How Cutting Costs Doesn't Need to Hurt Your Marketing Campaigns

Experimenting with marketing efforts can be costly, as we all learned when the pandemic struck. However, not only crises are tricky; with the offer getting bigger by the minute, all businesses need to be flexible.

But let’s take a look at the present situation. With the whole world having to cope with sudden changes in all aspects of life and business, many brands have been forced to cut costs — some of them dramatically — in order to live to see another day.

Luckily, there are certain strategies that ensure that cost cutting doesn’t affect your marketing campaigns, and one of the most efficient ones is going lean.

Let’s take a look at some useful tips.

Set clear goals for your campaigns

First things first — set goals for your marketing campaigns. This we all know and yet, somehow, these goals often seem to render unsatisfactory results.

How come?

Well, first of all, merely setting goals isn’t sufficient in itself. They have to be linked to company priorities and well-aligned with company-wide efforts. In short, executions and alignment are crucial in this matter.

To be able to coordinate the efforts, it’s necessary for all company employees to actively participate in company efforts, with all their actions being in line with the set objectives.

One notable way to achieve this complex goal is to adhere to the Objectives and Key Results (OKR) methodology. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, the short explanation would be that the focus of the entire company should be on the objectives.

As for the key results part, they should explain the process of reaching the said goals. However, not just any list will do; in order for key results to be attainable and valid, they need to be measurable, have deadlines and be moderate in number.

Setting OKRs is, thus, a result of strategic thinking and decision-making supported by defined and proven initiatives that can make changes happen quickly. Prioritization is also crucial here, as urgent OKRs need to be implemented first.

Lastly, an efficient tracking system should be established, so that the goals can be aligned in real time. Crucial in this prospect is communication - managers simply need to talk to team members and provide coaching when it’s called for.

In this way, your campaign goals will be realistic, measurable in the true sense of the word and clear to everyone.

Give lean manufacturing a chance

Lean manufacturing is rather popular, and not without a good reason. Namely, markets change all the time, and new competitors keep emerging, with or without crises to amplify the issue.

The concept of lean manufacturing implies companies streamlining their processes with the help of technology - the implementation of which has been troubling large businesses used to traditional business models for years.

When done the right way, lean manufacturing is capable of improving overall company efficiency and boosting productivity, keeping the costs down at the same time. The process is applied to all operational factors, participants and processes for best results.

As such, lean manufacturing focuses on the elements that add value and eliminates those that don’t, with the aim of delivering high-quality goods and services for a lower operating cost. The process of elimination encompasses anything that hinders progress and systematization, and it can include overproduction, weak supply chain infrastructure, excess inventory, poor communication channels, misplaced human potential, etc.

It can also apply to your marketing campaigns. Whenever possible, use tech that will help you streamline your processes. Think along the lines of automating whenever possible. Several apps to consider using are MailChimp or Mailshake, when sending out batches of emails.

Also, consider setting up and using email templates when responding to common questions or providing answers to FAQs. You can also take the basic concept, and then just personalize it when necessary. Believe it or not, this can save you around an hour every day if done properly.

When you find yourself in doubt, simply remember that the five main principles of lean manufacturing are aimed at helping businesses transition to a new, more efficient way of operations. These are:

Identifying the value of the customer
Mapping out the value stream
Creating an immaculate workflow
Moving on to a scheduled marketing funnel
Repeating the process

These are just the guidelines, but if you stick to them, you will start seeing the difference. Add variations that suit your workforce for the best results and remember that your marketing process doesn’t have to be lengthy and complicated. Stick to the points and execute them well.

Try email marketing

By now, every business has become aware of the importance (and cost-efficiency) of email marketing. However, with everyone using it, there are new moments to consider.

For example, have you considered trying out email drip campaigns?

If this is the first time you have heard about the concept, let’s explain it in brief.

Email drip campaigns are a series of automated pre-written emails that are being sent at specific time intervals and are based on selected subscriber actions.

Every new subscriber is automatically put into a drip campaign. The first thing that should happen is that they receive a welcome email. Another email should follow two days after and another - after two days. The process goes on after every two days or so.

These emails should feature the content related to the page the subscriber signed up from, meaning they’re personalized.

This strategy allows for seamless list segmentation by allowing subscribers to indicate their interests. It also lowers unsubscribe rates and keeps the subscribers engaged. Stats show that drip campaigns, when executed the right way, have an 80% higher open rate and a three times higher CTR than generic email marketing campaigns.

Explore HARO

HARO is a rather new, innovative concept. The abbreviation is short for “help a reporter out.” It’s a platform where people can post queries about research needed for a blog post, an article or similar form. Then, experts on the matter reply to those queries.

HARO helps both parties benefit from the platform. Those posting queries get to gather data straight from the experts, and the latter get referenced in the post (name, backlink, social media, you name it).

If we keep in mind that many sites charge for guest posts, the idea is rather innovative.

Why not harness the power of HARO and cut unnecessary costs?

Conclusion

As you can see, there are numerous ways to cut costs without harming your marketing efforts. With the rapidly changing market, you’re also advised to keep an eye on the developments, and continue to learn and keep up with new trends — give lateral thinking a try! Just like HARO was born in response to sites charging high fees for featuring guest posts, other innovative platforms and tools are certain to keep popping up.

For the time being, rely on lean manufacturing, keep your goals updated, stick to OKRs and go from there.