Why flexibility is key to your marketing strategy
In October, we spoke about the importance of consistency in your marketing strategy. From achieving stronger brand awareness to engaging with your target audience, we told you that consistency is key. And, we do still believe this. However, we want to introduce a curveball – flexibility.
At Starbots Creative, we think that flexibility is also key to your marketing strategy. In fact, we think it pushes good marketing into the realm of truly great marketing. If your marketing strategy and branding allows for flexibility – while still maintaining a consistent backbone – then this is when we think you see real results from your marketing strategy. Let us explain…
Flexibility in branding
Rewind some ten years ago. For many businesses branding started like this: you decided on a logo, said logo was produced, said logo was then placed on everything – from your website homepage to your office stationery. You then created branding guidelines and that was it. A set of colours. Perhaps a standard font. Non-negotiable. Until perhaps you revisited it a few years later.
Now? Things are a lot different – largely because we live in a highly-visual and highly-responsive world fueled by advancing technology and infinite media.
Dynamic logos
Now, many businesses require flexibility in their branding – which means their logo is no longer a static image.
A logo should now be responsive, adapting to various platforms and media to suit your target audience. Adopting a flexible design means that your logo can be simplified on a small screen – like a smartphone – but also suit larger print design – like billboards – if needed.
Fast-moving media
As much as it’s important to be consistent with your visual identity – so that your business is instantly recognisable – you shouldn’t avoid developing your brand.
The reality is that in general, consumer values have changed. Again, if we rewind some ten years, stability was likely to be highly regarded. Whereas nowadays, consumers are fueled by media – social media, on-demand entertainment, search advertising, personalised emails… and so on.
Therefore, your target audience becomes complacent – quickly. Being flexible with your visual identity could recapture your audience’s waning attention span – just enough so they are interested – yet they still know it’s your business.
Evolving user experience
At Starbots Creative, we’re all about user-centric marketing strategy.
Not to be confused with marketing jargon, what we mean is a plan and a set of actions fueled by insight. A deep understanding of your target audience – because then we tailor any marketing we do to tap into your prospects’ wants, needs, problems, desires, personality and characteristics.
This type of marketing strategy is highly dependent on a flexible approach. Why? Well, your target audience can and will change. They may be the same set of people, with the same job titles in the same industries. However, how they consume information, advertising, content and general marketing can change – and is always likely to do so as we observe technology constantly evolving.
Having a flexible approach is also about having a well-informed approach. So, for example, if your analytics tell you that no one is opening your email campaigns, it’s time to think about how you can adapt this part of your marketing strategy – so it engages your target audience.
Instead of consistently sending emails at 11 am on Thursday once a week – can you take a more flexible approach? Or, instead of using the same consistent email template, is it time to adapt things? Perhaps to make the design more stand-out and user-friendly?
Balancing consistency & flexibility in your marketing strategy
At first glance, it may appear that having a consistent marketing strategy and a flexible marketing strategy are opposite approaches. However, the reality is they can work hand-in-hand, supporting each other.
Consistency is about regularly showing up, being clear about who you are, what you do and building on your authority as a constant in your industry.
Flexibility is about evolving with the times, with the trends – and with your target audiences’ needs.
Consistency and flexibility combine to create the best user experience. And, when you create a great user experience, you’re more likely to engage – and, convert – your target audience.
Strategic marketing support for your business
If you need help with your marketing – and want to understand how balancing consistency with flexibility can achieve results – we can help.
From not being sure how to evolve your brand to simply not knowing what marketing products to invest in, we can show you how the answer lies in your target audience.
Our results-driven approach means we analyse your business offering and target audience to create a consistent brand and marketing strategy – that also allows us to adapt, change and be flexible to suit your audience’s changing needs.
Get in touch to find out about our full-service marketing – which offers branding, graphic design, digital marketing, and content marketing.
