Many direct response marketers cringe when they hear the word “branding”. Many DR marketers think that “brand awareness” is synonymous with “wasteful” or “undisciplined/unmeasured spend”.
I get it. I’ve been there.
I’ve been in extreme direct response marketing leadership roles for the good part of 18 years. When I say direct response marketing, I am defining direct response marketing as an environment where you MUST be able to track an ROI to every type of marketing you employ, and that ROI must back directly into a specifically defined ROI (Return on Ad Spend, Cost Per Acquisition, etc.). Sure, there are different degrees of strictness when it comes to direct response marketing, but I’d say that I’ve worked in the extremes of direct response.
Based on an extensive study, here is the type of growth that most startups experience:
This type of growth is exhilarating and fun. You have found an opportunity in the market and you are benefiting from it.
Direct response works great when a company is new, because:
- Typically there is already existing demand that needs to be captured when a company is new
- It’s a great time for a company to fine-tune its capture funnel & strategies
- Oftentimes, companies find 1, maybe 2, solid sources of revenue when they are starting out AND they become very pros at those approaches
But, eventually, that source of easy growth runs dry or slows down dramatically. If you haven’t been testing or developing a brand awareness approach, then the slow-down of growth can hit you like a brick wall. Typically companies have figured out how to survive on revenue & margins that are no longer growing like they previously were and, if you’ve waited until the last moment to invest in brand awareness, then all of the sudden it becomes overwhelming to spend the money to go develop brand awareness.
Make no mistake about it, brand awareness is a necessity for a company you want to succeed at growing. You may be able to survive for a few years without focusing on brand awareness, but eventually, you’ll desire more market share or revenue. Investing in brand awareness while you are in a strong position of revenue is the absolute best time to do it.
Put simply, without brand awareness, your funnel is likely to go stagnant. We offer free phone calls to help assess what type of mid/upper-funnel marketing might help you build your brand awareness. Brand awareness, when done right, does not ignore measurement & accountability.
