The Marketer’s Palette: How to create the perfect marketing mix

I admit, I have become a little obsessed lately with color theory as an analogy for marketing and a creative way to make marketing more fun. If you are wondering what I am talking about – this post is the final in a series on Mix and Match Marketing plans. You will find links to all of posts in the series at the bottom of the page. And the color wheel below should you give you an idea of where I am going with this unusual perspective on how to make creating a marketing plan more fun by creating the perfect marketing mix for your business.

Marketing definitely has some parts that require you to be more tactical and strategic than perhaps your creative, go- with-the-flow mentality enjoys. So let’s continue to play with our color theory analogy for a bit longer. Most artists tend to have a color palette that they prefer working with and naturally gravitate towards.In my personal artwork, I tend to gravitate to more earthy tones of deep blue, golden yellow and a warm red. These show up in my work, even when I am not conscious of it. I love playing with analagous colors, like all the shades of blue and green together but I struggle with how to add contrast. I am new to painting and having fun exploring this side of my creativity.How diverse is your palette?

The same is true for creating our marketing mix. We tend to spend time and gravitate towards the tactics that appeal to us the most. For me that means a bit too much time on Facebook and not enough on LinkedIn or picking up the phone and calling people; all of these tactics have brought me new clients when I have used them the right way and been consistent in my marketing. But Facebook is fun! And Pinterest… a total rabbit hole down which I can disappear for days! If I spend all my time online, I am not creating depth in my marketing plan.

Complementary colors are across from each on the color wheel and our mind doesn’t always like to combine them, except at Christmas. Did you know that red and green are complementary colors? Complementary colors serve to create contrast and often deepen the emotional impact of a work of art. Van Gogh is one of my favorite  artists, here is an example of his work using the contrast of green and shades red. Curious to see more examples, click on the image to visit Miao‘s blog post, there are some great examples of famous works of art that use contracting colors.

What do complementary colors have to do with marketing?

Every marketing mix needs to have a variety of colors. Your palette should be broad and include complementary tactics. A perfect marketing mix incorporates a blend of online and offline marketing tactics. Not all of them will be fun for you, some may cause fear or cause you to stretch and grow. But the more diverse your palette is, the more robust your marketing will be and the more money will start to flow consistently into your business.

I encourage you to spend some time this week thinking about your perfect palette. What part of the color wheel have you left out of your marketing plan?

Remember your marketing mix should include a variety of tactics inside of each of these three strategies:

• Referral Strategy (For example: Asking clients for referrals, creating strategic partnerships)
• Online Strategy (For example: Website, blog, social media, forums)
• Offline Strategy (For example: Speaking, teaching, networking)

Get your crayons or markers out and play with this concept for a bit. Then come back tomorrow. I am going to give you some fun ways to create a visual marketing plan that is colorful, creative and practical at the same time. What I don’t want is for you to create a marketing plan that gets stuck in a drawer (kind of like those giant financial plans most of us don’t understand) and you don’t every look at it again.

This week, I will also teach how to take your marketing plan and turn it into a marketing calendar so that you know exactly what you need to be spending time on every day!

If you are feeling stuck, confused or overwhelmed by the thought of creating a marketing plan for your business. I can help. I offer a complimentary 30-minute “My Perfect Marketing Plan” Strategy Session to help you get unstuck and start building the ideal marketing mix for your business. Apply now for your free strategy session.

Links to the rest of the articles in the Mix and Match Marketing Plans series:

1. Mix and Match Marketing Plans for Creative Entrepreneurs

1. Create a Colorful Marketing Plan: Secondary Colors

3. Tertiary Colors of Marketing Part 1

4. Tertiary Colors of Marketing Part 2

5. Make Marketing Plans Fun

6. What is a Marketing Plan?

7. Completing Your Color Wheel Marketing Plan