Defining Your Marketing Strategy

marketing strategy

Before you can define your marketing strategy, you must understand exactly what a marketing strategy is.

Simply put, a marketing strategy is a plan structured around the resources available to you to promote and grow your business, targeted to your defined ideal client.

So now that you have this definition, review the following list to measure the current status of your marketing strategy and consider where it could go by integrating a structured marketing strategy in the future promotion of your business.

The top dozen questions to define your marketing strategy:

1. First of all, what is it about your business that you are passionate about? Reflect back on what motivated you to start your company.

2. What is it that you provide to your target market in ways that differ from your competitors?

3. Just like people, businesses have – or should have – a personality. What is the dominant trait in your business that you want your customers to identify?

4. What does your ideal client look like? This, really should have been identified when you were planning your business. After all, you can’t be everything to everyone, and if you haven’t defined your client by now, your business is probably flailing.

5. You’ve heard about the “elevator speech”. What is yours? Come up with a simple 10-word message that defines, explains and excites prospects about your business.

6. How does your target market become aware of your business? Within this question, you should be able to identify where and how you can best reach your target audience.

7. How do you build trust? People do business with those they like, no, and trust. What are you doing that will build trust to your target market, assuring them that you are the best person to do business with.

8. How is your cash flow? Be realistic. If you aren’t honest with yourself about your cash resources, you can’t be realistic about what you can achieve. If you are in a position that you have assets but require interim assistance was financing projects, what revenue sources are available to help you grow your business?

9. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes. By walking a mile in your clients’ shoes, you can define and refine the customer experience. Happy client not only becomes a repeat client, but also becomes a source for referrals by becoming an advocate for your business.

10. Once you have defined where you want to goal, what gaps in resources do you face? None of us are experts at everything. Define what you can do and either assign tasks to someone else in your organization in their area of expertise, or outsource to a professional.

11. Do you require partnerships with others in order to achieve your goals? In some cases, it makes sense to partner with complementary business professionals to keep costs down, share resources, and benefit.

12. Finally, now that you’ve answered all of these questions, what does the result of implementing this strategy look like? If you see any holes in the results, review the list again and refine your strategy further.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

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How To Get Discovered With Organic Search

organic search

How is your company getting found online?

There are tons of articles out there about paid search. SEO, Adwords, display ads, paid ads on social media… We’ve heard and read about them all. And, done properly, any and all of these methods can be effective and done with in a pre-set budget.

But prior to the development of these methods and the incarnation of the tens of thousands of companies and individuals who provide these services, there was something called organic search.

Organic search is simply being found online without paying for positioning on search engines. In other words, as defined by Wikipedia, “Organic search results are listings on search engine results pages that appear because of their relevance to the search terms, as opposed to their being advertisements.”

Of course, even organic search requires a strategy in order to show up on the listings. However, these tactics can be undertaken without the need to hire outside help.

Search engines obviously require input data that allows your company to be found. Things like keywords and backlinks are still important, but can be created through website design and data, clever content, and having your site backlinked to other sources, which helps determine the popularity of your site.

Review the following four questions to find out how users discover your company through organic search:

1. When searching for your keywords, what do users notice first: your website, your ads, or your competitors? If they are finding your ads, it proves that your paid advertising is working, but says little about your organic search. If they’re finding your competitors first, it’s definitely time to review your site and your content to make sure that you are targeting the appropriate keywords for your business. If they’re finding your website first, you are getting good organic search results.

2. What words are standing out to users on the Google search page results? Regardless of whether your site is being found on the first two pages of search engine results, review the words that are showing up on the results and make sure that you are using the words and terms that are being found.

3. If, and when, users are clicking on your link what do they expect to find? Make sure that you are using keywords that are appropriate to your business. Falsifying your content to gain organic search results is not the way to go. Users will be upset at what is a thinly veiled attempt to gain traffic and will boycott your site.

