When I was teaching my marketing class last fall, I talked about the “spraying and praying” marketing approach. The short version of this is doing any and/or all communications activities without a clear strategy and goals. It probably goes without saying that I don’t recommend this approach.
But sometimes “spritzing” is ok. I didn’t realize how my students fixated on this conversation. I saw a couple of them a few weeks later.
“Hey! I ordered some stickers. It’s a spritz!”
“I want to place an ad in the paper for the holidays. Is it an ok spritz?”
So what the heck is it?
Spritzing is often a one-off activity, or a tester to see if something works. It’s not necessarily part of your regular strategy, or it could be something you do before you are finished with your strategy. Here’s an example:
After I started my business, I was approached by a non-profit to sponsor the local ice rink with a banner. The pixels were barely dry on my LLC paperwork, my website wasn’t launched, but my logo and branding was shiny and new. I was excited to get out there and it was an affordable investment. Did I have any demographic info? No. Was this advertisement in line with my brand? Not sure.
One banner please and thank you.
So why did I do it?
I wanted to do something to promote my business and feel like I was moving forward. It was a low-risk way to do so. I also wanted to determine if sponsorship banners would bring in business. I knew I would be approached in the future by the gajillion non-profits around here and it would be great to have a baseline.
Most importantly, the ice rink is an important part of this community and I wanted The Brandstalk to support it. I’m a recreational ice skater, my husband is a life-long hockey player and it’s always nice to have variety in winter activities in Teton Valley. As I put together the pieces of The Brandstalk, one of my intentions was to share my success with Teton Valley non-profits that supported causes I was passionate about.
No, I won’t yell at you if you Spritz. Or buy a couple radio ads to drum up interest. Or order promotional stress balls with your logo on it. Just ask a few questions first:
Can I afford it if it doesn’t work? This is not just about money. Think about things like time, production and visual impact.
How will I track the response?
What other benefits might I receive other than straight business? Think about impressions (eyeballs), chatter, goodwill and experimental data.
And of course some questions for after:
Did it distract from my brand?
Or did it auto-magically contribute to my brand promise?
What can I improve for next time?
What did I learn so I can make better calls on the next Spritz?