13 Ideas for Your Marketing
1. Keep what works and throw out the rest. It’s still early in the new year, so if haven’t already evaluated last year’s efforts do so now. Cast a critical eye on what is worth repeating and what should be put on the “lesson learned” list. You may not need to completely throw out the unsuccessful tactics, but determine how to improve them if you think they still have potential.
2. Get your plan in place for this year. Based on your evaluation from #1 above, craft a marketing plan for this year, or at least through the first quarter. Keep it flexible, of course, and allow some contingency in your budget to react to unexpected opportunities. But know that it’s much easier to adjust an existing plan than to work effectively with no plan at all.
3. Conduct a survey of your customers. Choose a cross-section of customers who will give you honest feedback on some key questions. This can be a simple survey with just a handful of questions that they can respond to anonymously without a huge time commitment, or it can be an in-depth discussion in person. A focus-group style interaction can be especially beneficial if you’re facing serious business challenges or considering significant changes in your business, like launching a new product line.
4. Create an informal advisory group. This takes idea #3 a step further by bringing together people who can objectively offer advice on a range of topics on a regular basis to strengthen various aspects of your business. Knowledgable advisors can provide valuable insights you might not access otherwise.
5. Increase employee engagement. Give employees a reason to be true brand ambassadors. Initiate a monthly or quarterly staff spotlight to recognize team members. Provide professional development opportunities. Every once in a while, plan fun activities unrelated to work, like visiting a museum or attending local festival. Or do something spur of the moment, like a group outing to the park on a nice afternoon.
6. Get involved in your community. Pick a service project to support or volunteer as a team for a local fundraiser. Become a sponsor for a community event. Being visible in the community raises your brand awareness and lets customers and prospective customers know how your values align with their own.
7. Review your branding (visual, voice, messaging, customer experience, etc.) along with your brand assets (website, social media, trade dress, imagery, sales and advertising materials, etc.). Are all the parts and pieces consistent and current? If your branding is in need of a simple refresh or a full redo, enlist a professional for a brand audit and begin a strategic process for an upgrade.
8. Evaluate the effectiveness of your advertising. Don’t get stuck in a repetitive rut of just doing the same things out of ease or habit. Consider different advertising and communication channels to reach potential customers. Your current methods very well may be worth continuing. But, often, just a few tweaks can rev up results. Don’t hesitate to take a small step into trying something new.
9. Remember the value of customer retention. Repeat business is the prize for all that work you put in to win customers in the first place! Keep those relationships strong with a rewards program or a bit of lagniappe every now and then.
10. Initiate an email marketing program. Or, if you have one in place already, be sure to make the most of it by studying how recipients are responding. What kind of content is engaging them and driving them to take the action you want them to take? Try some A/B testing with your messages and offers. If appropriate, segment your audiences and tailor messages to each group. Of course it’s a bit more work than blasting the same message to everyone, but think about how you react when you get a message that has nothing of interest to you. Why would your audience respond any differently?
11. Plan an event. Maybe this is a milestone year for your business, such as an anniversary, or you’ve achieved a particular goal. A celebration event will accomplish several things: raise brand awareness, bolster pride among your staff, and reinforce confidence among your customers and vendors. And, if you include an element to benefit a local cause, you’ll also foster community goodwill. (See #6 above.)
12. Consider co-promotion with a complementary business. Small businesses especially can benefit from working together. We’ve seen collaborative efforts become very popular and successful in recent years across multiple industries. The right partnership can add value to both businesses and your customers.
13. Use your data strategically and carefully. Hopefully, customers see value in giving you permission to gather their data, known as first-party data. If they trust you enough to opt-in, treat that with respect and don’t abuse it. Of course, third-party data is still available to marketers at the moment, although stricter consumer privacy policies will continue to impact that availability. In any case, let the data inform you on how to best reach customers and provide them with an easy path to getting what they want from your business.
See? The number 13 isn’t so scary after all. But, if you’re a bit nervous about marketing, get in touch with us and we’ll put your mind at ease.