4. Does your landing page (or homepage) meet the users’ expectations? As mentioned above, make sure that you are being found by users who are entering a search query that is true to your business. You have only a matter of seconds to capture the attention of a visitor to your site. If they are not drawn to keywords and content that matches their interest, they’ll move on to the next search result.

Organic search results are an important part of online business success. Make sure that you don’t neglect this function. Keep your content fresh and current; both search engines and users are looking for this!

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

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7 Ways to Test Your Customer Experience

customer experience

How does your user experience measure up to your competitors?

None of us can afford to stand still in business. If we aren’t continuing to grow and to learn new ways to interact with our clients, we’re dead in the water!

The global marketplace has defined how we interact with our customers. There is really no such thing anymore as a captive audience. Technology and how our clients and prospects interact with our businesses continues to evolve.

The seven questions in this article can help you evaluate how your user experience compares the competition.

One of the more important metrics is to evaluate your performance over time. To help measure this, ask these three questions;

1. Has your customer experience changed since you run your last test?

2. Is your customer experience improving, especially as compared to your competitors?

3. Can you attribute the changes to something you changed on your site, something different about your products or services, or changes within the market?

By asking these three questions, you will be able to evaluate how your company continues to adapt to new realities within the marketplace.

But we must also evaluate how our clients are accessing our businesses online. Mobile now accounts for over 60% of all searches, and this continues to grow and to change the way that we are interacting with our clients and prospects. Therefore, it is equally important that we understand and evaluate the customer experience across the different channels.

The following four questions will address those issues;

1. What does the interaction between your business and your client look like on their smart phone, desktop, tablet, and in person?

2. Regardless of how your client is interacting with you, is there experience consistent?

3. Should your client need to access or complete a process across multiple devices, does it happen smoothly and efficiently?

4. Which of the various channels do your users consider their primary choice?

Understanding how your users are interacting with your company, and how seamless and simple their experience is, will give you a leg up on your competitors. Put yourself in the shoes of your clients and prospects, providing them with the same type of experience that attract you.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

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Six Questions to Measure Your Brand

measure your brand

How is your brand perceived?

Presenting a unified brand – one that resonates with clients and prospects – is perhaps the number one element that will determine the success or the failure of your business.

As mentioned in previous articles, a brand is so much more than simply a logo. Your brand should define your company; what it represents, the guiding principles, and how you do business. It is a combination of colors, logo, and a clear representation of your core values.

When considering your brand, consider these following six questions to ensure an accurate depiction of your business.

1. How do clients and perspective clients perceive your company?

This is perhaps one of the most important factors. How your clients and prospects perceive your company will determine their interest in doing business with you.

2. What words would they use to describe you?
From time to time, ask your clients how they would describe your company. Also, you could consider an online poll to reach prospective clients and gauge their response.

3. Do those words match the way you want to be perceived?

Once you have the feedback from your clients and prospects about how they describe your company, compare their responses to what your intention is with your brand.

4. Does your brand appear trustworthy?

More and more, business is being done online. You must be sure that your brand is able to convey that you are trustworthy. But also remember that your off-line presence is just as important, so be sure to develop your brand to show authority and that your company can be trusted.

5. Would they recommend you?

One of the most important ways of marketing is that of word-of-mouth. Aside from the fact that it is the least expensive type of marketing, it is also more likely to create a better relationship with new clients due to the implied trust from the person who is recommending you. When reviewing your brand, engage your clients and ask them if they would consider recommending your business.

6. What do they like and dislike about the way you present your product or service?

Another key question that will help develop a strong, trustworthy brand is to ask your clients what they like-or don’t like-about how you are presenting your products or services in the marketplace. People like to do business with “winners”, so determining how you are seen through the eyes of your clients is critical.

Whether you are just starting your business or re-branding your business, keep these six questions in mind to help develop an identity that has strength and authority.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

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Do This To Ensure You Fail!

fail

No one sets out to fail – or do they?

