Sporadic marketing is a common problem for many small business owners. Tracy Heatley talks about the perils of, what she refers to as, Sporadic Marketing Syndrome. This can cause havoc with marketing success and result in marketing mayhem. Tracy gives actionable tips that small businesses can implement to avoid marketing mayhem and reap the rewards of small business marketing success!
Here is the written transcript of the Avoiding Marketing Mayhem Podcast episode.
Introduction
Hi, I’m Chartered Marketer, Tracy Heatley, and I thank you for listening to my Be Better With Tracy Heatley podcast.
This episode is all about avoiding marketing mayhem. One of the biggest problems that all my marketing mentoring clients faced, before they started working with me was sporadic marketing. Amongst other marketing challenges, every single one of them had this problem. 
Sporadic marketing results in inconsistency and potential marketing mayhem, and that’s specifically what we want to avoid. So, I thought I’d talk to you about this, and give you some things to watch out for and avoid. Also, to share with you some tips on getting things on the right track.
Firstly, let me assure you that it’s highly likely that every small business has suffered from what I’m going to refer to as Sporadic Marketing Syndrome. There we go, I’ve just diagnosed the problem.
Sporadic Marketing Syndrome
When I refer to Sporadic Marketing Syndrome, I’m talking specifically about when you have blasts and spurts of marketing activity, without any direction or focus. When you wait until sales revenues drop or you know a decrease in sales revenue is about to happen, so you start doing some marketing. This is a bit like treading water. You know you need to do it, and if you don’t you might sink, so it’s almost done out of desperation and fear, rather than a sustained and continuous plan. Obviously, I don’t mean literally, you will sink, but you get the idea.
Sporadic marketing also applies when you’re doing marketing because you have the time right now, but you know full well that when you get busy again, you start selling more products, or you win some new contracts, you know full well that you’ll back off and get embroiled in the business functionality once more. That’s sporadic marketing and a sure path to Marketing Mayhem.
It’s difficult, isn’t it, as a small business owner, to find that balance between consistent marketing and keeping the business functioning, managing your team, dealing with operations, finance and all the rest of it. I get it! I’m a small business owner, too, so believe me, I feel your pain!
That said, it’s no good for you, your team, or your business to suffer the consequences of sporadic marketing. I think that’s part of the reason why my marketing mentoring services has become so popular and effective. Because I’m keeping my clients on track with clarity, focus, direction, and importantly consistency. Consistency with your marketing is crucial.
Steps You Can Take
Whether you have a marketing mentor, like me, or not, there as still some simple steps you can take to avoid marketing mayhem and master the art of consistency. Especially, if you’re someone who doesn’t require external verification, from someone else, in order to move forward.
Let me think of an analogy to clarify my points. Let’s use the analogy of a roller coaster. You’ll know, if you’ve ever watched a roller coaster, or you’ve been on one, that it starts of slow, then it weaves up and down and round the bends, until it comes to a complete halt. That’s a bit like sporadic marketing. Except, when you get off the ride, the problems don’t stop there. Sticking with the rollercoaster analogy, if you have sporadic marketing going up and down and round the bends, you can be sure that at some point, your sales revenue will follow a similar track. Sporadic marketing, results in marketing mayhem. Marketing mayhem ultimately results in peaks and dips in sales revenue.
So let’s focus on five key steps that you can take to avoid marketing mayhem:
- Do your marketing groundworks – assess your marketplace and your competitors. Don’t underestimate the importance of this. Knowledge is power!
- Understand your target audience by getting to know them. Who are they, how old are they, where are they, how do they buy, how will you reach them, and what are their requirements. Understanding is strength!
- Develop key marketing messages that your target audience needs to hear. Not what you think they need to hear. Exactly what they need to hear. Make sure you know what that is. Clarity is crucial!
- Write a plan of action that includes who, what, why, when and where you will reach out to your target audience. This might mean adding in additional smaller plans, within your larger action plan. Things like having social media plans or blog plans, for examples. Planning is success! Prioritise the time to do this!
- Take consistent action! – Consistent marketing equals consistent success! Don’t let things fall by the wayside. You must be consistent! Consistency is King when it comes to small business marketing success.
Ending
I hope these tips will help you avoid marketing mayhem, gain clarity, and help you get the results you desire.
For more top business, marketing, and networking tips, check out my other episodes and make sure that you’ve subscribed too. There are also a good selection of blogs on my website, too, which is wwwtracyheatley.com
If you leave me a positive review on Apple, Audible or Google, I’ll add you to my monthly competition to win free one hour marketing online mentoring session with me.
My name’s Tracy Heatley and I thank you for listening to my Be Better With Tracy Heatley podcast.
Better Business, Better You!
