Less is often more when it comes to Lean marketing

Marketing companies are seldom known for their ability to scale back and fine-tune. Rather, they are often looking to reach more consumers and achieve bigger results with each and every campaign. However, marketers can still apply Lean practicesto maximize their efficiency – particularly when they are working on tight budgets.

One of the core tenets of Kaizen is the nine different types of waste. Marketing campaigns are often filled with waste – companies frequently send fliers to the wrong addresses, email consumers who aren't a part of their target audience, create videos and social media updates that don't get seen, etc. While marketers should always strive to grow their companies' customer bases, that doesn't mean wasteful initiatives are a must.

Applying Lean

So how can marketing companies apply Lean philosophies and reduce waste? One potential strategy is more frequently testing campaigns in small batches. Split testing is not a foreign concept to marketers, but many – particularly those in small companies – don't devote enough time to it.

“By trying different tactics, you’ll get a better sense of where your customers are, how they respond to your marketing messages, and how they like your products and services,” explains CrowdSpring. “Once you start excluding things that don't work after a period of testing, you can focus more of your energy and budget on the marketing channels that are effective for your company.”

Plan-Do-Check-Adjust (PDCA) is another traditional Kaizen mindset that encourages continuous improvement. Businesses can apply PDCA to their marketing campaigns to improve relevancy and waste less time on initiatives that don't generate results.

For example, businesses might plan email campaigns that engage every customer on their subscriber lists. After executing the campaigns, they could check the results. Who opened the message? Who clicked on links within the email? Did anyone make any purchases as a result of the message? Then, companies should use this data to refine their campaigns. They may chose to target a different audience, offer more lucrative deals or decide email is altogether just not the right platform for them.

Marketing tends to be a wasteful process. By identifying fruitless actions, businesses can achieve the same – or even better – results while cutting back on their budgets.