Column: Make marketing a daily discipline

Good, consistent marketing gets pushed off in favor of proposals and immediate needs. We find it is difficult to be consistent with maintenance activities related to marketing. We”™re sure that we could be getting more out of marketing efforts than we are, but how do we get there?

Thoughts of the day: Marketing should be a top priority. Marketing is your next salesperson, hired for the purpose of lead generation. Figure out what you want to accomplish, and then take steady hits at it rather than looking for home runs. Write out a calendar of activities ”“ daily, weekly, monthly. Make assignments crystal clear and make sure the people assigned have the time they need to accomplish their tasks.

Too many businesses live in the land of insufficiency when it comes to having enough sales. Whatever was good enough for new sales last year, any thriving company needs more sales this year and will need even more next year. Not only do they need to produce an increase in revenue, but they also have to sell enough to make up for any lost business. Little do these struggling companies realize that a stronger emphasis on marketing might just get them the growth they need.

There”™s a reason why they call them marketing campaigns, as opposed to marketing skirmishes. Planned, repetitive, complementary efforts will get you much greater results when compared to what most companies do: get a good idea and run with it, without having much, if any, of an overall plan.

Think about your company”™s past marketing efforts. Ever send a letter to customers asking for referrals? Attended a networking event only to be frustrated by how little resulted? Sent out snail mail or email to a target list, got a couple of leads, if you were lucky? Then got busy elsewhere, totally distracted, didn”™t follow up further and the target list went no further?

If you had another salesperson in place, you”™d probably want to meet with that person at least weekly, especially in the beginning, at least until that person started to produce leads and sales. Apply the same logic to working on marketing. Set up time weekly to review results, discuss what”™s coming next and brainstorm ways to cover more ground.

Set goals that are realistic. If you have 50 followers on any social media platform, pat yourself on the back. Set a goal to double that. Don”™t expect to go from 50 to 1,000 right away.

Think about why you want to use various types of marketing. How do they link and build on each other? Keep in mind that different kinds of marketing venues accomplish very different things.

If you”™re going to advertise on radio, keep in mind that it”™s very hard for a listener to “get back” to your ad when they actually want to buy. Radio ads have to be frequent, persistent, catchy and use the same time schedule so listeners get used to knowing when they can hear from your company.

Make sure any ad makes it clear how to reach your company. Think about how most customers first contact you. Do they walk into your location, email or call? Give out that contact information in your ad. Say your name and contact information over and over in the ad ”“ it takes six repetitions for someone to remember what they heard.

Put a calendar together. Note when activities happen. Newsletters go out quarterly. Trade shows and networking events happen at specific times throughout the year. Social media happens daily, but you need weekly or monthly themes. How many online and print ads do you want to run, and how will they tie in to your social media themes.

Once you have a calendar, assign specific tasks to specific people. Ask the person assigned to each task to document what they will do and by when. Spread the work around and train backups. Use the weekly meetings to coordinate efforts, discuss what”™s working and brainstorm what else to do.

Andi Gray is president of Strategy Leaders Inc., strategyleaders.com, a business-consulting firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurial firms grow. She can be reached by phone at 877- 238-3535. Do you have a question for Andi? Please send it via email to AskAndi@strategyleaders. Visit AskAndi.com for an entire library of Ask Andi articles.