In his book The Lean Startup, Eric Ries discusses iterative product design, development and launch, which he describes as “lean.” But, as many businesses are seeing, lean methodologies don’t just apply to startups. Even big businesses have plenty to learn by acting with a bias toward action.
You see, many larger, more established businesses quickly become stuck in a “behind the times” holding pattern. They have the newest, most up-to-date technology in place when they start building the company, however, these technologies change quickly. By the time a Pinterest profile is created, the company’s target demographic may have already adopted Snapchat, or some other buzzed about social media tool their audience is already excited about.
[quote]One of the ways marketers may be able to avoid missing the technological mark is by incorporating lean marketing methodologies into the process.[quote] The goal with these methods is to get the company moving forward, so that the business doesn’t stall at the dozens of rounds of approvals it takes to get a project off the ground. Instead of waiting for the stars to align, lean marketers are constantly introducing new ideas, performing ongoing tests and iteration until the project or campaign reaches peak performance. In some cases, this may mean forgoing rounds and rounds of ad review, and instead moving forward and then monitoring performance. For instance, the marketer can A/B test an ad and further optimize its performance.
Of course, following this school of thought means a company may be subject to mistakes. Sometimes these can be embarrassing, such as the social media fails we hear from big brands in the news from time to time. But remember, most of those brands are still in business, some with sales revenue that remain as high than ever. Save for a few outrageous errors, most customers are willing to forgive a company for a bit of a blunder. But that’s not the point: many of these massive fails are the result of hundreds of million dollar campaigns – so surely making a couple of tweaks isn’t going to destroy your business forever.
[featured]
For more ideas as to how your company can implement lean marketing methodology, contact us today to see how we can help!
[/featured]
The benefit of testing and iterating process in marketing is to initiate a learning experience. In launching a massive campaign with a huge budget, you might have some indication that it’s going to be successful based on field research and a plethora of other factors. But, you can never really be certain. Just ask the team behind New Coke or any of one of a number of other major marketing blunders. So, by starting small, lean methodology allows a company to begin by testing, and then moving full-steam ahead with a campaign once results have afforded the marketing team with enough data to further drive the campaign.
By setting smaller goals and iterating in the moment, companies may work more efficiently, and can have successful programs to hit the market more than once in a blue moon. This lean marketing methodology is catching on all over the world, as businesses realize the impact of starting small to then go big.
If you’re looking for a business breakthrough, why wait when you can start right now? Let us help you apply lean marketing methodologies within your company – contact us today!
