Yeah, we can hear you sighing from here – but please, take 5 minutes out of your day to read this and hopefully (fingers crossed!) we can change your mind.
Many business owners get caught up in the doing in their business but ultimately, to grow your business and grow your bottom line, we need to put some effort and focus into marketing. So, we thought we’d share these 4 steps to ensure that the marketing you do equals results (and who doesn’t love results!)
PLAN
Yes, many people bang on about it and we’re no different. You absolutely must create a marketing plan. Make time to plan – EOFY or end of year is always great, but really, if you’re wanting to implement a plan, then do it now!
Set a goal for what you want to achieve each month. That doesn’t have to be monetary, it could be something as simple as 25% more website hits than the previous month or growing your social media followers.
Once you have your objective, you need to work out HOW you’re going to achieve your objectives, and this is where your marketing comes into play. What exactly are you going to do to achieve them?
Is it writing a blog every fortnight or once a month and sharing across your social channels? Are you going to go to a networking event each week? Start a podcast, or go live on social media to address questions that your customers have?
Work out what it is that you’re going to do to hit those goals and put it in your marketing plan (like, right now – do it!)
CONSISTENCY
You have to be consistent. If you’re not consistent then your business will not grow. Whatever you choose to do to achieve your objectives, just be consistent with your execution.
If you’re committing to writing a blog post every month, then do it. Block out time in your calendar and get it done.
If you decide to post on social media 5 days a week – do it! One of the first places a potential customer goes, besides your website, is social media and if they see your last post is from 6 months ago, it doesn’t paint your business in the best light.
Make a realistic commitment – if you can only commit to 3 days per week for social media, then only post 3 days per week. In case we didn’t make it clear – just be consistent!
VALUE
You need to put out content that your target audience finds valuable. You want to help your customer and you can provide value in a multitude of ways!
Some ideas could be regular, weekly emails, create a podcast, write blog posts, create useful resources or hold a free webinar.
Providing value is inbound marketing, it’s a way of drawing people to your business. Long gone are the days of cold calling. Put out content that is specific to your target audience (FYI, putting out content that you think is valuable but not valuable to your target audience is not going to help you) and you’ll pull people to your business.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
Lastly, keep marketing simple. The simpler you make it for you to execute, the more likely you are to be consistent with it. And that’s what gets results.
So there you have it! See how you go with those steps above.
