What do zombies and good marketing have in common? A lot, actually... and being that Halloween is around the corner, I thought I would take the time to tie some of my favorite things about zombies to some of my favorite things about marketing.
I've talked before about how important it is to have the right marketing objectives in order for you to realize true ROI with the resources you invest in it. How about we take it a step further?
The thing about zombies and good marketing is that they're not just wandering around aimlessly and without purpose. They actually have very specific goals in mind. Sure, with zombies, the goal is to eat you, but they'll do anything they can to do it.
Your marketing should be just as committed to its goals, and stop at nothing to get to your main objective of generating leads that turn into customers.
Here are 4 objectives that will help your marketing spread your brand as effectively as a zombie apocalypse:
What's the first thing you should do when you enter a room that COULD have zombies (WWRGD - What would Rick Grimes do?)? You make a lot of noise. When you do that, they'll come to you if they're there. It's just like your marketing. If you're in the right place and you make enough noise, your customers WILL find you.
Of course, it's going to take more than beating on the wall or rattling some debris to get them to come. The noise that comes from your company should be pleasant. To a zombie, anything that could be coming from a human with a pulse is a pleasant sound.
The deal is that with zombies you don't need to hunt for them, just like you shouldn't have to hunt for your leads.
Marketing objective example #1: Get more traffic to come to you
When we talk about traffic, something important to understand is that we want ORGANIC traffic. THIS is how you stay alive even when your PPC ads are shut down.
Think of your website as your head... All the other pieces will change and die and be reborn over time, but as long as you hold onto your domain and don't poison the brain with black-hat SEO tactics like link-farming, you'll continue to get stronger and attract more of what you are looking for.
Think about how many times your company has been reinvented, whether it be your branding message, your service offerings, or your staff. They all change, because that's just a part of life, but as long as the brain stays in tact, you're good to go.
Marketing objective example #2: Get sustainable ORGANIC traffic via SEO
No matter what you do to a zombie outside of taking out the brain, it will fight and claw and do whatever it can to get to its next meal. Your marketing should be the same way, only its meal isn't brains or flesh, but rather, leads and customers.
And it should be relentless. Have you ever seen somebody try to reason with a zombie (iZombie references aside - although, once they become FULL zombies from not feeding enough, there's no turning back, and no reasoning with them)? No, of course not. They won't stop until they're munching on flesh, and even then, when something juicier comes along, they'll move onto the next course.
Marketing objective example #3: Get a steady stream of customers and leads
The reason why zombies are so effective isn't because they're fast or strong (unless you're going by standards determined by Romero's more recent Dawn of the Dead or World War Z - to name a couple), because they're actually quite slow and clumsy... and because their flesh is rotting, it sometimes only takes a kick to the face to take out their brain (I've been binging on The Walking Dead thanks to Netflix).
What makes them so effective and powerful is their ability to propagate. One bite, and it's game over.
Well, the same should go for your marketing. Once you have somebody sold on what you do, regardless of whether they are a customer or CAN BE a customer, they should be able to carry on your mission for you, even without direct contact.
This is why social media is so important. This is why blogging is important... and this is why it's important to make your content easy to share.
Marketing objective #4: Turn customers & followers into promoters
CONCLUSION:
Eat more brains, and get more customers using your digital marketing strategy this Halloween. Put the right marketing objectives in front of you, and the rest will follow!
Interested in learning more about how Orange Pegs Media will help you set and obtain the right marketing objectives as we head into the new year? Schedule a free marketing assessment today!