Years of working with Challenger Brands have taught us valuable lessons about how to most effectively compete against better resourced marketers. We have been able to boil down our learnings into seven critical keys to marketing what every Challenger Brand must know.

There are many ways your marketing plan can go wrong. So, what can you do to make sure that your marketing efforts are generating the greatest exposure and return on investment?

Instead of focusing on the many possible strategies a good marketing plan must include, we’ve outlined the most common mistakes that Challenger Brands make. If you simply avoid these common pitfalls, you should enjoy a considerable difference in your marketing and advertising returns:

E-Newsletters can be a very powerful and cost-effective marketing tool. But as part of their marketing tactics, Challenger Brands must approach e-Newsletter marketing slightly differently. Over the years, we have developed and executed many very successful e-Newsletter marketing campaigns for Challenger Brands.

The following are 8 sure fire recommendations to help you increase your results:

Every Challenger Brand has a unique brand of distinction. It is the core essence of your organization. It is the collective sum of all the history, emotions, perceptions and stereotypes that exist about your company. For marketing purposes, it is simply that core value, promise or position that makes your company different in the eyes of the customer.

Challenger Brands are companies of any size or industry that are either being outspent by larger competitors, are new to an industry, compete in large or cluttered markets or for any reason, find that their current marketing resources are not enough to generate the results they seek.

Many companies spend huge amounts of money each year on tradeshows. But are they really getting the best return on their investment?

Tradeshows can be a very effective strategy in reaching your target audience. However, as with any marketing vehicle, you are fighting with numerous competitors for the attention of the same audience. Here are some suggestions to help Challenger Brands maximize their efforts.

Online video is fast becoming a very effective marketing tool. Video incorporates the power of both sight and sound so you can tell your story or describe your product with greater emphasis and emotion. Videos can be extremely effective on your website, in social media, in digital advertising campaigns, presentations, on YouTube and in numerous other strategies.

When it comes to advertising campaigns, some are forgotten soon after they’re seen and others are unforgettable. The ideas that you never forget are sometimes referred to as “sticky ideas,” simply because they stick with you over time.

There’s a process that can be used to craft ideas that will “stick” with your intended audiences. Here are the key elements:

As we begin a new year, this is the ideal time for Challenger Brands to consider an objective audit of your marketing strategy and performance. We all get caught up in our day-to-day tactical work, but now is the perfect time to stop and evaluate your marketing efforts from thirty thousand feet.

Many Challenger Brands utilizing print media can’t always afford to use full-page ads every time they advertise. Small space ads can be extremely effective. But, all too often they are executed poorly or they are not properly integrated into the overall media strategy.

Here are some tips to help you reap the benefits from tactical small space advertising: