Marketing is the word that drives businesses and helps take your brand to the places where your clients and customers may be waiting for a product or a service like yours to reach them. Marketing truly has become the driving force behind businesses and also the way we do business. Even two decades or so ago, the Internet had not evolved to a level where digital marketing was as strong as it was in this day and ago. At that time, print media and television or radio were the biggest carriers of what we can call one way marketing communication, at best. Yet, things have changed and how. In the past decade or so, we have entered an era where marketing communication has become a two way street where you can instantly interact with your customer, engage him or her and tweak your messaging for each segment you think your products and services you can reach out to. So how did this happen? The logic and reasoning behind this was very simple – there is an explosion; an amplification of opportunities thanks to the interaction and engagement factor.
This in turn, has led to a number of tools, technologies and trends. As recently as a few years ago, we have seen the evolution of marketing automation and CRM. Both things are now entwined to create a database that will record information and interactions, while the marketing automation side will combine the same with functions so that the right information can be called up at the right time. Now, the most recent addition to the marketing bandwagon is a strategy called the Waterfall Marketing Strategy.
So what really does this mean and what is the waterfall marketing method? The answer is a simple, yet ingenious one that promises to revolutionize every step of the marketing story on the digital front. This method is a linear one that takes on a cascading philosophy that goes from targeting, suspecting, connecting, evaluating, knowing, expecting and finally winning. These steps come in one after the other to ensure that the flow goes from one idea to another to cover these steps and take in pool after pool of customers. The waterfall marketing methodology is one of the most effective ones that is set to take the world economy and all sizes of businesses by storm. This will help companies and brands reach out to people in a targeted and focused manner.
Let us understand the waterfall marketing method in a little more detail before we move onto the pros and cons of the methodology that the world of commerce and digital marketing is set to adopt.
- Conception is the very first ideal that you must seek to achieve when you take on the marketing gamut of your brand or business with waterfall marketing. You must know your plan and the goal very clearly as well the concept that is going to help you bridge the gap and fill a gap in the market as well.
- Design: With research and analysis, you must then jump into the actual design and construction of the idea and the waterfall marketing strategy so that you are able to apply the concept to design with insight backed methods. This will definitely garner a higher rate of efficiency.
- Testing and Execution: This is the step where a concrete testing stage takes place to validate or improve the insights so that the execution can be planned and designed accordingly. This would ideally be followed by maintenance so that the results can be consistent.
This brings us to the subject of the efficacy of the waterfall marketing method. How efficient is this method and what is the downside of it all, if any? Let’s find out in these pros and cons of waterfall marketing!
Advantages of Waterfall Marketing
- Detailing: The information gathering, testing and analysis phases are by far what makes the waterfall marketing methodology one of the best with less chances of failure.
- Timely Action: The deadlines that are attributed to each of the steps of waterfall marketing makes it excessively timely and prevents any kind of delay. This keeps the sales and marketing team on their toes as well.
- Reputation Management: With the well informed and timely action, you can be sure that the reputation of your business and the brand would be a stellar one that will come to become an authority in its niche. And that is definitely a major win when it comes to marketing and building your digital presence to earn a higher rate of conversions.
Disadvantages of Waterfall Marketing
- Less Flexibility: When there is just one linear path that has been set with less time and deadlines to act on each step, there is greater chance of slip ups since there is little room for flexibility within this system of waterfall marketing. This would be one of the biggest flaws in the system that teams would need to be vigilant about.
- Difficult to Sustain: Due to the rigidity of the method, you may often find that you do not have the amount of flexibility to concentrate on more than one project at a time. This can lead to inconsistency in efforts since the team may completely abandon the project that is following the waterfall marketing methodology. This can lead to the loss of precious resources that have been invested in the plan and the project as well as an inconsistent image for the audience that is watching you.
Time: While the waterfall marketing method comes with deadlines for each step or phase, this can also turn out to be quite a pain point. For example, if the phase has been given a deadline that is too far away due to the quantum of the information to be gathered before you reach the next phase, then the team may lose patience. Moreover, you may also lose precious traction and the audience that you are trying to reach out to with your efforts.