About as much as anything else, marketing affects the overall success of companies. With the right strategy, companies can practically guarantee themselves success as long as the infrastructure is in place to support their operations.
With that said, there is often room for strategic improvement. Some companies just haven’t figured out the best ways for them to market their products or services while others simply don’t understand how marketing works.
For those who don’t understand marketing, a few hours of research online with an open mind can make a drastic difference. There are hundreds of videos and articles about it, and we highly recommend someone understand marketing before throwing much money at it only to decide it doesn’t work. With the right technique, marketing can generate substantial returns.
For those who simply haven’t determined the best marketing strategy for their company, we recommend the Start, Stop, Continue Strategy to help figure it out. The following describes how it works (and it can be used effectively for other aspects of business and life as well).
How the Start, Stop, Continue Strategy works
In both professional and personal circumstances, using the Start, Stop, Continue Strategy is highly effective for making improvements. It can be done individually or in groups, and it truly helps people understand what can be done to improve their circumstances.
People in general are very good at looking at their own situations. It’s easy to see what’s happening to us, what’s not happening to us, and what we wish was happening to us. However, often we forget the key variable that determines our success, and that’s ourselves.
Using the Start, Stop, Continue Strategy with complete honesty forces people to look more thoroughly at themselves. It includes analyzing their habits, what they’re doing, what they’re not doing, what they could be doing, what they should be doing, what options are available for changes, etc. Then, after brainstorming thoroughly with complete honesty, the specific variables that make the greatest impact on their outcomes can easily be identified (in most cases).
Here are the three phases of the Start, Stop, Continue Strategy:
- Start – This is when people ask themselves what they can start doing daily to make significant improvements to their circumstances. For example: get out of bed 1 hour earlier, read at least 10 pages of a book (excellent for brain development and health), make healthier eating choices, get more sleep, meditate, plan for their future, stop using credit cards, be better at communicating, pay more attention to good, increase thoughts of genuine gratitude, act positive, complain less, educate themselves, follow improved work procedures, spend more time with friends, spend less time with friends…… You probably get the idea.
- Stop – This is when people ask themselves what they are doing daily that might be preventing them from improving their circumstances. For example: they don’t sleep enough, they party too much, they play when they should be doing something else, they think and act negatively, they blame others, they tolerate poor behavior from themselves or others, they waste money, they waste time, they don’t communicate respectfully, they’re dishonest, they have poor hygiene, they follow antiquated work strategies, they charge too much, they don’t charge enough, they give away too much of their time, they don’t allow others to help…… Again, you probably get the idea.
- Continue – This is when people ask themselves what they are doing that is working well right now. The majority of people have multiple daily behaviors that are worth giving themselves a pat on the back for doing. Positive affirmation is important because negativity needs to be offset for improvements to occur, and it will help them continue.
By completed these three phases with honesty, people can accurately determine what they can start and stop doing to enjoy substantial improvements in life. Furthermore, people who have successfully used this strategy say it is best if it is done every six months. On top of that, it is critical to remain fully compliant with the decisions that are made regardless of temptations that will surely arise.
How the Start, Stop, Continue Strategy can improve marketing
Over the past few years, more traditional marketing strategies have taken a back seat to newer strategies. Video marketing has become a superstar, and there are many different ways to use it.
For example, videos are now included in emails, posted on social media platforms, featured on landing pages, posted on websites, and even included in point of purchase displays (POP displays) where a product or service’s most likely customers shop. Videos are also sent directly to targeted prospects in video brochures, video mailers, video boxes, or USB flash drives (yes, they still work effectively for marketing). There are also different kinds of videos for various purposes. For example, super short videos work well on social media but not so well on landing pages. Explainer videos work well on landing pages but not so well on point of purchase displays.
To accurately identify the marketing strategies that will return the best ROI, companies can use the Start, Stop, Continue Strategy explained above. Then, when they know what works best for them, they can feel confident about moving forward as they seek to improve their company.
To learn more about video marketing or any of the video marketing products we offer, contact us today.
Having owned an advertising magazine in Utah, I’ve worked in marketing for over twenty years.
I started writing for MediaFast in 2014. The first time I held one of their video brochures, I thought something like, “Wow! This blows away our magazine and any other print advertising I’ve ever seen. This is like a TV commercial, and I’m holding it in my hands. Amazing!”
Since then, video brochures, video mailers and video boxes have become leaders in marketing performance. It’s a privilege to write about them. I also love MediaFast—with its top-notch product quality, industry leading customer service, and all of the wonderful people I get to work with.
