Brand & Marketing essentials for a head start to 2017 Whether you re still enjoying time off or suffering from a harsh return to reality, it s time to start thinking about your business marketing and, if you haven t already done so, devise the strategy for 2017.
We ve put together a short and sweet brand/marketing checklist, which will help provide direction for the year. 1. HAVE A COMMS PLAN Sounds painfully obvious, but often in the midst of serving customers, delivering services and dealing with the day-to-day running of the business, we don t have time to think about what and when we d like to promote and communicate. Make sure you spend some time to get a clear vision of the goals you d like to achieve this year, how are you going to get there and what are you going to be promoting. Having a schedule will also get you into a habit, and the activities will be a part of your routine rather than last minute chores. We often hear about last minute social media panic and desperately posting last minute content with no clear goal, lacking quality and resulting in low engagement. Does dreading the overdue newsletter and scraping together some bits and bobs sound familiar? Planning ahead, while a little time consuming initially, will actually save you time and money, be more effective in engaging your audience, and thereby generate better leads and sales. 2. IT S EASIER TO GET BUSINESS WHERE YOU ALREADY HAVE BUSINESS Might seem like backward thinking, but your easiest target for new business is from your past business. People who have tried and liked your product or service are much more likely to repeat the purchase and, based on word of mouth recommendations (the most successful form of marketing) - so are their friends and family. Get in touch with your existing and past clients, offering new products or services, introducing seasonal offers or discounts, reminding them they might want to buy something again. Ideas: Target them and their friends with Facebook advertising. Consider digital remarketing strategies but use it wisely - the person who bought an engagement ring from you IS very likely to buy wedding rings, but WONT be interested in ANOTHER engagement ring. Think about purchase cycles like meal replacement powders each month or seasonal motivation such as summer tans. 3. GO OUT THERE AND HAVE A CONVERSATION - DON T JUST TALK AT PEOPLE Follow your masterplan and make sure you get exposure across all relevant channels. Include regular EDMs (email marketing is still one of the most powerful online tools), have a strong presence on social media, possibly invest in Facebook or Instagram advertising or and drive traffic to your website with Google Adword ads. Be proactive, responsive and engaging, these days it s not about just pushing content out. It s about delivering the message that resonates with your target audience, at the time when it s most convenient for them, in the most efficient format and via relevant media. Know your audience and their needs. Where possible, remember conversation is a two-way process, you can t just talk at people! QUICK TIP! Be consistent - it s not necessarily about what day or time is best, but about brand consistency your brand look, and a regular content format that adds value to their world. Make sure you have a back end support for all your activities - don t spend a fortune on Google Ads that lead to a crappy or irrelevant website or lead generation campaigns that prompts phone calls that nobody answers - it will only annoy your prospective customers and get the opposite result. If you have questions please get in touch with any of the our team. You may like to explore our brand /communication workshops also or receive one of our 2017 Comms Packages, if so; email;