Every day we learn of entrepreneurs who started investing in digital marketing and were frustrated because they did not get the expected results. Even developing well-defined strategies to strengthen the digital presence of the business, its first results were eventually incompatible with the energy invested. With this post, we want to help you understand the challenge that is plan a marketing work, making its project concrete, relevant and with authority in the digital environment.
The initial impulse: contextualizing Flywheel Marketing
Jim Collins, a successful technology entrepreneur, researcher and professor at Stanford, in his book “Good to Great”, describes flywheel, which we can also call a steering wheel, as a mechanical device that generates and stores energy. Through a lot of hard work and persistent effort at the beginning, a steering wheel slowly builds the momentum, turning and picking up speed (better understand the concept by watching animation: http://bit.ly/1j3ijtK). This dynamic increases and develops more and more energy, until it becomes a power.
At this point, you must be thinking, “but what does this physical theory have to do with digital marketing?” Well, it's all about it. So is the spread of your brand on the Internet. That is, with every impulse that is given, the easier and faster the result is obtained. All business is like a wheel that needs a lot of energy to get from a state of ecstasy to a dynamic. Through clear, concise and coherent digital communication, you will gradually build that momentum and receive the return of your investment.
To build and maintain an audience, you need to develop a process that allows you to create content, engage your audience through multiple distribution channels, measure the success of each distribution channel, and then use these measures to stimulate your next round of publication. Once you understand the dynamics of each platform, you will begin to realize how they integrate and complement each other.
Keep investing.
Don't break the gear! Keep putting time and money into your campaigns. Don't forget that the more people you expose to your business, the greater the chances it will be multiplied and you reap the much-expected fruits. To understand better, let's give an example about investment in paid and organic search on Google. Certainly investing in Google Adwords ads will bring a faster result in the short term than getting a good position in organic search (SEO – Search Engine Optimization) for your website. But if you invest in the right keywords, good titles and other particularities, you will gradually be well positioned in the organic search, which will attract clicks without paying for them.
Never give up
Do not let yourself be struck by criticism or unsuccessful experiences at first. Accepting failure and learning from mistakes means staying focused on improving your digital marketing strategy. Considering that social media are always updating, it is worth facing some risks and experiencing new ideas, as one of them can bring the result you expect. Without discouraging, how about setting up a long-term strategy to help your consumers in all stages of purchase?
Remember that when we talk about Flywheel Marketing we are focusing on a medium- or long-term strategy. The key to getting a steering wheel moving is not just persistence in the early stages, you have to apply the right kind of energy. Inhale and stay focused.
Voilà! Successful Experiences
To better understand how Flywheel Marketing translates into practice, we bring three successful cases of companies that have exploited the initial energy until the momentum, where it has finally been confirmed its effectiveness.
Crocs Shoe Company
The company, founded in 2002, had its “momentum”, when its managers decided to do everything possible to get their shoes to the feet of athletes and celebrities, making the model and brand famous worldwide. Sales blew up with results that exceeded all expectations. They had defined their idea and concentrated their efforts.
Decathlon Italy
In 2011, the director realized the importance of digital marketing and decided to open a promotional page on Facebook, which would also become a communication channel with and among sportsmen. Having the company many sports collaborators and often true athletes, the campaign was created “Question for a Champion”. Through it it was possible to talk online with experts in various sports areas to ask for technical information about the various products. Within a few weeks, the growth of fan page likes was exponential, as well as the brand's visibility.
Now that you've seen how Flywheel Marketing works, you can apply it to your business. With our experience in digital marketing, we can give your company’s online presence the momentum it needs to have a life of its own. Being on the Internet isn't enough. You need to be on the move to be noticed and see the returns digital marketing has for you.
