Take a lesson from Goldilocks and don’t settle until you get it “just right.”[/caption] You know the saying: “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”? That is definitely true in marketing. If you’re receiving unsolicited emails, for example, promising millions of hits to your website in two weeks if you buy someone’s services, that is definitely a lie. Delete immediately! There are plenty of marketing stories out there that are simply fairy tales, but keeping your expectations reasonable can prevent you from falling for any Big Bad Wolves. One common marketing fairy tale is the Frog Prince. If you kiss enough toads, one of them is going to turn out to be a winner, right? That’s not really how you want to start a marketing partnership, and it’s not a great marketing strategy when it comes to your campaign. For example, trying to get the cheapest marketing done and hoping some of it is usable is a big risk. By the time you’ve kissed enough toads, you end up with money down the drain, not cost savings. Similarly, if you’re working with people who think that throwing everything at the wall and hoping something sticks is how you’re going to grow your audience and sell more, it’s never going to be a feasible, sustainable, or profitable system. Researching up-front and knowing that you’re headed toward tested, measurable, proven results will actually give you the greatest payoff — with one or two ideas, not 200. Just sign up for DateAPrince.com and stop kissing random canal critters already! Another fable to look out for is the Beauty and the Beast Scenario. This can play out in two ways: In the first, it can mean entering a situation where it looks like you have two choices, and therefore one must be the right choice and one must be the wrong choice. If you’re choosing between two options and neither seems to work right for your company, one choice doesn’t have to be the “beauty.” They can both be “beasts,” and then it’s back to the drawing board. The second way this can be interpreted is that if you’re stuck in a castle with a “beast” long enough (or if you spend too long with a bad idea), it starts to look like royalty. But you’ll want to keep your perspective intact and revisit what you agreed to from the very start and make sure your current product is still on target with the original vision. An agency should get to know your company well in the beginning stages of project, and continue to communicate explicitly throughout the process, so that you avoid putting in work that goes to waste, stay on target, and end up a beautiful product that leaves you Happily Ever After.
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