1. Keep what works and throw out the rest. It’s still early in the new year, so if haven’t already evaluated last year’s efforts do so now. Cast a critical eye on what is worth repeating and what should be put on the “lesson learned” list. You may not need to completely throw out the unsuccessful tactics, but determine how to improve them if you think they still have potential.
2. Get your plan in place for this year. Based on your evaluation from #1 above, craft a marketing plan for this year, or at least through the first quarter. Keep it flexible, of course, and allow some contingency in your budget to react to unexpected opportunities. But know that it’s much easier to adjust an existing plan than to work effectively with no plan at all.
3. Conduct a survey of your customers. Choose a cross-section of customers who will give you honest feedback on some key questions. This can be a simple survey with just a handful of questions that they can respond to anonymously without a huge time commitment, or it can be an in-depth discussion in person. A focus-group style interaction can be especially beneficial if you’re facing serious business challenges or considering significant changes in your business, like launching a new product line.
4. Create an informal advisory group. This takes idea #3 a step further by bringing together people who can objectively offer advice on a range of topics on a regular basis to strengthen various aspects of your business. Knowledgable advisors can provide valuable insights you might not access otherwise.
5. Increase employee engagement. Give employees a reason to be true brand ambassadors. Initiate a monthly or quarterly staff spotlight to recognize team members. Provide professional development opportunities. Every once in a while, plan fun activities unrelated to work, like visiting a museum or attending local festival. Or do something spur of the moment, like a group outing to the park on a nice afternoon.
6. Get involved in your community. Pick a service project to support or volunteer as a team for a local fundraiser. Become a sponsor for a community event. Being visible in the community raises your brand awareness and lets customers and prospective customers know how your values align with their own.
7. Review your branding (visual, voice, messaging, customer experience, etc.) along with your brand assets (website, social media, trade dress, imagery, sales and advertising materials, etc.). Are all the parts and pieces consistent and current? If your branding is in need of a simple refresh or a full redo, enlist a professional for a brand audit and begin a strategic process for an upgrade.
8. Evaluate the effectiveness of your advertising. Don’t get stuck in a repetitive rut of just doing the same things out of ease or habit. Consider different advertising and communication channels to reach potential customers. Your current methods very well may be worth continuing. But, often, just a few tweaks can rev up results. Don’t hesitate to take a small step into trying something new.
9. Remember the value of customer retention. Repeat business is the prize for all that work you put in to win customers in the first place! Keep those relationships strong with a rewards program or a bit of lagniappe every now and then.
10. Initiate an email marketing program. Or, if you have one in place already, be sure to make the most of it by studying how recipients are responding. What kind of content is engaging them and driving them to take the action you want them to take? Try some A/B testing with your messages and offers. If appropriate, segment your audiences and tailor messages to each group. Of course it’s a bit more work than blasting the same message to everyone, but think about how you react when you get a message that has nothing of interest to you. Why would your audience respond any differently?
11. Plan an event. Maybe this is a milestone year for your business, such as an anniversary, or you’ve achieved a particular goal. A celebration event will accomplish several things: raise brand awareness, bolster pride among your staff, and reinforce confidence among your customers and vendors. And, if you include an element to benefit a local cause, you’ll also foster community goodwill. (See #6 above.)
12. Consider co-promotion with a complementary business. Small businesses especially can benefit from working together. We’ve seen collaborative efforts become very popular and successful in recent years across multiple industries. The right partnership can add value to both businesses and your customers.
13. Use your data strategically and carefully. Hopefully, customers see value in giving you permission to gather their data, known as first-party data. If they trust you enough to opt-in, treat that with respect and don’t abuse it. Of course, third-party data is still available to marketers at the moment, although stricter consumer privacy policies will continue to impact that availability. In any case, let the data inform you on how to best reach customers and provide them with an easy path to getting what they want from your business.
See? The number 13 isn’t so scary after all. But, if you’re a bit nervous about marketing, get in touch with us and we’ll put your mind at ease.