Your Marketing Plan Is Doomed If You're Not Doing These 4 Things

Are you missing the mark?

In the old days, if you didn’t have a huge advertising budget, it was next to impossible to compete with the big dogs in your industry. But with the advent of today’s technology, those days are long over. Yet, many companies are still missing the mark when it comes to marketing their companies by not taking advantage of these four invaluable tools. Want to know what they are? Read on!

1. Running a device responsive site

We’ve all experienced the frustration of trying to view a website that isn’t responsive on a mobile device. You can probably identify with the aggravation of trying to order something or get information from a website on your phone, only to find you can’t because the site is either not functional on that device or appears miniscule.

Today, all websites should be responsive, which means no matter what device your customers (and the world at large) are using, the site adapts to the size of the screen and functions perfectly. If not, visitors to your site will leave—and find the competition, which is the last thing you want.

A device responsive site is also a necessity because Google doesn’t like sites that aren’t—which means if your site isn’t responsive it ranks low in search results. And a low ranking in search results translates into missed opportunities. If you’re not sure your site is responsive, go to Google and search responsive test. If you know it’s not, get it converted right away. It’s that important.

2. Blogging

While many business owners feel that blogs are just fluff and have no real value, the opposite is actually true. Blogs are an effective way to inspire, inform, entertain, and educate customers about who you are, what you do, and why they need you. It also helps to establish you and/or your business as an expert in your industry. It doesn’t matter if you’re a plumber or a surgeon, if you’re selling doorbells or providing senior care—having a blog is a key marketing tool that you shouldn’t be without.

Here’s a stat that may surprise you: 77 percent of all internet users read blogs. And, since 95 percent of businesses that have blogs get ranked higher in Google searches, it only makes sense you’d want to get your piece of that pie.

A blog is not only a highly impactful way to engage with your customers, it is also something that Google loves. Because when you post blogs consistently and frequently, Google recognizes this as fresh content on your site—which raises you higher up in those search results.

In addition, having a blog gives you a 24/7, 365 days a year way to communicate and engage with customers and potential customers—it’s like having a rep out in the field at all times promoting you as the go-to resource in your field and driving traffic to your website.

If you’re shaking your head thinking you don’t have a clue how to blog, what to write about, or how you’d even get one started, here’s some steps to take:

• Add a blog page to your business website

• Make a list of topics that relate to your business: simple, informative, non-salesy content that relates to your customers and their needs. If you have a list of FAQs or know that you or your sales team are answering the same questions over and over, address them on your blog.

• Assign a writer at your company or outsource it to a pro

• Get blogging

• If you’re already blogging, blog more! (Increasing from 3-5 a month to 6-8 a month can double your business leads!)

3. Getting social

1 billion people are actively engaging on Facebook alone. This number should give you an indication on why social media is so important to your marketing strategy. Make no mistake, your customers are there, too. And if you’re not present at this party, you’re missing out. Big time.

If you’re envisioning posting your company’s May birthday celebration that took place in the break room—stop right there. The medium has advanced eons since the days of b-day cake postings and now, companies use social media as a channel to make their content come alive, to share information, to inspire and to establish their online presence.

And once you begin blogging, your social media marketing campaign will go-hand-in-hand with your blog. If you’re unsure how to get started, here are some key steps to take:

• Choose a few channels: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn are the most popular, but if your business his highly visual or completely B2C, you may want to consider something like Instagram instead.

• Add links to your social pages on your business website

• Promote your blog on all channels (make sure you make posts for each social media channel unique and applicable to that channel; for instance, Twitter only gives you 140 characters, including the link. Facebook gives you much more.)

• Create a schedule to be consistent

4. Consistently sending newsletters

Although you may be thinking that newsletters are a thing of the past, the reality is that today’s newsletters are digital, interactive and very much alive!

A newsletter allows you to engage on a whole other level and capitalize on the opportunity to promote your company to an audience that has chosen to be there. And unlike your blogs and other social media content, in your newsletter you can include a sales message, providing your audience with some of the key benefits of what you do and how your company may be of service to them.

If you’re still not convinced, check this out:

• Newsletters are the third most popular B2B marketing content marketing tactic used
  (78 percent)

• Consumers who subscribed to email newsletters generate 34.25 percent more product sales for companies

• 60.8 percent of US marketers said that sending email newsletters was one of their online and mobile tactics

Today, marketing your company effectively requires utilizing these four resources. If you’re unsure how to get started or are looking for help with your content marketing, get in touch with us today.