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Your marketing bridge is quite possibly the most important element of your marketing strategy. But unfortunately, it’s the element most often ignored, leading to a broken customer experience. And it doesn't take a genius to know that if a customer isn't getting what they expected to receive based on the advertising that was fed to them...it's not a good situation for anyone.
No one wants to suffer the consequences of a tarnished reputation, bad Google reviews, or the wrath of an angry customer. But by having a properly built and well-fortified marketing bridge, you could be greatly helping your brand loyalty and customer experience overall.
Understanding The Marketing Bridge
What is a marketing bridge, and why is it important? The marketing bridge is the “connection” between what your advertising says about your business and what your customer experience actually is. If your advertising tells people something about your business and they don’t see, hear, or experience it upon making contact, there is a disconnect…and that’s a problem.
Building a Bridge Between Your Customer and Your Advertising
The marketing bridge is a business's connection between what your advertising says about your business and what your customer experiences. It’s the forces combined to make a sale.
The best way to fully understand what goes into building a strong marketing bridge would be with an example.
Here's an Example of What NOT to Do...
Let's say there is a medical spa practice that advertises that their clinic's staff are experienced, knowledgeable professionals who can answer your questions when and if needed. However, when you call to learn more about their services before making a purchasing decision, your medical consultant is clearly a part-time employee with limited knowledge about the products and services they sell. What does this do to your image of this establishment?
Here's an Example of What to Do...
On the flip side, here is an example of a strong marketing bridge. In an alternate universe, you are calling this same medical spa practice. They advertise that their clinic's staff are experienced, knowledgeable professionals who can answer your questions when and if needed. You call to learn more about their services before making a purchasing decision, your medical consultant seems confident, knowledgeable and willing to help answer your questions. Not only this, but when they follow up with you via email, they send helpful information from their website to help answer your question even further. You check on their website, and they have an up-to-date informational blog, as well as a live chat ready to answer customer questions. Now, this is an example of delivering on what you advertise.
But building a strong marketing bridge is a principle that will look different for every business. There is no set number of specific advertising products or guidelines that will formulate a successful bridge, but there are some standard guidelines to help get your wheels turning:
- Are you actively educating people in creative ways about what your business can do for them?
- Do you have a long-term marketing strategy in place, in order to give your business a solid foundation within the community?
- Do you advertise a consistent message that effectively causes people to think of your business first when considering making a purchase in your industry?
- Do you have an ROI measuring system in place to evaluate the effectiveness of your advertising efforts?
In reality, there is a lot that goes into building a strong marketing bridge, but we hope that these examples, and the points listed above, will help inspire you to think about the current state of your bridge. If you are ready to take the step into looking into advertising and marketing methods to help fortify your bridge to establish the long-term health and growth of your business, give our team a call! We would love to talk option and to start a conversation.
