The Best Ways to “Stress Test” Your Marketing Strategies
May 23, 2024
Stress testing is a method of evaluating a system by intentionally pushing it beyond its normal operating limits to see how it reacts.
It’s a technique used in a variety of businesses, such as manufacturing, finance and construction. We even subject our own bodies to it when our doctors recommend it.
The reason why it’s so effective is due to how it exposes any weaknesses that increased pressure causes, and gives you the opportunity to shore them up.
Businesses perform this exercise all the time, almost as a “what if” game.
“What if our top-performing VP got recruited away?”
“What if a natural disaster hit?”
“What if our materials cost skyrocket due to political circumstances?”
It’s easy to see how valuable this process is in ensuring that your business model is as rock-solid as it can be.
So why do we rarely see companies stress testing their marketing strategies?
Probably because the primary strategy was set years ago. Maybe because marketers make the dangerous assumption that “it’s just how we’ve always done things”.
The reason doesn’t really matter, what’s important is that you start the process ASAP, and have a plan in place to maintain it as your business, and the business environment overall, evolves.
Here are there ways to make sure your strategy stays sharp and keeps you ahead of the competition.
1. Align your strategy with your vision
The vision for your company sets both its current position, as well as a direction moving forward.
Every piece of marketing material you produce (and already have produced) has to represent that vision, so it’s important to flood all the compartments and see if you can spring any leaks.
This can include your:
- Website
- Social media
- Email drip campaigns
- Sales collateral
- Videos
If it has your brand on it, it has to be tested against your company vision. This becomes a challenge as you grow and more people put their fingerprints on your marketing strategy.
For companies that have a consumer facing brand that promises best-in-class customer service, this has to be woven throughout your copy and content.
If you’re in the B2B space, a key piece of your company’s vision usually involves deep expertise and delivering incomparable outcomes. If you let your strategy stray too far away from this theme, you run the risk of disconnecting with your customers and prospects.
The best way to stress test your strategy against your vision is to hold regular audits of the materials and platforms that get the most eyeballs on them.
It’s also best to start with the pieces of your strategy that are responsible for driving the best results and highest revenues. Make sure they align with your vision to build in the highest chance of success.
2. Key messages are key to success
If your prospect only remembers one thing about your company, what do you want it to be?
That’s your key message, and if you put your marketing strategy through the wringer and your key messages don’t pass the test, you’re not going to see optimal results.
Depending on your business, you may have multiple audiences you’re marketing to, and all those targeted campaigns have to incorporate your key messages to make an immediate impact with each audience.
Whether you’re prospecting a specific vertical that you have proven success in, or you’re running retention campaigns to existing customers, your key messages have to drive the strategy.
Once you have your key messages established and can objectively prove that they’re driving leads and resonating with customers, you’ll see lift across all your marketing channels.
3. Deliver value across all platforms
The vision for your company, combined with your key messages, have to inform your value propositions.
Why would someone want to do business with you? What unique benefit does your company offer? How do you solve your customers’ problems better than anyone else on the planet?
The answers to these questions are the basis of your value propositions, and much like your key messages, they need to be served up front and center to each of your target audiences.
Sometimes in marketing, it’s easy to forget how important it is to consistently highlight the unique capabilities that set you apart from the competition. It can be a gradual progression, but marketing materials will start sounding bland and watered down.
One of the best ways to routinely incorporate your value propositions is to draw from your experience with customers. This not only promotes your value, but gives you interesting new ways to tell stories about how your company’s unique solutions help customers in the specific industries you serve.
Think of your value props as the final exam of stress testing. If you can’t pass this one, all of the work you’ve done leading up to it will hurt the overall grade of your marketing strategy.
The Bottom Line
Marketers get busy and are sometimes guilty of putting their strategies on “cruise control” that disregard consistency and thoughtfulness. Not to mention, we’re all exposed to much advertising stimuli now that we can develop copycat syndrome where we start sounding like everyone else.
That’s why it’s important to put a plan in place to run regular stress tests on your materials and campaigns to make sure they’re all hitting the mark with regard to your vision, key messages, and value propositions.
If you need help getting started, or are already executing campaigns that could benefit from a fresh set of eyes, get in touch here and we’ll help make sure your strategy can stand up to some pressure testing.
