Marketing is a lot like gardening. That may sound kind of crazy, but stick with us for a bit. Marketing doesn’t just happen overnight. You don’t create a Facebook page on a Tuesday night and wake up Wednesday morning with 1,000 page likes. Just like you don’t plant a seed and wake up the next morning with a blooming tomato plant.
It takes time. And work. Some patience. And a whole lot of effort.
When Springtime rolls around, there is a lot of planning that needs to happen before you can just start putting seeds in the ground. You have to plan what you want to grow first. Cucumbers, watermelon, peppers…the options seem endless and a little overwhelming.
It’s kind of like planning your marketing strategy. Do you need social media, digital ads, emails? There are so many options to pick from, and choosing the right combination can be a little tricky. It all depends on how much time you have, your budget, and what you are wanting to get in the end.
Now that you know what you want to grow, you have to decide where you are going to plant everything. Should you plant your cucumbers next to your tomatoes or on opposite ends? You want everything to work together in harmony and not compete against one another.
That’s just how your marketing plan should be. You don’t want to be sending out mixed messages to your audience. All the different aspects of your marketing should be supporting one another to perform at their best.
One of the best parts of having a garden is watching it grow and bloom in full force in the summer. Everything is working together, and you’re starting to see the possibilities of what your harvest could be. But it still needs some attention and effort. Your weeds need to be pulled, everything could use a good watering, and there are a few pesky bugs on some leaves that you need to do something about, too.
And now that your marketing plan is working in full force, it could still use a little maintenance. You haven’t sent out an email to your audience in a while, your social media could use some fun new graphics, and your website needs some updates, too. But, it’s a lot easier to stay on top of it all if you don’t get behind.
Finally, it’s time to harvest your garden. You get to enjoy all of your beautiful crops, and they taste so much better, knowing everything you put into them. You spent all summer working on growing and expanding your marketing efforts, and it paid off. You doubled your social media reach, got a bunch of new leads, and you are working on closing your biggest deal yet. It might have taken a lot of work, but the reward makes everything so worth it.
So, you see, marketing is a lot like gardening when you think about it. Contact SJC Marketing today to see how we can help you plant your marketing seed because there’s always time for a fall harvest.