Have you ever thrown pasta against the wall to see if it sticks? If it sticks to the wall, you have cooked it long enough. If it does not stick, you need to cook it more. The real problem with this technique is that overcooked spaghetti sticks to the walls too! Pasta should be cooked al dente, or firm to the bite, so the more it cooks the gummier it gets and if it sticks to the wall it’s probably overdone. In marketing, your strategy is the pasta. Throwing everything at the wall and hoping something will stick it not the best strategy … and customers won’t “bite”.
Many people approach their marketing strategy this way and throw all their tools and resources at once, such as:
- Websites
- Blogs
- Social media (i.e. Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.)
- Delicious/Social Bookmarketing
- Surveys and feedback widgets
- White papers
- eBooks
- Infographics
- RSS feeds
- Direct email
- Google AdWords
- YouTube videos
- Press releases and public relations
- Trying to get on news or talk shows
- Etc.
Though, this doesn’t work without a defined and targeted strategy and vision for what you want to achieve and how you want to help your clients.
Today’s business owner needs to know how to leverage today’s online tools and technology to stay competitive and relevant. Most people start their buying decisions online: reviews, conversations about products or services on social media, blogs from industry experts, recommendations from previous purchases, Pinterest boards, and more. If you’re not part of that search, you’re sending valuable leads to your competition!
Carefully hand pick your “ingredients” from the long list of online marketing strategies and planned a “recipe” for success. Create an online community with social media, blogs and ‘How-to’ articles to enable customers to help each other and resolve the majority of their problems. Concentrate on what your social media audience wants instead of what you want. This will help you stay ahead of your competition and drive more visitors to your website in time.
In conclusion, “spaghetti on the wall” is a trial and error method – try something to see what works. Well, it doesn’t work. Your time matters! Don’t spend too much time on ineffective methods that will just leave your pasta overcooked. Rather, streamline your online marketing efforts, target your approach and learn how much time is really needed to make it “al dente”… the correct way.
Click here for additional reading on 6 Fundamentals for Succeeding at Online Marketing.
This blog was written by our staff writers. If you are looking for a solid digital marketing strategy, contact us today for a free consultation, we are here to help! Follow @cogomojo on Twitter, the COGO Interactive Company Page on LinkedIn, and subscribe to our blog, for more tips and resources. Thank you for reading! Your support is very much appreciated.
