New year, new way of looking at things?
January is full of broken promises and visions of the future, but as research shows, 80% percent of people don’t fulfill their new year resolutions.
We know what we should be doing, but don’t always follow through.
Though this may be the case personally, don’t let it be the situation in your work life.
Here are 8 marketing related thoughts for you to think about in this fresh new year.
1 – Does your website work?
Do you get a consistent flurry of enquiries from your website? Does it help you win work or even bring you the right kind of work? Does it support your price premium or reflect your growth ambitions?
Does it support your sales efforts and help you open doors to new buyers?
Do you have an ongoing plan to deliver relevant content to your target audience – guiding them through the sales process?
Have you tailored your marketing strategy to your sales cycle? If you are in the world of B2B, your website needs to be highly strategic and help convince people you’re the one for them.
We’ve already helped a niche consultancy attract £4 million + worth of enquiries 6 months after launching their new branding and website.
Whatever your website goals – let’s talk.
2 – Are you reflecting the business of 2023?
The last few years have been quite volatile. Some businesses had a hard time and others thrived. Most businesses have definitely changed. Whether it’s working more remote or offering something different – have you signalled that change?
At Smith, we find most SMEs change – but don’t express this to the market. They change their proposition, but don’t communicate this effectively.
We call it the brand gap. The gap in perception, between what you are now and how you are perceived by your customers.
3 – Has your strategy changed?
Have you increased your prices? Have you lowered your prices? Are you targeting a certain target audience? Are you pushing a certain product line?
Something we’ve found from working with 1000’s of SMEs over the years, is the majority aren’t great at making their strategy visual.
Is your most important product or service front and centre? Or do you give it the same attention as the rest?
Most businesses have only a few products/services or customers that bring more value than the others.
Are you visualising this to your market?
4 – Are you taking your brand seriously?
How often does the word brand, or reputation come up in board meetings?
Most small to medium business acknowledge their brand as their logo, their look and feel, and maybe their name.
Brand is way more than this, and is a management tool – rather than a nice to have.
Brand building is a lever to pull for business growth, and we have many examples to support this.
5 – Are you using brand to attract the right talent?
Your brand isn’t just about new business – it’s also about your proposition to potential talent.
30% of the UK workforce is working remotely at least one day a week, this for a lot of online businesses and the service sector has opened up a bigger talent pool.
But making the right impression online is essential.
Do you look like an attractive company to work for online?
From a Home Care business that increased headcount by 397, to a specialist law firm recruiting nationwide – we can help.
6 – Marketing not working?
Are you thinking tactics before strategy?
It’s easy to do social just because competition is, or because your friend’s business does it.
Starting with strategy aligns your marketing to your business goals. Not just doing it because others are.
Most marketing isn’t effective because it isn’t rigorous enough.
Are you segmenting your customer base, targeting the most lucrative segments and positioning a
relevant message to them?.
7 – Are you sending the wrong message?
Market orientation is the idea that an organisation doesn’t see themselves as a customer does.
Are you making marketing decisions based on what you think? Or how a customer would think. Chances are, you are taking it personally.
Do your marketing messages makes sense to you, rather than your customers?
Are you saying the right things, but just not in a compelling way?
If you want to create more impact in your marketing messages – we can help.
We use behaviour change principles in our work that makes our marketing communications
and branding more effective.
8 – Need consistency in your communications?
Do you struggle to maintain a consistent approach to your marketing?
Consistency breeds trust and repetition builds brands.
When you’re busy being busy, it’s easy to forget to tell the world about your successes, what’s new and what’s important.
If any of these points resonate with you – let’s talk.