short-term wins?
Common practices during an uncertain economic climate include cutting marketing costs and competing on price with their competitors.
Sure, this may bring in temporary benefits and ‘quick wins’ with a slight pick-up in sales and reduced outgoings. But what does this strategy tell your customers?
More than likely it will tell your customers your products or services are worth less and bring less value to your customers. It also implies that a business has lost momentum, and if marketing budgets are cut there’s less communication, and brands fall by the wayside.
So what is the solution?
Long-term and short-term growth are connected, but it’s important to know that long-term growth isn’t just achieved by adding up a series of short-term wins.
Create long-term plans for your business, so where do you want to be in 6 to 12 months’ time? Then create a framework which breaks down how you are going to achieve it.
A key marketing activity which will feature throughout is content and how you communicate it to your audience. We hear the phrase “content won’t sell my products” a lot, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Content will help to start conversations with new and existing customers. Tell your story and tell your audience how you can help solve their problems. That’s what they want to know and hear. They don’t necessarily want to hear about a new product or a new service, they want the value and what it brings to them.
This done on a consistent basis will ensure long-term growth, as it will strengthen your relationship with new and existing customers. But how do you achieve short-term wins and sales success? Focus on your audience’s pain points and problems, then create a schedule in how you can help.
Then as part of your short-term framework, decide how best to communicate your content. Does your audience engage and open emailshots? Are they active over social media? Do they find your website through Google searches?
The answer is they probably do all of the above, it is ensuring you ‘hit’ them over a multiple of channels so your brand influences your audience on a regular basis. This increases trust, which then increases the likelihood that they will want to do business with you.
This demonstrates that the best investment for your business is on your brand. This is supported by a study by Citibank which found that companies with well-known brands outperform the market by between 15 and 20% over a 15-year period.
What next?
If you would like to discuss how to focus on long-term growth with short-term wins, talk to us. We are construction marketing specialists who understand the key drivers in the construction and interiors sectors.
The next 6 to 12 months will be hugely challenging with unprecedented levels of uncertainty, but to give you the best chance of thriving is to create a long-term plan, broken down into short-term actions to bring consistent growth.
Time54 can help you create a clear plan, then decide on the best way to achieve such plan and bring short-term sales successes to your business.
We help businesses create long-term communications engineered for immediate success.
Time54 is a specialist marketing agency that works exclusively with building product manufacturers within the construction industry.
We can build your brand awareness and authority through strategic and tactical marketing that leads to specification inclusion.
Time54 works with and has helped many building and interiors companies raise their awareness in the marketplace and increase their specification inclusion on numerous projects.
We are a specialist building and interiors marketing agency and help brands to:
- Increase specification.
- Influence architects.
- Build authority.
If you are interested in how we can help your business target architects and grow through specification led marketing, get in touch to organise a Power Hour zoom meeting.
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