Let’s face it – you have a better chance of being hit by an asteroid than winning the lottery and yet . .. who can resist? The temptation of hitting the jackpot and instant wealth all for a mere $2 is great – and yes I bought a ticket – but is winning the lottery true success? Is the lottery shortcut a viable strategy for getting rich?
Many marketers are looking for this same kind of big payoff. They adopt a strategy that seeks to sidestep the process and go for the big win. But in the same way most of us will never get rich by playing the lottery, most marketers will fail to make a lasting impact with a “Powerball” marketing strategy.
As my grandfather always said, success is made through hard work. For marketers, the path to a big payoff is hard work and a sound strategy. This means establishing a plan that includes both short and long term goals, cultivates a content strategy, and sustains and promotes a solid sales pipeline.
Occasionally, a quick win strategy will work. Every now and then, rolling the dice will yield a winner. But like the many powerball winners of the past, the win can be fleeting and unsustainable in the long run.
Take a look at what happens to many lottery winners – according to the New York Daily News, about 70% of all lottery winners end up going broke and filing for a bankruptcy, or worse. In a recent study of lottery winners, only 55% of them felt like they were happier after winning the lottery than before it – 43% said that their money had no effect on their happiness. For lottery winners the path to get there was too fast and the promise of happiness and success was unfulfilled.
Powerball marketing happens when shortcuts are taken at the expense of a long term and persistent strategy. An aggressive marketing campaign might yield some positive results – and a big sale or two – but at what expense? If you spend all of your marketing budget on one big campaign you will probably get great results, perhaps a sale or two. But do you have any money left to sustain your lead generation efforts? Did you breach the trust of your audience by trying to sell too much too soon? Did you degrade your organization’s reputation and product value through gimmicks and pricing tricks? Have you forgone the long term strategy for the short term gain?
Content marketing needs a long term sustainable strategy. You need to be consistently generating quality content that relates to your audience, posting that content on your blogs and in social media, and building an ongoing conversation with your prospects and customers. Conversations need to be promoted through sending regular newsletter communications to your audience with content that is relevant to your audience that will prompt further engagement, more dialogue and ultimately a win.
So as a marketer, it is important to remember the journey you are on. There are no real shortcuts in life or in business that will yield the results you ultimately want. The quick pick is hardly a way to establish sustainable success. And even if you do have a quick win along the way – will you be in a position to make that win last?
So good luck out there – someone will win the lottery – eventually. I personally hope it is a content marketer who has a long term marketing plan in their pocket. I think that has winner written all over it.