It was almost exactly six years ago, sitting here at this very desk. That’s when the fog cleared and I started seeing things differently.
That’s when I started learning about marketing and copywriting.
And that’s when I started to worry about the state of the building industry…
It’s happened before, you know? About a quarter of a century ago, when I started training to be an architect. Once you’ve started learning about design and construction… you never look at another house, office building or hospital the same.
Your mind starts deconstructing whatever it is you’re looking at to make better sense of it.
So, why am I worried about our beloved building industry?
As an architect, I’ve attended more Lunch & Learns than I can count. Visited and researched 1,000s of building material websites. Stepped up to (or presented from) 100s of trade show booths.
When I was still young and fresh out of school, I didn’t pay much attention to whether these websites or presentations were any good. I was like most other architects looking for the information I wanted and ignoring the rest of it. (Or just looking for a free lunch…)
There were a few salespeople or websites over the years that stuck with me. Whether it was the flair of their presentation or the value of the information they gave me.
But, for the most part, they all blended together and were forgettable.
It wasn’t until I discovered marketing and copywriting in 2011 that I started paying attention.
Like with architecture, I started deconstructing ads and websites I was seeing. Seeing where they were missing out on opportunities to connect with me and my fellow architects. Applying everything I was learning about direct response marketing.
I also saw my colleagues were missing out. They weren’t learning about some great products and innovations in our industry. All because the presentations weren’t hitting the high notes with them. Or the marketers weren’t speaking their language.
This is why, in 2014, I started my freelance copywriting and consulting business…
To help companies find the most effective ways to communicate with prospects and leads, and connect your product or service with them. To help you find the words to highlight the benefits and advantages you and your company can bring to the table.
But… maybe I’ve got it all wrong…
Maybe what businesses want is to be able to spend that marketing budget as quickly as they can. So they can set it aside and focus on other, more important things until next year.
Maybe companies have been marketing like this for so long because they like it.
It takes the heat off them. They can show they’ve put their best foot forward by spending that marketing budget. And can point to other reasons for lackluster sales.
So, with this new clarity about what companies are looking for, I offer you:
The Best Ways to Kill Your Marketing Budget
Here are a some proven methods you can start using to kill off that pesky marketing budget so nicely your boss will thank you for all you’ve done.
Method #1: Never leave a trace
I know that sounds like something you might learn in Boy Scouts, but we’re talking about something much more devious here…
One of the best ways to get rid of your marketing budget quickly is to buy up a bunch of magazine or television ads. But to really put the screws to your funds, do NOT provide any way to track or measure your prospects’ responses to these ads.
No. You want to put together the most beautiful looking images and show off that new logo you just paid big money for. But very little else.
And you can forget about sending them to a landing page on your website to collect their name and email. Or giving them a special phone number that tells you where they heard about you.
Why is this such an effective budget-killer?
If you track and measure your results, then you’ll know what’s working. (And what isn’t.)
This could mean more work for you.
You’ll have to make those hard decisions about killing off that beautiful ad you paid so much for because it’s not bringing in the leads.
No. It’s best to leave the tracking and counting to those bean-counters. So you can keep running those glossy ads the boss likes to see and keep up appearances. that way, next year you can “rinse, wash and repeat” the same strategy.
Easy-peasy.
This email is getting a bit long, so we’ll look at couple more ways to ax that marketing budget in the next one.
Until tomorrow…
Make it a great marketing day!
Neil Sutton