The Marketing Marathon

Endurance athletes (who run marathons, bicycle centuries, swim miles) know that they need to pace themselves if they wish to finish successfully. To train these feats, they exercise to build up aerobic capacity and strengthen their body's core. But they also know that repetitive motion needs to be efficient, since engaging a muscle requires energy. To conserve their energy, they need to move optimally.

Your business has similar needs. Crafting an email, an advertisement, a newsletter, a mailing, a direct mail campaign, or even a customer event takes both energy and money. If you wish your business to last for the long haul, treat running your business as a marathon - not a sprint.

Before you begin a new activity, study the need for it. If an email every month works well, then don't think that an email twice a month will be even better. Consider seeing if an email every 6 weeks works as well as every month. I'm not advocating for you to become lazy - on the contrary - I want you to be efficient in each of your business and marketing activities.

While it may be tempting to jump in to the latest social media tool to "stay connected with your customers", if doing so will take energy away from other tasks, understand the trade-off you're about to make. Something else in your business will get less attention.

People may notice that you're doing less of a type of marketing than you used to (for example, writing shorter newsletters). Don't react to what people are saying - react to what they are doing. Are fewer people contacting you? Fewer people purchasing your offering? Fewer referrals?

Figuring out your marketing mix should be an ongoing research project. Don't be afraid to ramp down efforts that aren't benefiting your business (either directly or indirectly). Only spend energy on efforts that propel you to your goals efficiently.