Recently, I had a conversation with a colleague of mine. We are both in the marketing field, and so we typically discuss various issues that come up with our clients. This type of sharing has the benefit of bringing in a fresh set of eyes on the situation, often helping to determine a new approach to a given issue.

Now, in the interests of respecting and maintaining privacy for both my colleague and his client, certain circumstances in the following story will be altered.

But the essence and the lesson remain the same.

This client approached my colleague with a relatively simple project about two or three months ago. There was a fairly tight budget involved for a specific scope of work to be undertaken to complete his part of the project.  Over time, this project has ballooned in size and scope, but the budget has failed to increase at the same pace.

The changes to the project are not unusual or unreasonable, and in all likelihood could develop into an even better final product. The problem with the changes is that they are just being thrown out there, apparently on a whim.

When this project was first brought to my colleague’s attention, it seemed to have a clearly defined purpose and budget. However, now it seems as though whatever the project lead dreams about suddenly becomes part of the project.

This approach to marketing is doomed!

I’ve written in the past about what I term “ad hoc” marketing; its problems and its pitfalls. And what is happening with this project is a prime example of ad hoc marketing.

Too often, business owners are quick to say that marketing doesn’t work, or it doesn’t give them a proper return on investment. And while there are certainly some unscrupulous marketers, just as there are unscrupulous people in every line of work, it’s important that these business owners take responsibility when the failures rest on their shoulders.

No marketing campaign will ever work without first developing a proper marketing strategy. What is your budget? Who is your audience? What is your timeline? What is your message?

Sometimes, of course, things can change as a project gets underway. There is absolutely nothing wrong with changing your strategy if you find that circumstances have changed. But again, you don’t throw out your original marketing strategy and run with whatever idea crosses your mind at the moment. Stop and look at what remains beneficial in your original strategy and plan appropriately to incorporate the changes.

Whether you run a large corporation or are a one-man show, you will never obtain the results you want if you do not take a strategic approach to your marketing.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

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Content Marketing Made Easy

Content marketing

Providing informative, useful content should be the driving force of your marketing.

We all know that the face of marketing has changed significantly over the past several years. Sure, at its core the fundamentals and the principles of marketing remain the same. But how clients and prospects engage has shifted, thanks to the advancement of technology, and content marketing is the best way to reach them online.

Clients and prospects now, more than ever, have control over what they see. TV remotes and DVR’s have allowed us to skip advertisements and channel surf to find those shows that we find most engaging. Traditional cable is also suffering, as more and more people see the advantage of streaming the shows and content that they want to see, without being locked into packages and programming that is dictated to them by the cable companies.

Savvy marketers who have kept up with the times understand that they need to adapt to this ever-changing landscape to keep their clients relevant within their niches. And one of the best ways to do this is with content marketing.

Simply defined, content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.  The purpose of content marketing is to attract and retain customers through the consistent creation of relevant and valuable content intended to sway or enhance prospects behavior towards your business.

Content marketing is not something that you do once and walk away. Just like the more traditional forms of advertising, repetition is important. By providing consistent, interesting and valuable information to your clients and prospects, you develop an engaged audience that learns to trust your authority.

But remember, content marketing is not about selling; it is the art of communicating with your clients and prospects. Rather than pitching your products or services, the focus is on providing information that helps make your prospective client more intelligent. This strategy is based on the belief that through the delivery of consistent, ongoing content that provides value to your prospect, you will be rewarded with their business and loyalty.

repeat-customer-marketing

And history has shown that this strategy works! Content marketing is being used successfully by some of the largest global organizations. But the beauty of content marketing is that you don’t have to be a big player to implement this strategy successfully. Properly developed and executed by small businesses, content marketing has proven itself to work over and over again.

Content marketing represents the current and the future state of marketing.

Remember our earlier definition of content marketing?

The key difference between content marketing and other types of marketing is that content marketing is not focused on selling your “stuff”.

