We are marketing experts. A vocation for which you must be passionate about to succeed. Because of our penchant for all things promotional, we are never off the clock. Yes, the hours we dedicate to our clients are long and creatively engaging, but you can never STOP being a marketer. Can’t turn it off.
Case in point is our use of Slack: a communication tool that allows us to brainstorm and share ideas. With this game-changing platform, we utilize individual messaging channels on a project by project basis; but we have also designated info channels where any one of the team members can post late breaking info about the most current marketing innovations. For example, the ever-fluid algorithm escapades courtesy of Google. It could be midnight and someone is uploading the article from Buzzfeed – and then usually at least three team members respond. We guzzle this stuff.
As marketing experts, our role is also to get clients and, generally the world-at-large, excited about products and services. We are especially privileged to perform assessments of the ways and means companies present themselves:
- Is the right social media platform being leveraged?
- Is the messaging clear?
- Is the branding consistent?
- Is the target audience defined?
- Is the posting of information appropriate for the social channel?
- Is there consistency of posting and occurrences right for the particular social channel?
- Is the quality of the content relevant and fresh?
In the wild west of marketing, there are many wrongs to right. The biggest marketing mistake is NOT planning your strategy. Logging into a Vistaprint account, creating your own design, and sending out a stack of postcard
s to just anyone does not provide the latitude to exclaim: “Look at me! I’m marketing!” Quality is first of all everything. Second of all, you need a plan, man. Without a plan, you may as well enclose $20 in every envelope you send to these “potential clients” with no expectations of return on investment. In other words, throw your marketing dollars away.
Facebook Marketing
If no one has learned anything else from this social media behemoth, it’s that demographics are everything. Know where your customers are and how to best connect with them. That’s step one. Figuring out the strategy that will showcase your relevance, your expertise, your willingness to stand behind your products and services…that’s where the rubber meets the road.
When you are armed with who you want to reach and where to find them, whether or not you are working with a professional agency, STOP before you START:
Don’t waste money. At the end of the day, every company has a finite marketing budget. Even huge corporations with gazillions of dollars have board members who vote on what to spend where. Know how much you can allocate to your marketing before spending a dime. If not, it will go fast and will likely not be effective.
Be realistic. Again, if you haven’t a team of minions to attend to your company’s marketing needs, consider well the resources who are realistically at your disposal. Is one of your sales people moonlighting as your social media manager? It is then key to balance her day job (the other one that’s generating revenue!) with developing brilliant content, keen graphics and posting on the right days and times. You will therefore need a solid content/social media calendar and perhaps software like Sprout Social to manage and schedule.
Consistency at any price. You can make a huge splash on social by being “all out there” and then just as horrific a “belly flop” by disappearing and resurfacing a month later. You already know that remaining top of mind is essential so your house painting business will come to mind whenever anyone thinks of redecorating with color, but when you slither away into the night you demonstrate inconsistency; translation: unreliability.
Know your numbers. Use Google analytics, that essential info delivered by programs like Sprout Social, etc. to keep the pulse on what’s working and then keep doing it.
With a marketing strategy that spans a 12-month period, that authentically reflects the ability of your employees to step up, set against a realistic budget, you will see a change for the better. If you need a marketing proposal, we can help. That IS our day job.
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