It has been said that every day, your business is either gaining market share or it is losing it. Unfortunately, losing market share doesn’t take much effort. Your competitors will be more than happy to assist you. At this very moment, they may be working on biting into your market share with new pricing strategies, new technology or introducing additional products. They may be better at continuous advertising by defining their marketing efforts, finding ways to expand their profits and cut into yours.
Wouldn’t it be far better if YOU had the plan, tactics and strategy to improve your market share? The answer may lie in developing an effective, pro-active marketing plan of continuous advertising.
But your desk is already full. There are staff issues, supply chain problems and increasing vendor costs. Who has time, knowledge or resources to implement a continuous advertising plan? While it does take expertise, focus, and monitoring, the benefits can be substantial. There is also help available.
Revisiting Continuous Advertising
An article in the “Harvard Business Review” entitled “Getting the Most out of Advertising and Promotion”, the author makes several excellent points. The first is that, until relatively recently, advertising was largely a matter of faith. Teams of marketers would research media outlets and platforms, assess, create and implement a plan that appears to make sense. Today, especially with digital marketing, results are much more accountable.
The article also points out that far too often a marketing campaign or flight is given credit for total sales through a campaign. In fact, a percentage of those sales would have occurred anyway. What should be measured is the incremental increase in sales.
This is causing companies to reassess their marketing efforts and to review the two basic forms of advertising approaches used by major corporations today.
Two Broad Forms of Continuous Advertising
Marketers generally use two broad forms of advertising, “flight” advertising and “continuous” advertising. Each has its own place in the world of marketing and they each can be valuable in certain situations.
Flight advertising is shorter-term advertising designed to generate immediate results. This is what can make it dangerously attractive. Marketers create and invest in a “campaign”, and leads and orders should follow. The problem is that momentum is frequently short-term and another “flight” will need to be created. The cycle can be time-consuming and have minimal long-term impact.
Benefits and Importance of Continuous Advertising
Advertising, marketing, and sales are built on momentum. In flight advertising, a six-month campaign will have the majority of funds spent in the first two months. The campaign will dwindle as time passes. It relies on the momentum of those first months to carry it through completion, where momentum often stops. In continuous advertising, the focus is consistently and constantly building brand recognition and name awareness. Efforts are spent on building the advertiser as the expert in their field, so when consumers are ready to make a purchase, they will turn to the marketer who continuously advertises and keeps their name up front.
The momentum is not unlike a freight train. In flight advertising, the coal is shoveled into the boiler until the train builds up speed, and then is allowed to coast. Unfortunately, the train eventually stops and the work must begin again. With continuous advertising, you build momentum more gradually, with a goal to keep it moving ahead more efficiently for the long-term.
How to Continuously Advertise
Continuous advertising starts with an assessment of your target market, unique selling propositions and marketing platform options including paid search choices and digital ads. You will need to build your reputation as an expert with content marketing, including blogs and social media. This will also serve to organically improve your search engine results and SEO efforts. Of course, you will want a plan that is results focused and accountable.
Continuous marketing is so effective because it is built on a solid foundation. The target market is well identified and platforms for reaching that market are researched and selected. Rather than making a sale, a goal of continuous marketing is to build a customer base.
While a one-time customer who buys once may be worth $100, one who refers two others who refer two others can be worth five. Continuous advertising also builds brand name recognition and awareness. This can add to the overall worth of the company.
Flight advertising may generate sales. Continuous advertising builds companies. In essence, flight advertising is an expense. Continuous advertising is an investment. See how you can make better advertising investments in your company.
