Research
WRECKING BALL MARKETING
Pop culture is great way to look at various marketing tools and trends that you can analyze and apply to your own personal brand and product.
It's about becoming relevant and popular in what seems to be a short matter of time. What most people in the general public don't realize that these pop phenomenas take strategic months/years of planning along with a good PR team to develop. I'll take this time to go over the "love it or hate it" Miley #teamtwerk craze and show you how a good marketing plan can help your business get more attention and success. The best part is, you don't even have to be dancing around in an oversized teddy bear costume with a foam finger!!!
Now you might think because Miley was pretty well known before this complete 180 degree turn-a-round in persona, that her marketing route won't work for you but that's where you're wrong! It's about doing your research, creating a strategic buzz or hype around your company, a full fledged launch, and gaining even more attention by saving some surprises for later on. Miley, before the release of her first single off of her latest album was releasing what seemed to be random but fun viral videos of her dancing or twerking in funny costumes. She planned on releasing a more urban geared album and needed to gain the attention of that audience who normally wouldn't be drawn to her, that's where the viral videos came into play! This is part of your initial research before launching your company. Learning who your audience is and what their habits are. Reaching out and interacting with them in their own social environments is a must! This means checking out or taking part in events, conferences, conventions, online blogs/websites, and expos where you can meet and network with potential clients or buyers of your product. Take your time in this phase. The more people "discover" you the greater the chance they may take an interest in your company and potentially start telling other people about what you're doing. It's obvious that the more people know about you the more potential business you may have only if you're targeting the right people. This must be done at the same time you're finishing or polishing up your main business whether it be a website, store, or album.
Once you notice people are getting excited about who you are and what your product is, it's time for a soft launch! Your first single can be phase 1 of your website where you have everything working just right but know that there may be a need for improvements depending on the feedback and traffic you are receiving. Here is where you do even more promoting of your business, but more quickly. Create your own events or become sponsors of popular events where a good amount of your audience will be plus other new demographic audiences. You will start to see people outside of your target audience getting interested in your product. Stay open to feedback and plan for adjustments to keep everything running smoothly.
You have their attention so now it's time to come at them LIKE A WRECKING BALL!!! This will be more of a grand opening or full launch of your company. Come at them with a complete error free website and full service catalogue or clear and concise call to action. By this time you'll feel more confident in your product because of the success you were seeing in the previous phases. You have their attention and it's your time to deliver on the excitement you've created!!! It's more than having a good end product and just putting it out to the public. You know the old saying of "if you build it they will come", well "they" may not find you because they may not know you exist! You first have to take the time to do your research, create an awareness of your brand, launch your company, then promote, and fine tune it as you go. Once you're at the top, it's up to you to hold on to that status by investing in on-going marketing for company. It was long journey getting up there, why would you even want to start to slack off now?
