This week we thought we would bring you an infographic check list of some of our important marketing tasks to always keep in mind. These are the ‘must-do’ action items we preach often, but we gathered them all in one place for a quick marketing review to make sure you’re on it!
Utilize tech to the fullest: Use technology to improve your processes, workflows, communications and more. Embrace your business’ digital presence (i.e. website, social media, email marketing, etc.) as a tool to connect with your audience.
Make a plan … and follow it: Create a 3- or 6-month plan to organize your initiatives in one place, and refer back to it on a regular basis to make sure you’re on track. In the past, we’d create marketing plans for our clients that could span 12+ months, but given the rapid changes in our economy over the past year and a half, we now recommend working in shorter timeframes. Last note: don’t treat your marketing plan like the Magna Carta. It’s not so precious that you can’t jot down notes or make edits along the way; it’s meant to be a living, working document. It’s also meant to get done — not bogged down in making it perfect. In this case, the act of putting down a plan is far better than not having one at all.
Create meaningful content: When it comes to marketing, you’re only as good as your content. It’s the visual image, tone and overall impression that you’re putting out there to represent your business, so make it work for you (and not against you) with beautiful on-brand photos and graphics that are on par or better than your competition — because your audience is judging.
Get ahead: Assign dates / deadlines to your campaigns and work ahead of schedule. For example, planning to send out a monthly newsletter? Assign a send date (say, first Tuesday of the month), put it on your calendar and stick to it. Work out a social media content calendar in advance of when you plan to post (we recommend 1-month out) and schedule your posts so you stay consistent to your audience.
Pinpoint your audience: In order for marketing to be effective, it needs a defined audience. How will you know if your messaging is on-point if you don’t know who it’s meant for? Hint: your target audience isn’t you — and, your demographics differ for each media platform you use. Take the time to create personas of your different audiences.
Keep an eye on results: Tracking your marketing’s performance is the key to determining ROI. Pay attention to social media engagement (likes, shares, follows) and click and open rates on your website and email marketing.
Prioritize customers’ experience: Be open to customers’ feedback and responsive to any issues. Check your social media platforms daily for questions or comments, and respond to any and all inquiries as soon as possible. We all know how far good customer service can go!
Elements helps our clients with many of the suggestions listed above, and we’ve love to help you and your small business, too! Give us a shout at amy@elementsdesign.com or 203-776-1323 to get started.
—Amy
