A few weeks ago, we decided to take a quick break from our screens to bond over something other than great design. We all love to eat and cook, so we easily agreed on taking a Thai cooking class at Sur La Table.
On the menu for our class: pad Thai, pumpkin curry soup, and steak salad. We worked together to prep the ingredients, follow the chef’s instructions, and enjoy some really delicious food. We left class with full bellies and a renewed sense of team – we even picked up a few marketing lessons along the way:
Lesson 1: Know your audience.
Our cooking classmates included company teams (like us!), families and individuals with different goals in mind for the cooking class – some wanted to improve their overall cooking abilities, some wanted to learn how to make Thai food specifically, some wanted to bond with their co-workers or family members, and everyone wanted to have fun and eat good food.
Our instructor expertly catered the class to each of these goals. Her instructions were clear and helpful without being overbearing. She also demonstrated each step and provided tips and tricks for a wide variety of skill-levels, including how to: properly use a knife, determine the doneness of meat, cook in a wok, and combine spices.
Similarly, knowing your audience is important when creating a successful marketing strategy. Your product or service likely has different benefits for different types of people, so you’ll want to make sure you use corresponding platforms and messages that resonate with these audiences.
Lesson 2: Plan before taking action.
Everyone on our team has cooked before (we even take turns making lunch every Tuesday), so it was tempting to want to skip ahead without paying attention to our instructor. However, when using the wok, which requires especially high heat and fast cooking, we learned the importance of arranging and organizing our ingredients before beginning to leave minimal room for error.
In marketing, taking the time to make a solid plan, grounded in research, is key. A good marketing plan will help you consider key questions about your business, ensure that you’re using your time and resources effectively, and align your marketing strategy with your business goals.
Lesson 3: Many hands make light work.
Dawn learned this lesson the hard way when she decided to re-make this meal at home and didn’t account for the time it would take her to prep the ingredients on her own 🙂 Taking a cooking class together was a GREAT reminder of the power of teamwork.
We all helped chop up the many different ingredients and took turns manning the pot, wok, or pan. We shared some of the less fun tasks, like handling the uncooked meat or mincing the garlic, and we all got to enjoy the benefits of wonderfully cooked food.
In the development of a great marketing strategy, everyone who is involved has a voice and each person’s input is unique and valuable. When we work with clients, we love gathering different perspectives and then working together to put those ideas into action.
Do you need help thinking through the right marketing plan for your business? Let’s talk! Shoot us an email or give us a call here.
