7 steps to bigger marketing muscle in 2010
I tell my clients that marketing is a lot like working out – you have to be consistent or you won’t see results. No one expects to see muscles popping out all over after one visit to the gym. For the same reaons you can’t expect immediate, lasting results from one promotional campaign. As you look toward 2010 and what will surely be a better year for all of us, it might help to build a marketing practice that looks a bit more like a workout schedule. Here are few ways to do just that.
- Decide on your goal measurements. This could be different depending on your business – maybe it’s orders, website traffic, inbound requests, proposals…or a combination of anything that’s proven to add up to more sales for you. This year, I’ll be working toward a goal of writing a certain number of proposals a month.
- Determine your marketing workout. Will you finally be getting into social media this year? Or do you need to increase your brand recognition locally? If you’re not sure, maybe the first three months of the year will include trying several different things to see what drives the best results. Often you have to find the right recipe for your business – it might take a little while. (Here’s an article on blending traditional media and social media if you’re looking for more specifics on this.)
- Think about your marketing and PR budget in terms of TIME rather than MONEY. You might sit down every year and decide how much you’ll spend on ads or other promotions. But many of you end up spending that money unwisely because you haven’t planned your activities – or end up not spending it at all. Usually it’s the time that becomes a challenge, much more than the money.
- Schedule your workout time on your calendar. Frankly, marketing and public relations are often done last minute or when the situation is dire. Dedicate 2-3 hours a week for marketing tasks - maybe that includes time working with an administrative person or consultant who will be the one to carry out the tasks. Consistently work on your promotion tactics, even if it’s 20 minutes a day spent on increasing your digital footprint through social media. The main thing is, make it consistent and turn it into a habit.
- Switch it up. Just as your muscles need to experience a new workout in order to be challenged, your marketing programs can also get stale. Don’t keep doing the same old thing just because it’s easier to re-up than to do research on what might work better.
- Spend an hour each month reviewing the results of your work. If you’re buying ads in a community paper, what was the result? If you’ve been blogging consistently, is your web traffic increasing? Once you’re done measuring your efforts create a list of improvements for the following month.
- If you’re still having trouble fitting it in, find a workout buddy. Another business owner with a similar customer demographic can be a huge boon to your business. You can tell each other what’s working and tweak your marketing programs accordingly. When something isn’t working, another business owner can be a great second pair of eyes and ears.
And finally, be patient. Marketing and PR takes time to grow and it’s often the synergy between multiple campaigns that yields the best results.
For more ideas on building your marketing muscle, check out my favorite marketing blogs.
Tags: Branding, Marketing, Public Relations
December 14th, 2009 at 3:20 am
An interesting slant!
As with most things in business, it’s all about planning, implementing testing and refining. It’s too easy to jump in unplanned and you never really get anywhere.
December 15th, 2009 at 6:14 am
Thanks for share the great simple step build marketing tips.. its help me a lot about how to tell what should my client do to build marketing.
December 15th, 2009 at 9:24 am
I’m glad they’re helpful! feel free to let me know any other topic suggestions or questions you’d like addressed in the blog. – B.
December 15th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Thanks for writing this up, I’ve printed this out and put it up on my office wall.
December 16th, 2009 at 1:49 am
what a fitness exposer here! I am glad to see this kind of enthusiasm making the muscle shown in the picture!
December 16th, 2009 at 4:12 am
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December 16th, 2009 at 11:03 am
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December 16th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Would trying several things at the start of the year be the best use of time, if its all pretty new to you or if your time is limited is it best just to concentrate on one or 2 things and see if they work?
December 16th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
I’m glad they’re helpful! feel free to let me know any other topic suggestions or questions you’d like addressed in the blog. – B.
December 17th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Here’s a short answer – first of all if things are working for you, keep doing them as the foundation. If your time is really limited, find a site or competitor that is doing well and “do” what they’re doing to start…if your competitor is really big on social media do that, if they get mentioned a lot in the local paper, do that…but keep it down to maybe 2-3 things (I would never do just one). Then make sure you know what “success” looks like for that tactic and measure it in a month or two.
December 17th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
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December 21st, 2009 at 1:12 pm
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December 23rd, 2009 at 2:29 am
Time is more considered than money in marketing because money can be made but time doesn’t come again.
December 23rd, 2009 at 6:36 am
Isn’t that the truth (as we know so well this time of year!)
December 23rd, 2009 at 10:20 am
The post is good – but the photo is impressive!!!
December 27th, 2009 at 4:04 am
Nice post, kudos!
December 29th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Number 2 mentions social media. Very huge. My carpet cleaning business has benefited greatly. If it can help a small business like mine that it is something to take serious.
January 5th, 2010 at 5:45 am
I’m just a blogger and Twitter and Facebook has really helped my blog’s traffic. You can say that those two are my current muscles in marketing my blog.
January 6th, 2010 at 3:00 am
Spend an hour each month reviewing the results of your work? I’m reviewing nightly!
January 14th, 2010 at 8:52 am
I totally agree to your article. The use of building muscles is a great metaphor for success of a marketing campaign. Consistency is the key.
February 10th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
Great, Wonderful story. Seems like everything is false, specially from the major news corperations with the big slants to the left or right. Did you see last nights Red Eye? haha, that was hilarious! Sorry, I am rambling on once again. Have a Great 1!
February 15th, 2010 at 3:12 am
Point number 6 is probably my biggest failure. Taking specific measurements on a regular basis would probably save a lot of valuable (precious) time. All valid points though.
February 15th, 2010 at 5:46 pm
It’s so much harder with all the options for advertising and marketing we have….a simple reminder to ask your customers how they found you (whether it’s an online or in person question) can be the best measurement of all!
February 17th, 2010 at 5:34 am
Precisely clean post on the issue. I checked your respected site while researching google. I totally enjoyed the article.
July 18th, 2010 at 9:29 am
I’m always for “go head first” (ex. launching a site/blog), but of course, that’s not always applicable; we always need planning/research. However, in my case, this often leads to procrastination… and that’s when you need teammates
Thanks for the tips.