Throw a pebble into the ocean and what do you get? It produces ripples, correct? Would you expect those ripples to continue to grow until they became larger and larger waves, eventually becoming a tidal wave that toppled boats and smashed into shores with destructive force? That would be an absurd expectation from one small pebble tossed into the deep blue sea. Yet that is the kind of expectation that many have of a single marketing tactic. Throw it in the marketplace and it will produce a tidal wave of sales.

Marketing doesn’t work like that. For marketing to be successful, it has to be consistent and persistent. Consistency comes in the form of a well thought out and cleverly crafted plan that includes items like a good brand, a catchy positioning statement, and a call to action in the form of an enticing hook. Persistency is all about frequency and using multiple mediums. When marketing is working well, the consistent message is delivered by means of different tactical mediums. We live in a world of new technology and it is enticing to think you can just use one medium, like social media, and it will take care of all your marketing needs. But the reality is, we are all surrounded by advertising all the time. You will be buried if you just use one medium. Part of being persistent is delivering your marketing message in many different forms.

For instance, let’s say you were selling spicy salsa and chips. You have come up with a creative logo and have branded your products the "Chips O’ Fire.” You have a slogan: "Are you brave enough for this spicy salsa?” You might have a tasting event at a local market. How would you get customers to come to this market to try your chips and salsa? You could send out a tweet on Twitter "Free chips & salsa at ABC Market today@areyoubraveenuf #chipsofire.” Would that be enough to get people to your tasting event? What other mediums might you need? Signage at the event? Definitely. What about printed flyers and coupons, email marketing, ads in the market’s newspaper insert? Don’t forget about a web site. That tweet needs a place to link. You might even venture to do your own video to promote your event. To be effective in marketing, you need multiple mediums promoting your product, all with the same message.

Does that sound like a big money pit to you? You are not alone. For many, they don’t look at marketing as throwing pebbles in the ocean, it's more like hundred dollar bills! Marketing comes with a price tag, no doubt. But you should consider two things: marketing is an investment in your business and nothing gets sold without it. You might want to take me to task on these statements. Let's take a look at both of them in reverse order. First, nothing is sold without marketing. You might have built your business on your network of customers and knocking on a lot of doors. You may have a posse of sales reps that sell, sell, sell. You may tell me you have never spent one dime on marketing to grow your business. I would tell you that you are marketing whether you know it or not. Before someone ever tries your products or services, they have to become aware of what you are selling. That awareness is a component of marketing. After they tried your product or service for the first time, they had to be convinced that you were good enough to use again. That retention process is also part of marketing. You may not have used the traditional advertising mediums, but you have marketed your wares if you have made any sales. Take a client to lunch, play a round of golf, talk about their needs and how your product can solve their problems, hand them a business card, ask them to give you a try and you are marketing. Using broader marketing mediums just allows you to reach more of your target audience than you will be able to do one-on-one as a sales rep.

So what about the investment part of marketing. How can you tell if you are getting any ROI for your marketing dollars? If you are planning well, you are measuring the success of your marketing tactics. Back to our salsa and chips event, did anyone retweet our message? Did anyone look at our e-blast? Did anyone come to the event? How did they hear about it? Did they recognize the brand when they got there? And the most important question of all, did they buy our chips and salsa after they tried it? All of those items are a measurement of how your investment is working for you. Much like a ticker on the stock exchange will let you know how your financial portfolio is doing, there are tools to find out just how much of an impact your marketing is having on your customers and prospects.