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Making strategic decisions with your eye on short-term gains may seem like a good decision in the moment and, to be fair, it may very well be. But at the same time, it's important to understand that it can also hurt your organization over the long-term, too.

Simply put, if your ONLY goal is to "get sales immediately" or "see an immediate return on your investment," you're probably failing to see the forest for the trees. In other words, you aren't necessarily operating with your business' best interests in mind the way you think you are.

What is Short-Term Advertising?

At its core, short-term marketing is exactly what it sounds like: a plan that is focused only on those "quick wins" and little else.

Sometimes, this can actually be a good thing depending on the circumstances. Maybe you're trying to get rid of old inventory to make space for something new. Maybe you're trying to appeal to a new customer group or get people interested in a new product or service. These can all be situations where focusing on the short-term is more than okay.

Even a situation where you have a low-cost product that you can "sacrifice" in order to invite as many new customers to the table as possible is perfectly acceptable. But even here, you're not necessarily as focused on the short-term as you might think you are. Those new customers can still get interested in your other products and services and they're only one great customer service experience away from turning into repeat customers with high lifetime values.

These are just a few of the very limited number of situations where short-term advertising is actually a good thing. But in the vast majority of all situations, you're opening yourself up to a few key traps that you would honestly do well to avoid at all costs.

Short-Term Marketing Traps

Running back-to-back promotions and giveaways, for example, may sound like a good short-term marketing strategy and it might even be effective at turning out short-term sales.

However, it could just as easily cause ad fatigue or even interest burnout - things that are only going to hurt you in the long run.

This type of "rapid fire" approach also teaches your customers to wait until the next sale before they purchase, which will only undermine your long-term profit margin before you know it. Really, you're just creating a regular pattern of buying behavior where people start to believe your "normal" prices are overpriced.

Likewise, there can also be a perception of value associated with a product that is priced too low. People may not trust it because "you get what you pay for," or they may assume it doesn't have the worth it actually does. Instead of thinking "wow, that is a terrific deal!" people will start to think "hmm... I wonder what's wrong with that."

DON'T Sacrifice the Long-Term for a Quick Buck

In the end, sacrificing goals and strategy impacts your overall marketing approach in a negative way. Unless price is truly your competitive edge (meaning that your business model is similar to that of Wal-Mart) be very, very careful not to sacrifice long-term brand building for short-term revenue gain.

Overall, the best marketing strategy is always a mixture of both short and long-term tactics. Don't focus exclusively on how you can get that one quick win right away. Also turn your attention to how your tactics will work now AND how they can continue to support and empower you for weeks, months and even years to come.

If you'd like to find out more information about the trouble with focusing exclusively on the short-term with regards to your advertising, or if you have any additional questions you'd like to discuss with someone in a bit more detail, please don't delay - contact fuze32 today.

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