The Myth of Perfect Marketing Materials2 min read
Someone in my current Marketing Action Group shared this:
“I believe that bringing all my marketing into alignment is critical at this point. Would this be correct?”
Marketing alignment would be having a marketing message, marketing materials, website, presentation, etc. all aligned and communicating a congruent message.
How important is this?
Well, it’s certainly important, but it’s hardly your biggest marketing priority.
If it is, you may be stuck on improving, fine-tuning, and aligning your marketing materials forever, but not doing what’s the most important.
Then what’s most important?
For B2B professionals, the biggest marketing priority is reaching out, having conversations, and giving presentations.
It’s those activities that actually gain you new clients, not endlessly polishing your marketing materials.
But what if my materials are not good enough yet? you ask.
Well, I promise you, your materials will never be good enough.
I’ve been in business for 35 years and my materials are still not good enough!
I’m disappointed in my website, my marketing message, my email newsletter, my LinkedIn profile, and my presentation.
I’ll probably be working on them until the day I die or retire (whichever comes first)!
Look, I noticed some time ago that if I put in dozens or even hundreds of hours into these materials it ultimately didn’t bring in any new clients.
What brought in new clients were three very simple but powerful activities.
1. Invitations to engage with me and learn about my program/services.
2. Giving webinars or presentations that give prospects an experience of my work.
3. Meeting and having conversations with prospective clients who are considering working with me.
I think a lot of the confusion about this is thinking that you need to get your scripts, materials, presentations, sales conversations, etc. perfectly designed before you reach out and engage with prospective clients.
But it actually works out exactly the opposite.
By reaching out and engaging, you discover immediately what works and what doesn’t work.
Then you do a little fine-tuning of your materials and start reaching out again.
You’ll discover in this process that your materials will never be perfect, but that you’re starting to attract new clients anyway.
So, when it comes to your marketing materials, get them to an acceptable level.
Make them look good, proofread them, and then start using them as tools to help in your outreach and communication.
But ultimately, put the majority of your time and effort in reaching out to prospective clients, communicating, presenting, and enrolling them in your programs and services.
I’ll bet you know this is true.
I’ll also bet that you fool yourself into working endlessly on materials instead of reaching out – because it’s safer and easier.
If you want to start attracting more clients, tell the truth and go into action. Start connecting with more prospective clients today!
Cheers, Robert