Short-term promotion or long-term promotion strategy

Internet marketing is a complex area. There is no magic wand that can instantly rocket a website to the top of search results, and contextual advertising is not a panacea; you shouldn’t think that this tool will bring quick results on its own in a short time.

Very often, clients come with a request for online promotion in the hope that marketers will create a “magic button” that, when pressed, will solve all of the company’s problems and money will flow like a river.

In this article, we will examine the features of short-term and long-term promotion strategies and dispel the myth of the “magic button”.

The success of promotion depends on the chosen marketing strategy

In business, every resource is valuable, the marketing budget, alas, is not infinite, and competition is fierce. As a result, one of the key elements of the success of the entire business is an effective marketing strategy.

The simple and understandable desire to get money as quickly as possible does not change the fact that it is often worth being a little more far-sighted and using a long-term strategy to play the long game.

We do not exclude the use of a short-term promotion strategy, it has the right to exist as well as a long-term one. Everything depends on what goals you want to achieve.

Let's figure out in which cases short-term promotion is appropriate, and in which cases it's a long-term game

Long-term promotion strategy

A long-term strategy for promotion in the Internet space can be understood as a comprehensive, multi-stage plan aimed at achieving the company's goals with a long-term effect.

A long-term strategy helps to build a brand, improve its reputation, and increase demand by implementing modern tools. These actions are usually implemented at the initial stages of the sales funnel, where it is important to lay the foundation for trusting relationships with consumers. This approach focuses on sustainable brand development and building customer loyalty, requires time and patience, but ensures stable growth and long-term profits. It is aimed at making the brand not just recognizable, but also valuable in the eyes of consumers.

Key elements of a long-term strategy

1. Defining your target audience: Understanding the needs, interests and motivations of your potential customers to create relevant and engaging content.
2. Brand building: creating a unique offering that stands out from competitors and attracts the target audience.
3. Content strategy development: creating valuable and useful content that meets audience needs and strengthens brand positioning.
4. Selection of promotion channels: determining the most effective channels for reaching the target audience (SEO, SMM, contextual advertising, email marketing, video marketing, etc.).
5. Analysis and optimization: regular analysis of results, adjustment of strategy and optimization of actions to increase the effectiveness of promotion.
6. Building customer relationships: creating long-term relationships with customers through excellent service, loyalty programs, and regular interaction.

It is clear that there must be a goal for which the entire strategy is developed. It can be defined, for example, as increasing brand awareness, sales growth, increasing conversions, the number and quality of repeat purchases, etc.

Goals, like all other elements, are individual: some need to figure out the company's positioning, some need to attract new clients, and some need to earn a certain reputation.

A long-term promotion strategy must be built on a stable, “reinforced concrete” foundation of specific indicators:

• Segmentation of the target market by products, prices, customers, competitors.
• Collecting information about the audience, identifying groups in the target audience.
• Individual needs of consumers.

When collecting information and conducting research, as in the entire strategy, complexity is important. In terms of planning, it should be understood as a combination of various communication channels and marketing activities.

A comprehensive long-term promotion strategy is not aimed narrowly at launching online advertising or using other advertising tools. With this approach, at the initial stage of promotion, many factors are assessed that can significantly affect the result of promotion and help to select the appropriate tools.

What we pay attention to when preparing a strategy

• Mentions of the company on the Internet
• market and competitor analysis
• presence/absence of reputation about the company and its tone
• quality, convenience and technological advancement of the site
• packaging of goods/services
• evaluation of content and media materials on the site
• internal company factors (resources, products, structure of sales and marketing departments, etc.)

After assessing the above factors, it is possible to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the company and outline the direction of movement to achieve the set goals.

Example: The customer has been working on the market for 10 years and wants to increase the number of clients and conversions from the site. After studying the main nuances of the company's work, we find out that the site has inconvenient navigation, there is no competent structure, the content on the site does not meet the pains and needs of the target audience, inconvenient forms for collecting leads, while the customer has no reputation on the network. 

It is logical that using only advertising tools in this situation will not be effective, since there are competitors on the market who already have a certain reputation, modern convenient sites, brand recognition. It is necessary to build a promotion strategy, taking into account the identified factors and at the first stages to work on finalizing the site / developing a new one, select channels to improve reputation, improve brand recognition, etc. After carrying out this work, you can start choosing advertising tools that will bring the necessary results.

From the example we see that the described adjustments are not about promotion for 1 month, but for a long period with regular collection of statistics, analytics, behavioral factors and satisfaction of target audience demand to improve the effectiveness of promotion.

