Review Your Marketing

The new year is a great time to take a look at your marketing program and see what worked, what didn’t, and what changes you can make.

It’s easy to lose sight of the big picture when you’re busy handling the day-to-day-operations. You can start your review by refocusing on your marketing goals. Your marketing efforts should help support your business and drive sales, and your marketing goals should have a measurable outcome such as number of leads generated, new customers, etc.

You can take a look at your original marketing plan, too. A marketing plan should asses your current business situation and include a budget. Has your business situation changed? Are you over budget?

Lay It Out

Once you’ve reviewed your goals, you can look at all your marketing channels, individually and as a whole. You can see which ones are effective and which ones aren’t. Look at social media, email campaigns, print, website. What are your conversion rates?

When prospects contact you, ask them how they found your business. This data can help track your results and give you a better understanding of where your customers look for your type of business or service.

Does It Still Work?

You’ll want to review your program with an objective eye. Are there areas that are underperforming? Are there ways you could improve? If there are aspects that aren’t working — say you tested some emails and postcards and the results were terrible — you can try reworking the copy and design. If the results don’t improve, it may be time to rethink strategy, approach and messaging.

Is the Messaging Still Applicable?

Creating effective messaging is crucial to your marketing. Is your messaging still effective? Are you attracting new customers and keeping current ones? Social media has become a major marketing channel. Is your social media engaging? The review process is a good time to tweak your message and make sure it’s still working.

What Are You Missing?

Is your website up to date? Are you taking advantage of holiday promotions and sales? Are you engaging customers? Are you letting customers know what makes you different or better than your competitors? You may need to start an email marketing campaign or expand your reach with radio or other media. What’s the most effective way to reach your market?

What Can Be Discarded?

As the old saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” But if something isn’t working, or if you feel part of your campaign is simply a little stale, you can fix it. Take the opportunity to redesign graphics, rework copy, and revamp emails or other sales material.

Farmhouse Creative is here to help make sure your marketing works. We’d love to help review your plan. Feel free to contact us.