3 Important Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Marketing

My husband and I are divers. We like to say, “Plan your dive, and dive your plan.”

That may sound familiar to you in the work context: “Plan your work, and work your plan.” This axiom could not be truer than in marketing. Whether you’re marketing your own services, or those of your clients, there are three important questions to ask yourself on a semi-annual or annual basis.

What am I doing to market my business?

Write down everything you are doing to generate new business. Include customer loyalty programs and every source of new leads for you. Include long term and short term lead generation tactics.

What would success for each initiative look like?

Next, determine what your success metrics are. What do you consider success for each tactic you are currently doing? For some tactics, depending on the cost in terms of dollars or your time, it might be a higher number of leads or inquiries than others.  In some cases, we are willing to pay a little bit more for some things because we get additional benefits over and above leads, such as credibility. Be sure to include these secondary success metrics in your plan.

Is it effective?

Finally, track your results. At the conclusion of a calendar quarter or whatever the period is, analyze traffic to your website – has it increased? How many leads have you gotten, and do you have any new hot prospects. Your ability to close the deal and sign the client may not have to do with the effectiveness of the marketing you’re doing. On the other hand, it may if you are attracting leads that aren’t the right fit for your offering.

You’ll want to give every initiative a period of time where you will consistently maintain active effort. Success in marketing takes consistency. It makes sense when you think about it. What are the odds that the right prospective client will see your advertising at precisely the time that they are looking for exactly what you do? It’s really only a fair test of effectiveness if you’ve tested the marketing tactic for a minimum of three to six months. During the test, you can optimize what you’re doing, but maintain consistency in branding and messaging.

These are basic steps, but sometimes we don’t stop to do the simple things that will help us drive our business forward. I hope you will, and I hope you’ll share similar best practices with all of us!