Even after all the preparatory work and setting up contextual advertising, there is no fixing point after which you can say: that's it, you can no longer carry out any work on promotion. The market is dynamic, some external factors constantly appear: seasonality, high activity from competitors, an increase in the cost of a click/conversion, the emergence of new competitors, and so on. As a result, the company loses its positions and its profits fall. In order to detect the problem in time and take measures to eliminate it, it is necessary to systematically deal with marketing tasks.

A comprehensive approach to a long-term promotion strategy allows you to take into account and regulate all factors that can influence the increase in profits and bring the company to the top positions.

Benefits of a Long-Term Strategy

1. Long-term effect: a long-term strategy ensures the planned growth of the business, minimizing risks and ensuring stability.
2. Building a strong brand: Creates a recognizable and trusted brand that stands out from the competition.
3. Increased customer loyalty: allows you to build long-term relationships with customers, increasing their loyalty and stimulating repeat purchases.
4. Cost optimization: a long-term strategy allows you to use your budget more efficiently by distributing costs across different promotion channels.
5. Adaptation to change: A long-term strategy is more flexible and allows for quick adaptation to changes in the market.

Short Term Marketing Strategy

A short-term promotion strategy is a set of actions aimed at achieving specific marketing goals within a short period of time (weeks, months).

It is focused on getting results quickly and is typically used for:

• New product launch: To raise awareness of a new product or service and stimulate sales.
• Conduct seasonal promotions: increase sales during seasonal peaks, such as before holidays.
• Testing marketing hypotheses: checking the effectiveness of various advertising channels, types of content, advertisements.
• Demand analysis: identify the target audience, understand what attracts their attention.
• Responding to market changes: quickly adapting to changes in the competitive environment or in consumer behavior.

Characteristics of a short-term strategy

• Short period: usually lasts from a few days to a few months.
• Specific goals: clearly defined results to be achieved (increase sales, increase brand awareness, attract potential customers).
• Focused actions: specific promotion channels are used that most effectively achieve the set goals.
• Measurable results: Results are monitored regularly to assess the effectiveness of the strategy and make adjustments.

Examples of short-term strategies

• Social Media Advertising Campaign: Launching advertising to increase brand awareness and drive traffic to your website.
• Competitions and sweepstakes: attract attention to the brand and increase the number of subscribers on social networks.
• Email Marketing: Sending out promotional offers with a limited time limit.

Why Short-Term Strategy Isn't Always Right

Not enough time to achieve results:

SEO: Search engine optimization takes time for a website to rank higher. Quick campaigns will not have time to show tangible results.
Social media: Building an audience and creating trust takes time.
Advertising: Short-term campaigns will not have time to reach a sufficient audience.

Insufficient optimization and analysis:

A short period does not allow for sufficient data collection: in order to analyze the effectiveness and adjust the strategy, it is necessary to observe the results over a longer period.
Quick decisions are often not optimal: lack of time can lead to superficial decisions and mistakes.

Budget issues:

Lack of funds: Short campaigns often require a larger budget to achieve the desired result in a short time.
Inefficient use of funds: funds may be spent inappropriately if there is not enough time to analyze and adjust the strategy.

Lack of long-term strategy:

Short-term thinking: Short campaigns may not take into account long-term goals and do not contribute to building a sustainable brand.
Failure to create value: It will take more time to build relationships with customers and create value.

The risk of “forgetting” the brand.

Rapid decline: After a short campaign, interest in the brand can quickly fade if promotion is not continued.
Loss of positions: The site can lose its position in search results after SEO promotion is stopped.

At the stage of choosing a promotion strategy, it is very important to understand what goals you want to achieve. A frequent and serious problem in promotion is the use of a short-term strategy to achieve long-term goals.

Example 1

You want to advertise a seasonal product. In this case, a short-term strategy will certainly work. You launch advertising at the beginning of the season, receive advertising traffic, which is subsequently converted into an application and profit. At the end of the season, the advertising is turned off, you have achieved the goals you set for yourself.

Example 2

You want to scale your business, strengthen your brand reputation, increase the number of customers, improve your website search results. However, at the initial stage of promotion, you have not formed a reputation, your website is inconvenient, and your product is not packaged correctly. In this case, we are talking about achieving long-term goals that cannot be achieved in a short period of time, and a short-term promotion strategy is not suitable.

Conclusion

1. Building a successful online business takes time, effort and investment.
2. A long-term promotion strategy that takes into account all the nuances will bring more tangible results.
3. Short-term campaigns may be justified in rare cases, such as the launch of a new product or a temporary promotion. But even in these cases, it is necessary to consider the long-term consequences and plan for subsequent promotion.
4. There is no universal recipe for Internet promotion that will suit everyone. The choice of the optimal strategy depends on specific goals, budget, resources and business characteristics.