Sometimes our clients’ marketing plans spiral into spam.

For some it’s enthusiasm; for others, it’s anxiety; sometimes, it’s the high from the instant feedback that’s available online. Whatever the reason for taking their feet off the brakes, the result is the same: their marketing plans turn into a big mess of spam. Needless to say, this is not effective marketing.
If you find yourself posting, tweeting, blogging, updating, and/or emailing more and faster and from the hip, while simultaneously the response – likes, comments, replies – is tanking, your campaign is spiraling into spam.
STOP!
Force yourself to put a 24 hour moratorium on any form of electronic communication. If necessary, turn off all of your devices.
Take a deep breath. Look around at the beauty of the real world.
THEN go back and look at your marketing strategy. (As a reminder, Effective Frequency is the marketing golden rule that an audience needs to hear a message seven times to act on it.) Where did your marketing plan go off the rails?
- Did you just have the idea “seven” but no real plan?
- Did you have a rough outline, but incomplete content or dates?
- Did you have a clear plan, but then emotions overruled it?
If you never really had a complete plan to begin with, make one now. A good seven-part marketing plan tells your key message in seven different ways, building momentum first towards campaign launch, and then towards its deadline (e,g., crowdfunding campaigns actually have two seven-part marketing plans back-to-back). It has not just words, but pictures (including faces), is brief, engaging, branded, and ideally, each piece stands alone but ties into a bigger arc. If that sounds like a lot, it is! Coming up with a good marketing strategy takes some time and work, but it’s necessary because this is the work that pays off with audience engagement.
If you had a good plan, but then strayed away from it, you’ll need to develop some self-awareness and discipline around the things that trigger you to derail. For some of our clients, this has meant no social media after midnight. For others, it means they need to bring in a second set of eyes – no posting without coach approval first. If this sounds easy, don’t be fooled: breaking bad habits and developing good ones is very hard.
For whatever reason, if you’ve accidentally started spamming your audience: stop. Take a step back. Regroup, plan, and get back on message. You can do it!
If you would like a free personalized diagnostic of your crowdfunding idea – a $125 value! – please fill out our Artist Questionnaire. We typically respond within two weeks.