Keep in mind that companies are sending us information all the time. But is it relevant? Most of the time it’s not, so clients and prospects become conditioned to delete so much of this. What makes content marketing so in trading in today’s marketing space is that one key point of differentiation – relevancy. Good content marketing engages the audience, changing the way they think and behave in reaction to the materials they are being sent.

You just can’t market without great content.

I’m sure you are using many different types of marketing tactics. But regardless of what you are doing, be sure that content marketing is a part of these processes not something distinct and separate.

Indeed, quality content is a part of all types of marketing. Consider the following:

Social media marketing: integrate content marketing into the posts on your social media profiles
• SEO: Search engines love businesses that publish quality, consistent content.
• PR: Successful PR strategies address issues that people care about. PR is not about selling.
• PPC: PPC is an expensive experiment that is unlikely to give you a proper ROI without great content behind it.
• Inbound marketing: to drive inbound traffic and leads, you need good content.

To be effective at content marketing, it is essential to develop, create and follow a documented content marketing strategy. We can help you with the development of this strategy.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

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How To Market Your Financial Services Business

financial services business

To those of you in the financial services business, welcome to our “How To…” series!

This series will provide some marketing tips and strategies for different business sectors.  Today, we start this series by giving some ideas to the financial services industry.  If you work in any of the areas of this industry, you will want to watch it; if you work in another niche, you will still benefit.

Watch our video here, or watch on YouTube.

Transcription of video:

Hi, Nancy Boisvert of Agapi Marketing & Consulting here and I wanted to talk to all of you professionals out there in the financial services industry today.

I know there are some you who are independents, but the larger portion of you do work under the umbrella of a larger corporation, and I do know that many times you folks tend to defer your marketing to the larger corporation. And that’s fine if that’s working for you. But I guess my question to you is, what is setting you apart from all the others? That comes down to branding. So what I’m going to discuss with you today is ways to set yourself apart from your competition.

I wanted to address just a handful of ideas, give you some tips and some ideas that perhaps you can implement.

Now, one of the things that we all know is that people like to do business with people that they like, know and trust. So, assuming that you’re getting a large portion of your prospects from a pool out there, and not necessarily from referral business, how do you get people to like, know and trust you?

Well, that boils down to, first of all, being seen as an expert in your field. And how do you do that? Well, there’s a handful of ways that you can look at doing that.

One of the things that you can do is set up your own YouTube channel. I’m doing this video here in my home office just to show you that you don’t need to be fancy, you don’t need a lot of expensive equipment, and you don’t need a studio to do it. What you need to do is shut your door, turn off your phones, get in front of your Webcam and share a little bit of your expertise and your knowledge with the people who are your target audience. So you can do that.

Another thing you can do is write a book. Now, don’t get intimidated; I’m not talking about writing “War and Peace”. I’m talking about putting together a 30 to 45-page book that you can sell on Amazon – or just give it away to your clients and prospects. But what I am suggesting is that if you do you have it published, that also helps enhance your reputation as an expert. If you don’t have time to do that, consider ghostwriter.

Another thing that you can do is send out newsletters on a monthly basis. Now, I know you’re governing company probably does have some sort of newsletter, some sort of monthly communication that they can provide, but again loses all that personal touch. If I know that you’re just one of 400 agents under the umbrella of specific Corporation, what is it that makes me want to stay with you or do business with you, instead of somebody down the road who has the same shingle? So, set yourself apart from your competitors.

Do “lunch and learns”. Bring in a handful of people once a month. Invite a dozen different people, bring in a guest speaker and present something and give people something that they’re going to remember. They’re going to have a lunch, they’re going to get some information, they’ll have some one-on-one time; a really, really great way to get people to build that trust factor with you.

So that’s just a handful of things that you can do.

