“Our marketing is what we can get to on a Friday afternoon.” A founder recently said this to me, and he’s not alone. That’s the case with many startups when it comes to marketing consistency.
I hear him. I save my should-do and need-to-do tasks for Friday. In my head, I always think I’ll be able to create that master spreadsheet of resources, the measurement formulas, or those fantastic blog posts on a Friday afternoon. It’s this imaginary time that I think is sacred and mine — the time before the family gets home, the house gets loud and the much-needed glass of wine is poured.
In reality, I can probably count on one hand when that has actually happened in my career. Sorry, blog posts and spreadsheets. Fridays can be full of fire drills, hitting deadlines, and running to capture that customer before the weekend starts. It’s probably the worst time to focus on a major part of your business.
Marketing can’t just be a Friday afternoon task. But how can you break the cycle and develop marketing consistency? With drumbeat marketing.
Drumbeat marketing is about building your brand and getting your message out there. It’s important for both startups and their talented folks to create and deliver consistently.
5 Steps to Marketing Consistency
Marketing can’t be one-and-done. Here are five steps you can take to make it a regular part of your business:
- Your startup’s marketing strategy should start with your messaging. What are you trying to say? Where will you say it? At York IE, we start with a messaging hierarchy. We work with startup founders to put it on paper — or, in today’s world, a shared Google Doc — that defines who you are, what you do, how you do it, and who you do it for. Take the time, do it and finalize it.
- Put your messaging into motion. Update your social channels, share with your employees, post it on the wall. Then drive points of view from your messaging hierarchy and keep telling your story.
- Look for others to tell your story: customer wins, partnerships, awards, and placed content are all opportunities to put your message out there.
- Map out your strategy and build a timeline to give yourself accountability. What can you focus on now? Next month? How can you keep the momentum building?
- Repeat it. All the time. Until you’re blue in the face.
Marketing is not just writing a blog post on a Friday afternoon, but doing things with a purpose that become part of your regular workday. When there is so much your startup has to do, you can’t afford to let marketing be an afterthought.
That’s why drumbeat marketing works. It’s the consistency: establishing the messaging, putting it into practice, and creating moments for your company.
For more insights on marketing consistency, watch this episode of Entrepreneurs United with York IE CEO Kyle York:
