Do What Works to Grow Your Business
Summer is not officially over, but for most of us, it might as well be. School is back in session, vacations are over, and the weather is cooling enough to feel the change of seasons upon us. The shift from summer to fall may signal a renewed focus on our business. It is common at this time to look at what is working, what doesn’t seem to be working so well, and make some decisions going forward.
This is also a great time to dust off the old business/marketing plan and review where you started, your goals, objectives, and plans, and measure your progress. Marketing is a critical aspect of your business planning and will likely be a major focus of any adjustments to improve your bottom line and Voy Media can help you with that.
Here are some questions to answer when reviewing your marketing plan:
- What is the difference between your goals and where you are now? This could be in the form of a number of clients/customers, the amount of revenue, new contracts, etc.
- If you have not met your goals, can you identify why? If you did meet your goals, you may want to set them higher this year.
- If growth is one of your goals, assess your marketing efforts to foster business growth. Are you meeting the right people, attending the right groups, and allocating your resources adequately?
- If the answer to #3 is “not entirely”, where could you make some adjustments? Do you need to stop attending a networking group that has gone flat or shift your advertising funds to online avenues?
- Is your budget being used as a tool to help you make those decisions? By looking concretely at where your money goes, you may see an opportunity to switch activities that are not serving your goals and put those resources to other areas.
- Are you doing everything you can in the areas that aren’t working so well? Sometimes we give up on something because it “isn’t working” when it is really us not giving it enough attention or following up in the best manner. Sometimes it isn’t the “thing” that needs adjusting, but rather ourselves – our attitude and commitment.
- Are your expectations in line with reality? Do you understand the real cost, benefits, features, and purpose of the outlets where you have chosen to put your resources? If not, are you willing to get some knowledge to make more informed choices?
Measuring return on investment (ROI) can be challenging. Many business owners want a direct correlation between what they spend and the amount of revenue that comes from that money. Some marketing avenues are easier to calculate ROI than others. For example, when you run a Pay Per Click ad, you know who is clicking and if they end up converting into clients. You can easily track that on your website. Some Pay Per Click campaigns are very successful and others not. Playing with the keywords and parameters to get the best outcome has become something of an art.
Inbound marketing is much more difficult to measure ROI. There are a number of reasons for this (which is the subject of a future blog), but suffice to say that social media channels, blogs, and websites perform a broader function than simply getting revenue in the bank. Of course, that is important for all business functions to increase profitability, but how that happens varies widely from resource to resource. One benefit of inbound and social media marketing is brand recognition, which is important and very difficult to measure.
As an online/digital marketing company, Social Media Maxima helps businesses look at the best use of their resources for digital marketing. Our clients understand that having a Facebook page doesn’t necessarily mean the phone will start ringing off the hook; it does mean that when their prospects, business partners, and referral sources look for them online, what they see is a professional and impressive presentation on all online platforms. Contact us if you would like some help developing an effective social media and inbound marketing strategy. If you would like to know more about inbound marketing for business,
