Marketing : Know When to Say 'Good Enough' By Mac H McIntosh At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Rather than aiming for perfection, most marketers should go for 'good enough' in order to 'get it out there.' After all, perfection is unattainable, and many marketing campaigns spend far too long in concept, development, and materials production. Frankly, waiting for perfection will cause delays on getting your message out there. Or, even worse, your marketing message may never make it out and be delivered at all.

Consider the tips below in order to get your marketing done more quickly. Keeping these points in mind, you should have some more ideas to consider for your marketing campaign.

First, use what you have. Repurpose or refresh existing materials; instead of continually re-inventing the wheel, why not simply repurpose or refresh the materials already in existence? In reality, the reasons why a potential customer should interact with your company are usually the same as time goes on, so why not simply update the marketing materials that were successful in the past?

Focus on clarity, crafting a clear, well-honed headline and a message which offers a real solution to your prospective customer's problem. Copy which is simply clever doesn't tend to communicate as well. When writing the copy, you may consider a good 'do-it-yourself' title, "The Copywriter's Handbook" by Robert W. Bly. If you'd rather trust it to a pro, just look for someone who can do the job by searching for 'b2b copywriter' or 'direct mail copywriter' on the Internet. Always remember to use a proofreading service such as ProofReadNow to avoid those typos and grammatical errors. As an alternative to expensive give-away promotions, a compelling how-to style call to action is a good way to get prospective customers to respond.

When mailing, get personal. Start up that printer and send out some personalized letters to your prospects instead of spending time making expensive, fancy mailers. Then, use window envelopes so the address shows through, avoiding the need to address the envelopes as well. More mailing ideas include online lettershop services like MailersClub or USPS.com/netpost. Using these services to merge mail and print and mail business letters can save your company considerable time and effort. You can also use postcards as a less costly alternative. Companies like AmazingMail, ModernPostcard or TouchPointMail can help you get your postcards designed, printed and mailed cost-effectively.

Longer copy that is easier to skim works well with both prospects who prefer the details and those who wish to cut to the chase.

Sending emails to your opt-in list is another way to avoid the need to develop more costly mailers. For a comprehensive listing of email service providers, see "BtoB's Marketers Resource Guide-2006" - available at: BtoBonline. Instead of print brochures, consider printing pages from your website. To present the best business image possible from a webpage, place the pages in a glossy file folder with an imprint of your company logo. Instead of paying for custom photography, you may consider lower-cost stock photo resources such as istockphoto or Photos.

Also, be sure to keep your events simple. Instead of developing full seminars, workshops, or executive briefings, consider partnering with another organization to co-produce an event. Or, simply take some of your prospects as guests to another business event on a relevant subject.

In addition to full-time help, consider part-timers to help get the job done. If you require specialized expertise on a project by project basis, you can hire independent contractors such as copywriters, event coordinators, or designers. If you're willing to trade some experience for a bit of enthusiasm, you may consider hiring an intern or two from a local university or college.

Know when good enough really is good enough. Next time you realize you are obsessing over how to make your marketing simply perfect, instead think about just what makes your message good enough to get out there sooner rather than later. After all, nobody can respond to your message if it doesn't reach them in time.

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