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Trout Fishing is like Marketing

by June Van Klaveren

With the help of a good friend, I went trout fishing in the Missouri Ozarks for the first time a couple of weeks ago and actually caught a pretty decent sized trout. The way I see it, there are two main strategies to fishing. 1) You can bait the hook, throw it in and wait for a fish to find it.  2) Or you can bait the hook, throw it in, reel it back and throw it in again over and over in different areas until you get a bite. 

The first strategy, involving one action and a lot of waiting, is passive. The second, involving several actions aimed at getting the fish's attention, is active.

It occurred to me as I fished that marketing is a lot like trout fishing. Successful marketers are the ones with a lot of action going on in their marketing strategies; who are trying out different strategies as they target prospects in different areas with different demographics, using a variety of methods. 

Marketing that creates a less than desired outcome often occurs when a company's marketing budget is heavy into one strategy at the expense of an integrated plan. They spend the bulk of their budget on Yellow Page advertising, for example where, like strategy #1 above, they put the ad out there and wait for someone to find it. Or they might mail out one postcard and declare that direct mail doesn't work.

The bottom line is that to be successful, marketing needs to have a lot of action going on at the same time. After all, our customers aren't sitting in one spot waiting for our ad to appear before them. We have to do something that will attract their attention and convince them that we have something worthwhile to buy. 

There's a lot more to marketing than action - but without action, marketing won't be successful. And without action, trout fishing won't be successful, either!

June Van Klaveren, owner of Compelling Communications, helps her clients attract and keep customers. To contact her, call 800-779-0067 or email june@compelcom.com.