The Problem With Marketing Shortcuts

I was sitting in my office yesterday editing a video.  The sun was shining in my window as the signs of spring start to surface in Ohio.  My laptop was sitting beside me and the email application was sitting open.  It was 11 am eastern when the ads started to arrive.

Ding.  Ding.  Ding.

Ding.  Ding.  Ding.  Ding.

Ad after ad after ad.  All right about the same time.  This went on until about 11:03 am.  Then it stopped. (Actually it slowed down.  Emails never really stop, do they?).

The emails dinging interrupted my concentration on the video…and got me thinking about chasing marketing shortcuts.  (We can have a discussion about why I had my email open while I was trying to edit a video another time).

Chasing Marketing Shortcuts

When you are trying to tell your story or spread your message, it makes sense to look for the most optimized way to do it.  We see these suggestions on social media scheduling apps.  They suggest the most optimized time to post each time.  You can google the best time to post to Instagram on Thursday or the best time to send your email newsletter.  As you get started, it makes sense to do that research.  It would be foolish not to.  There is a ton of data out there that can help inform you on how to get started.

chasing marketing shortcuts

What I am saying is, don’t keep chasing that time.  Once you have decided that you are going to send your email newsletter to your subscribers at 10 am on Tuesday, stick with that.  Don’t be a slave to jumping around to different times, trying to find the most optimal time.  The idea behind many of those metrics is to combine when most of your audience will be able to see the message with when not everyone else is posting or sending their messages.

The problem of course comes when everyone tries to be different at the same time.  You know, at 11 am eastern.

The Power of Consistency

It’s better to pick a time and stick with it.  This consistency helps your audience to know when you will be communicating with them.  This builds anticipation and trust.  It can also shape the message you send.  Our newsletter is a good example.  I started sending email marketing messages MANY years ago as I got into sales.  I decided I wanted to take pro-active activity on Monday, so I decided to send out the message on Monday morning.

Now, if I started my email today I don’t think I would have chosen Monday morning.  But I have been doing it for years…so our subscribers are not only used to it, they tell me they look forward to it.  And since it is on Monday morning, I work hard to fill it full of inspirational content to help our customers start off their week on the right foot.  (You can sign up to get your Monday inbox filled with inspiration here).

So while it’s important to understand the basics of when to post or send an email, it can be fools gold to chase marketing shortcuts.  Your messaging and your message will be all over the place.

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Written by: Kirby Hasseman

Kirby Hasseman is the CEO of Hasseman Marketing & Communications. Kirby hosts a weekly Web show called Delivering Marketing Joy where he interviews business leaders from around the country. Kirby has published four books. His most recent is “Fan of Happy.” His book, called "Delivering Marketing Joy" is about doing “promo right” and is perfect for people in the industry and customers. He also wrote “Think Big For Small Business” and “Give Your Way to Success. All are available on Amazon.