Applying the 80-20 rule to your marketing
You’ve likely heard of the 80-20 rule (otherwise known as the Pareto principle). The idea is that 20% of your effort leads to 80% of your results. The goal of the 80-20 rule is to prioritize activities that yield the most results.
This principle can be applied to marketing too. Some marketing efforts are time-consuming, and costly, but yield limited results. In comparison, other efforts can be efficient, cost-effective and yield excellent results.
So how do you decide where to focus your marketing efforts? The answer isn’t the same for everyone. Several factors need to be considered and these are best answered through a focused strategy:
- Which products/services that you offer are most profitable?
- Who are your most valuable customers?
- How do your most valuable customers find you?
- Are you already using the most effective method(s), and just need to be more focused?
- Or is there other marketing you haven’t tried, but should?
The bottom line is you need a strategy to focus your efforts on the right marketing for your business.
P.S. I know a strategy is time-consuming and can be expensive. But you need one to know where to focus 20% of your effort. You must invest some time to get answers to the questions I pose above. It’s an investment up-front but could yield a huge payoff down the road.
