It’s the fourth quarter, and you are down on the scoreboard. Your players are tired, and nobody seems to have any good ideas. Should you punt or should you run? Can you relate? Does it seem that your business is flagging? That you have no clever ideas for reaching new markets? Do you lack motivation? Don’t wait until the New Year to put together a marketing strategy. The time is NOW before the game starts, not while you are playing.
Evaluating Your Players
Let’s take the football analogy a bit further. Your players are your marketing channels. How have they performed up until now? Are you getting a good return on your investment? Let’s look specifically at your digital channels. Here are the key players.
Search Engine Optimization
Do you rank in the search engines? If your search engine optimization is not in tip-top shape, then there is no way you are moving around the field. Instead, you are going down as soon as the ball is snapped. Proper SEO means you have good content on both your landing pages and in your blog posts.
“Nobody wants to read an article written by their plumber (insert any number of industries).”
Blogs aren’t just written for customers, though that is their primary purpose. Actually, a plumbing blog can answer all sorts of customer questions.
- How to Use a Snake
- Do I Need to Replace the Wax Ring on My Toilet?
- Why Do My Pipes Make Noise?
Blog posts provide the search engines a LOT of keywords that they then link to your business. The more information the search engine gathers on your company, the more relevant and legitimate it appears. This means higher rank, more traffic, and increased business.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising
SEO is one of the best ways to generate free advertising, but it is NOT fast. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is the Todd Gurley of the digital world. It gets those people to your website quickly. PPC targets the right people and puts your website right in front of them, where they can’t possibly miss seeing it. PPC performs very well, but it’s also your most expensive player.
Ideally, a business will use PPC for targeted promotions or while they develop an SEO strategy. A combination of the two is one of the best ways to maximize leads and sales.
Building Your PlayBook (Marketing Strategy)
Once you understand how your players perform, then you can start planning how to use them to win the game. The thing is that planning needs to happen BEFORE the game starts, not while you are on the field. I’m not saying that there isn’t the occasional audible, but for the most part, the game strategy is set weeks ahead. It shouldn’t be any different when it comes to your marketing strategy.
We are about to enter the fourth quarter of the fiscal year. The time to start planning for next season is NOW! Decide which players will get more field time and which ones are going to the bench. Set budgets and look for new plays that can shake things up a bit.
Make sure you have a good coach calling the shots! intouch Business has been helping businesses build winning marketing strategies for decades. We can show you how to get the most from your players and maybe even share a secret play or two. Connect with us today for a marketing consultation and make next season a winning one.
[…] month we posted an article about the need to plan out your strategic marketing plan for the new year NOW, rather than come in late to the game. However, many people find it hard to […]