Welcome to the first in a quadrilogy of articles dedicated to UK Heart Month throughout the month of February. Here, we look at some healthy marketing strategies to keep your marketing health in tip-top shape.
Why are healthy marketing strategies important?
Every year, the British Heart Foundation declares the month of February as National Heart Month in the UK. They use this time to increase awareness of various health and circulatory conditions and to urge people to help improve their heart health. This is a great month to aim for regular exercise, eat healthy and focus on ways to improve your physical wellbeing.
What better time to look at some healthy marketing strategies to support the health of your marketing effort?
Examples of healthy marketing strategies
Whether the focus is on health or on healthy marketing, they both need maintenance to keep them in good shape. Doing the same you have always done, doing nothing at all or not giving it enough time are all common pitfalls. Here are some healthy marketing strategies to consider:
- Healthy digital but not always a digital-only strategy – Remember that traditional marketing methods have their place and generally yield a healthier return.
- Experiences keep business healthy – Poor user experiences, long waiting times or bad manners can all impact retention (they have a choice) and increase cost of sales.
- Neuroscience keeps things in check – Amazing creative, top verbiage and blockbuster campaigns need a neuroscience health check (analysis) to keep them performing.
- Reduce the pressure and transform your marketing – Make sure that your team has the resources, tools and bandwidth to meet stretching goals with a little transformation.
Healthy digital but not always digital-only
What is a healthy digital strategy? Whereas you may use a pedometer or fitness tracking app to measure exercise during Heart Month, how do you know if you have a healthy digital strategy? We put that question to our founder who said that “a healthy digital strategy is like any marketing strategy; it starts with a solid logic to achieve your marketing goals and a healthy dose of planning to deliver it”.
But should you go digital-only? Well, that depends on your business model, your value proposition, your competitors and personas. A digital-only strategy is very much the focus of most of the ‘disruptive’ players in various markets. Think BooHoo in retail, Monzo in banking or Mojeek in search. According to a report by KPMG, eCommerce represents the highest percentage of disruptive companies.
Were you aware that brochures, leaflets, magazines and catalogues can be printed with anti-bacterial properties in their coatings? There goes the obvious reason to ditch printed materials.
A dose of traditional marketing
Aside from all the ‘exciting’ new innovations and disruptive business models, there remains a significant market outside of Generation Z. Gen Z accounts for around 1 in 5 of the population and most are ‘digital natives’. However, research by the ONS shows that the percentage of people aged over 65 years old will increase by 50% to 1 in 4 people by 2038 (from 1 in 6 in 1998).
If your target market isn’t Gen Z and you follow your 7 P’s of Marketing in a traditional approach, you may still benefit from direct mail. Yes, despite a slight reduction due to the pandemic, the direct mail open rate can still be as high as 90%. If you compare this to email with an open rate ranging from 15-25%, you can see the logic. The ‘baby boomers’ are more likely to be reached with direct mail than email.
Better still, an Ofcom report suggests that about half of 65-74-year-olds have social media profiles. Social media ads anyone? Micro-influencers? Time to get your Product advertising in the right Place to the target People with effective Promotion.
Coming up next to get your marketing healthy
Over the next three weeks, our team will take a look at experiences, neuroscience and transformation. And the reason? From customer exasperation to board consternation to team frustration, none of these are good for the heart. Hassle, pressure and tension don’t make happy customers, contented boards or fulfilled and productive marketing teams.
Also, we have a treat in store for a Valentine’s Day special feature (a small clue, it involves love and marketing). You’ll have to wait and see what that one is all about but we are sure you’ll love it (excuse the pun). One of our favourite articles was how to love your leads back in 2019 – oh, how time flies.
Who are we and what do we do?
Think Beyond is a management consultancy that offers everything from a marketing audit to a full-blown transformation programme. We pride ourselves on finding the right solution for your business and delivering marketing with a minimum of fuss. Our team includes everything from creatives and copywriters to developers and neuroscientists. In summary, we have you covered with a single point of contact.
If you would like to find out more about our services, simply call 01565 632206 or email sales@think-beyond.co.uk. We also have a range of strategy consulting services.
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