MATTHEW BEEBE, [email protected] 1. Consistency is key Your word choice, aesthetics, and values should all be easily communicated through your different media channels. For example, make sure that the color used in your display advertisements is the same as the booth for your next trade show. If you have several company catchphrases, pick one and stick with it. The easiest way for a prospect to lose interest is to confuse them with what exactly it is that you do. A recent article written by Forbes even agrees that consistency is the key to effective branding. 2. Diversify If your financial advisor told you to put all of your money into just one stock, you would promptly fire them. Take advice from most real-world financial advisors and diversify your marketing channels. Online display ads, search marketing, social media, content marketing, webinars, magazines, E-Newsletters, and trade shows are all great places to invest. This way, while some of your media channels are underperforming, the overperforming channels will save the day. It is always best to diversify. Karan Gupta makes a great point on this in his Entrepreneur article: “Think about it like this. If you were dependent on Facebook for 80% of your leads, what would happen if Facebook suddenly decided to tweak its platform or shut up shop? You would lose control over your brand and business.” 3. Be patient “The day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit.” According to an article from Entrepreneur, “impatience is a habit, and so is patience. When we lack patience, we are unable to delay gratification for more than the moment, which fills us with frustration. Frustration is the emotional energy that drives ‘quitting.’ When we’re impatient, we’re unable to work toward our business goals in a dedicated fashion.” Advertising is scientifically proven to work, so don’t freak out when it doesn’t work right away. With the right messaging in the proper medium, it will always work out. 4. Keep it fresh Most companies can benefit from a nice refresh of their ad material which can better help to communicate the value that you bring as an organization. According to WHITEHARDT, this would include updating outdated company info, fixing bad content, optimizing SEO keywords, and making sure that your links are always active.