What I’d like you to do is connect to my website. I’ve got a link here on this video. You can connect connector there. I’ve got a transcript of this video on there in case you wanted to print it off or some of the ideas. But what I’d really like you do is give me a call or drop me an email. No obligation. Let’s just explore what it is that you’re doing and let’s see if there’s some way that I can help you build your business and become more popular to your target audience out there.

So I’ll leave you with that. Thank you very much for watching the video and I look forward to hearing from you soon. Bye for now.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

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Digital Fatigue???

digital fatigue

There is absolutely no question that digital communications are the new reality;

they should also form an integral part of any marketing strategy.

But that doesn’t mean that online communication and social media strategies should be the only avenue you take for promoting and advertising your business.

The phrase “digital fatigue” has been around for a couple of years now, and has a couple of different meanings. There is an actual medical definition that refers to physical manifestations resulting from spending too much time on computers, smart phones and other electronics. This includes problems like eyestrain and migraines.

And then there is the antisocial aspect of digital communications. We are all familiar with instances of groups of people sitting together but not interacting, instead preferring focusing their attentions on their smartphones.  In fact, we have all poked fun at those folks.  Some places, like restaurants and theaters, are implementing rules about cellphones.  Scary that we have to have rules put into place to avoid being rude…

Is it any wonder that people are seeking out physical objects and experiences?

There is no denying that to be successful in business these days you must have an online presence. And these days, your website needs to be more than simply an online brochure. A website where prospects and clients can go to learn more about you or to obtain assistance with some simple questions about your business is a must. Social media is also playing a bigger and bigger role. Love it or hate it, but used properly social media is an incredibly powerful tool for engaging clients and prospective clients. It also provides opportunities to announce new product and service offerings, to announce sales, and to interact in a timely way with others.

Unfortunately, in some cases people think that online marketing is all they need to do – especially if they are digital marketers.

When you are developing your marketing strategy, be sure that what you are developing is truly a marketing strategy. If you engage the services of a digital marketer, expect to have your marketing plan focus on digital marketing.  And if you are engaging the services of someone who only does off-line marketing, then you can also expect their marketing plan to focus on their area of specialty: off-line marketing.

That is why you should consider hiring a marketing strategist to provide an overall marketing strategy. A good marketing strategist will take a look at all aspects of your business and provide you with a marketing plan with the proper balance of off-line and online marketing strategies, specific to the needs of your business. It can be easy to be seduced by the promises of quick results by those marketers who will deliver services specifically in their niche, but without the global view, an understanding of your business goals and your corporate brand, you are likely to be disappointed with the results. Even if the marketer is successful in delivering what they have promised to deliver, your overall marketing plan will be missing specific elements, and any gains are likely to be lost as soon as the program is discontinued.

Before the internet and online marketing became widespread, there was some initial reluctance in adopting it as a marketing technique. Now however, it seems as though the pendulum has swung too far the other way with too much reliance on technology, which has resulted in “digital fatigue”.

Despite all of the benefits – and there are many – of technology and digital communication, at the end of the day we all like that personal touch, that human connection, the knowledge that there is another human being on the other side of that computer screen. Keep that in mind and seek balance in your marketing strategy and you will have better results and happier clients.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

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The Science Of Marketing

science of marketing

I wanted to talk to you today about the science of marketing.

I think this is a very important topic because, despite what many people believe, effective marketing is truly a science.

Let’s look for a minute at the definition of science:

sci·ence/ˈsīəns/
noun

  • the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.
  • a systematically organized body of knowledge on a particular subject.

As you can see from the above definition, science is not limited to the study of chemicals, biology, physics, etc., but rather can be applied to any subject as long as that subject is approached and executed in a systematic way.

Those of you who have been reading my articles for a while have heard me say many times that marketing is a science and must be approached in that manner. One of the things that I have repeatedly said is that marketing is not advertising. And, to repeat myself again, marketing is a process and advertising is a method of delivery of your messaging to your clients and prospects.

So, why do I continue to repeat this mantra?

