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This time of year, I really try to look into the future and determine where to best use our time and resources with respect to marketing our products and services. This year the focus is to bring all of this “Marketing Stuff” together under a new umbrella. To do this, a new way of thinking needs to occur.
Stop the old discussions:
Traditional versus digital – How can we tie these two items closer together? We have started doing this little by little by creating clearer, concise content and packaging it in a way that gets people’s attention. Work toward bringing the two together is a better approach than eliminating one of these.
Paid versus organic – This topic needs to be looked at closely. Facebook has pushed paid content to a point that organic really is very limiting. Is Google next? It is definitely an area that cannot be ignored. Keep watching and determining the best strategy for your company. It is not one way or the other, it is moving toward a “both, and” situation.
Is social media necessary – Really?, Real-time marketing is here. How do you get better at it? For some people, engagement works, for some adding comments and sharing works. Find a way to incorporate it as part of your real-time marketing.
Will mobile marketing finally be a reality? – Have you tried a search on your mobile phone lately? Look at the words “Mobile-friendly” We are already here. You might be behind at this point.
Is content marketing necessary? – How are people going to find your website information? What type of information are you sharing on social media? Content marketing fits with social media and it creates organic traffic and people will read it on their mobile device. Yes, it is necessary and it needs to be incorporated into everything you do.
Start looking at Marketing Through a New Set of Eyes:
How are you going to maintain a presence on a daily basis through your marketing? Yes- people need to know your company has a presence out there each and every day. What type of information are you relaying to your company? How are you doing it? Images, blog posts, newsletters, emails
How are you going to keep your current clients attention? (Apple does through introduction of updates/ new products) – People want to connect with companies that are continually growing and innovating.
Can you put a name with someone who visits your website? There are tools that can help you do this. It is time to start looking at website hits as people and not just numbers.
Keeping up with changes. Read and read more. In this world of constant change, news needs to really be looked at closely and evaluated to make sure premature changes are not made based on technology or changes on social media. Put your efforts into areas that make a difference. Work more at content and communication and apply that time and effort toward new technology. Being the first to everything is not always the right approach.
Do you have a great client service staff? – Having a great client staff really makes all the difference. You can have heavy traffic to your site and a large number of phone calls, but if you don’t have experts who can solve people’s questions, you are missing out. Client service people are some of the greatest human assets you can have at your company.
Are you selling or engaging or educating or entertaining your clients? – You need to continue to find ways to keep people engaged by educating them, entertaining them and ultimately finding ways to keep them buying from you. It takes a lot more to earn people’s trust, especially in the wake of constant change and information overload.
Big data? – How are you collecting your client data? How well do you know your clients? Start with small data! Do you know their name? Are you staying connected with them? Do you have processes in place to help you maintain good client relationships as you grow? Focus more on people and processes and less on data and analysis.
(Most Important!!!!)
Bring it all together!! – If you can bring marketing back and create a culture that ties all these pieces together and works together you will have a very successful 2015. Start with your planning, approaches, resourses. Look at what you have and where you want to go in 2015. Be willing to make changes and create a total team picture. You need to look at your marketing initiatives and make sure you are company focused and not disconnected!
Image courtesy of cooldesign at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
