Marketing has me all Fired Up

I've recently started a new position within the large organization I provide services to (sounds better than saying 'at my work') and I haven't quite been able to plan out my day the way I would like to.

When I arrive in the morning, there is a mountain of paperwork that needs to be entered into the system, mail that needs to be opened, and yesterday's cash out that needs to be sent to accounting. Doesn't sound like a lot of marketing does it? IT SURE DOESN'T!

Part of my new position is to handle the administrative functions of the dealership, it's not a lot but the fact that I learned these ropes within three days of hire leaves a lot of second guessing on my part. Needless to say, it takes me a little longer to get it done in order to get it right.

Once that's complete, I move on to the meat and potatoes of my career... the MARKETING!

The thought of possibly executing the next campaign to go viral excites me far beyond my own energy level. Alright, maybe I could take it down a couple of notches... not so much viral but hugely successful.

Lately, I've been doing a lot of research which has me even more fired up than I normally am (if you can believe that) Reading exercises my creative thinking, and it has been said one time or another that it unleashes innovative and original ideas. I find this particularly useful before a meeting.

Much like brainstorming, the ideas you generate must be developed in order to determine their possible effectiveness. And when you choose your next campaign, whether it be advertising, digital or mobile marketing, the only way to determine its success is through tracking.

Tracking is a whole other blog post altogether.

Advertising costs money that has likely been budgeted in the company's monthly, quarterly, or yearly overall organizational budget. Not all your efforts will cost as much as your next print ad, you may even find some of your marketing campaigns will be more public relations or concentrated online. Play up your strengths and use your resources wisely, especially if your organization is on a tight budget.

One of the most popular marketing strategies, that is slowly gaining momentum is Digital Marketing. Most people have video capabilities on their smart phones and the best videos are the ones that tell it like it is and show personality. If you do have to edit, an amateur can do it with a simple downloadable application. In this case, you avoid production costs which can be pricey. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is used to make your video rank the highest in online searches, so your next campaign can be an SEO campaign (I'll talk about this more in a later post)

You don't have to spend truck loads of money to be recognized in your industry. You do however, have to be willing to try something you may not have done in the past. And by tracking your results, you will be able to determine the success.

Of course, the old saying still goes 'You have to spend money to make money'.

By conducting research in the type of campaign you want to run, including reading on its current statistics and success level, will help support your case. As a junior level marketer in the automotive industry, I may not know everything there is to know about marketing cars but by adding my research findings with my pitch, it has my back. If we choose to go down my suggested route, then the results will support my next campaign suggestion. See how well that wheel turns - no pun intended.

There are many different avenues to explore when it comes to marketing your product or service and if you don't have a history of successes and failures for your business, then you will have to start creating them.

Failures help with the learning process, if the tactics chosen didn't give your organization a good ROI (Return On Investment) then try something else. Do your research, plan your campaign, and track your results and you'll be better equipped to execute the next campaign.