1. Set Tangible, Meaningful Objectives 

Successful objectives only work if they’re SMART. And by SMART, we don’t mean high-IQ brainiac stuff. We mean specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. 

• What are you trying to achieve? 
• Why does it matter? 
• How will success be measured? 

Get those goals locked down and every action you take magically becomes focused on how to achieve them. No goals and you’ve got no idea if your actions are succeeding, because there’s nothing to give them purpose. And, uh, yikes to that as a strategy.  

2. Dig up Those Unmet Needs 

Unearthing motivational insights that can convince people to do things involves more than just demographic information. Matter of fact, it goes deeper than your audience’s behavior and preferences. Unmet needs are found all the way down with their motivations. 

If your product or service can fulfill an unmet need, your job becomes pretty singularly focused. You make an unmet need clear, then motivation takes care of itself. 

This insight-driven approach creates more personalized marketing campaigns. And if it’s personal for them, it’s effective for you. 

Boiled down to two questions:  

• Who are your ideal customers?  
• What are their needs, desires and pain points?  

3. Craft an Ownable Position

The marketplace is packed, so we gotta find ways to be different, ways to carve out a niche we can own – and defend. In acronym land, we call what we’re looking for the USP, meaning the unique selling proposition. (Unlike the acronyms in the intro, USP is one that’s sure to be relevant forever.) 

A USP should be clear and compelling. It needs to be evident in every aspect of your marketing. From messaging and visuals to the customer experience, everything needs to ladder up to it. 

4. Tailor for the Distribution Model 

With lots more places to put messaging and lots more nuanced audiences to reach, there’s an art form to placing media and a whole separate art form to making that media impactful. 

Social media isn’t TV. 
TV isn’t a display ad. 
A display ad isn’t, let’s say, a jumbo-tron. 

What you put where and how much you pay to do it is, even though this probably doesn’t need to be said, critical. So critical it can make or break a campaign, no matter how “good”, “clever” or what-have-you the creative is. 

5. Produce Engaging & Relevant Creative 

Speaking of creative campaigns, they’ve still got to live up to their name. 

If what you’re saying isn’t compelling, or worse, isn’t relevant, you’re dead out of the jump. And samesies to how it looks. Design evolves, and if you put something out that looks old (and not, like…retro cool old) or worse, unpolished, your audience is going to notice – in a bad way. 

6. Build Relationships  

Nutshell version of this: Are you talking at your audience or with them? 

Engage with your audience in a genuine and interactive manner. Successfully navigating social media and its always-on, real-time nature can make you a standout.  But def do not stop there. Every interaction with a brand counts. Emails, customer service chats and calls. One sour experience can sour a brand for your audience. And if one person feels that way, you betcha others will as well.