I just participated in a great marketing round table hosted by Kari Sliva at the Tempe Chamber of Commerce with other marketing, PR & web development professionals like:
- Splinter Creative
- Keane Creative
- Arters Public Relations
- Blue Media
- ChelePro Marketing
- 3Monkeys
- AT&T Advertising Solutions
The goal of the meeting was to have an open discussion on ideas around how businesses can better market and promote their business given the current economic environment. It was obvious from our conversation there were some very talented people in the room and it was great to hear and share what we all see when working with our clients.
Some of the major themes everyone agreed on as places where improvement can often be made were:
Evaluate – Take a hard look at your business and determine what is working that you can do more of and promote as positives, but also look at what isn’t working and either eliminate it or fix it. From top to bottom, take a look at all of the elements of your business and make sure they are still viable and profitable given the current environment.
Planning – Having a plan from the beginning is SO IMPORTANT. It doesn’t have to be an 80 page document that takes four weeks to prepare, but you need to have some set guidelines on who you are targeting, where they are, how best to reach them and how you will define success. Too many times businesses find themselves in reactionary mode rather than executing a plan and that can make all the difference in the world.
Time Management – “I don’t have the time” was an objection every single person in the room is dealing with when working with clients. How does a business owner justify time spent on marketing rather than in operations. How do they avoid the sense of overwhelm that can develop with all of the choices, options, and tactics that can be employed.
Having a plan goes a long way towards making sure time is well spent but also being sure to outsource where appropriate so you can leverage the knowledge of a professional is key. With so many ‘Do It Yourself’ solutions available, there are great places where an owner can take the lead, but there are also places where you will save a significant amount of time and money and improve your results with just a little help from an industry expert.
Consistency – There is no ‘Silver Bullet’ that once implemented lasts forever. Gone are the days when a single ad, TV spot or billboard provides long-lasting return. Keeping your website content fresh and relevant, monitoring your social media and blog sites, consistently engaging your customers both new and OLD are all items that must be done on a consistent basis for you to see the results.
Measurement – Trial and error is not a sustainable marketing plan for a business. Each strategy and tactic you implement should be measured to gauge effectiveness and whether or not your time and money were well spent. Again, this can be done very simply with a little forethought into how you implement your initiative.
Integration – Yes, you hear about Social Media every where you go and there are good reasons for that. However, it is only one of the ways in which you can promote your business. And like a good employee, whatever marketing tactic you ‘hire’, it needs to work well with others.
- Ask yourself how you can use traditional media like print and signage to promote your online presence.
- Do your door hangers promote your website and drive web traffic as well as foot traffic?
- A Twitter or Facebook account by itself without a well thought out plan and consistent execution is not going to make an impact in your business.
There will be more to come, on these topics and more, but I hope you find these useful. Please leave a comment if you have other ideas or thoughts on the topic.