Well, partly it is because of this common misconception which leads to the belief that “anyone can do marketing”, with the end result being disappointed clients. And partly it is to help educate folks, assisting them in understanding the difference so that they can make better choices and ensure that their marketing dollars are being allocated appropriately.

Unfortunately, just like in many industries, there are those who promote themselves as marketing experts when, in truth, they are simply executing a single advertising method. For instance, we all know that in today’s technology-based environment that we must have an online presence. And, based on your business model and your intent, being found online can an important factor in the success or failure of your business. Knowing this, many individuals and companies have been formed who will promise to give you first page rankings on search engines for a specified fee. This is an effective strategy when employed correctly, but make sure that you are working with a reputable individual or organization so you will not be disappointed with the results. In some cases, these people or companies will charge huge fees for a short term result, causing your rankings to drop again as soon as their engagement is completed. Even more worrying, is that some of these individuals and companies employ “black hat” techniques which can cause you to become banned from the search engines.

Everything of value takes time to build. You must create a solid foundation and build on that foundation for the structure to be solid. Do not be seduced by quick fix schemes; you will end up disappointed and poorer for it.

Do your homework when hiring your marketing consultant. Check testimonials and asked them about their methods, tactics, and techniques. And also, make sure that your personalities fit. There is no denying that we get along with some folks better than others, and you will not get your best results if you do not get along with the people with whom you are working.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

The Problem With Ad-Hoc Marketing

ad hoc marketing

Avoid ad-hoc marketing at all costs!

Many business owners believe that marketing is a relatively simple exercise and something that they can manage on their own, for the most part. They may wish to change some elements or some content on their website. Or, they may look to design a brochure to be delivered to prospects. Or, they may look at reworking or putting together any other kind of a marketing campaign, plan, or promotion with the intention of enhancing their business.

And there is nothing wrong with a business owner managing their own marketing. That is, as long as they understand that each individual piece of a promotional undertaking is actually an underlying element of a bigger plan.

This past week I was approached by a prospect who was looking to change up his corporate website. He had spent a lot of money and a lot of time on what became four different variations of the website, and still had not managed to get what he wanted. The various marketing companies that had been hired had been either unwilling or unable to understand the ultimate goal of the business owner in articulating his vision and the brand of his business.

When this prospect approached me, he was understandably very frustrated. He was looking for someone to rewrite the content of his website in a way that would be more appealing to his target audience. As I explained to him, if he was simply looking for a copywriter he could hire anyone of a number of people who would be happy to simply fill his pages with content.

I explained to him that although this might be a quick fix, it was unlikely that he would end up satisfied with the final product for the long-term, and that he would most likely end up having to do yet another redesign and remake of his website.

Which leads me to the reason for this article today.

The unfortunate trap that many business owners fall into when attempting to either do their own marketing or to approach their marketing on an ad hoc basis, is that there is a lack of the synergy between the different elements of their marketing efforts. Each piece of the advertising and promotional pieces that make up a marketing plan and marketing campaigns is a piece of a bigger puzzle. Consider what would happen if you took one piece from five different puzzles and tried to make each of those pieces fit in a different puzzle. It wouldn’t be very pretty, and it certainly wouldn’t have the results you would hope for!

So, once again I come back to explaining the reality that there is a science to marketing. As a marketing strategist, it is my role to help the business owner see the complete picture and understand how all of the pieces fit together. In the example that I have provided above, I explained to the business owner that for him to end up satisfied with the website that would serve his company’s interests for the next 3 to 5 years, it is imperative to understand and to develop a marketing strategy that encompasses both his immediate and long-term goals, and how best to apply this in order to attract the proper prospects and retain his current clients.

Creating a proper marketing strategy is building the foundation of your communication and promotional efforts. This blueprint creates the framework and gives the guidance to move your business forward in a structured and measurable fashion, providing the results you hope to achieve. Therefore, try to avoid Band-Aid marketing solutions or quick fixes if you are hoping to obtain positive measurable results.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

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