One is a very powerful number! In some cases it is a very desirable number. – your marketing materials should just have a single call to action so that interested readers respond by doing just what you intended them to do.
On the other hand, one is also a very dangerous number that can leave you at the mercy of misfortune that damages your business.
Shock-Proof Your Marketing
Search Engine Optimisation is a dramatic illustration of this. Many businesses are still recovering from the Penguin and Panda updates Google implemented over the past 18 months to hinder opportunists who relied on gaming the system rather than creating high quality, relevant content to increase their rankings.
One moment they occupied the top spots on Google for their chosen keywords, the next they vanished almost completely – and with their prominence went their sales, and their whole business model. Of course, they weren’t just innocent victims – they had been trying to game the system, even if they didn’t know exactly what tricks their Search Optimisation Expert was doing to get them into the top spot, but the point is that if all they had to depend on was their ability to appear on the first page of a Google search, they were in BIG trouble!
Are You Prepared For Change?
If the internet were suddenly to transform through regulation into a very different beast, does your business have any off-line resources to turn to? Or are you totally dependent on the internet for your clients. The Danger of One suggests that you shouldn’t rely totally on either online or offline promotion – but should use a mix of them.
What if your website were hacked? Yes, you’d get it up and running again fairly quickly, but could you still use ‘outposts’ like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter to communicate with customers and let them know what has happened? If you can, then you are in a much stronger position. Likewise, your email list: email is great, but can you also send physical mail to customers and prospects if you need to. If you can, then your are in a significantly stronger position.
Is your site Mobile-friendly? – Can people consume and respond to your content via their mobile devices or is it clunky and difficult to use. Mobile is another channel that increases your opportunity and it is becoming increasingly widespread.
How Many Media Do You Use?
The Danger of One also applies to your message delivery. If you are only providing a single medium then I can guarantee that you are losing opportunity. Video is very powerful and engaging, but there are a lot of people who would rather read your message, than watch it. Pure audio content is a lot more versatile than video or text in many ways – you can listen while driving or doing many mechanical tasks, where you couldn’t watch a video. Text is always popular because it is easy to skim and determine whether it’s relevant – but it is also easy to skip over too fast, where video or audio will slow down consumption and give the producer more control – provided he can hold their attention
If you vary the medium of your content, or at least produce some content in different forms to attract new prospects drive them to your preferred medium, your business will be much better prepared to face any sudden disasters or changes that may occur.
What are you doing to shock-proof your marketing efforts?
