Whether you’re the head of marketing for your company or a small business owner wearing multiple hats, successful marketing requires a thoughtful and organized workflow to ensure that all your T’s are crossed and I’s are dotted.
Of all elements of your business, marketing can be particularly fluid. Sure, you may have a solid marketing plan and promotional schedule, and you may even have a great project management system, but marketing is a constantly changing beast because it deals with the fluid variables of market conditions, competition, customer preferences and behaviors, among other things.
Which means that as a marketer you need great systems in place to effectively get the message out to your audience so that amidst the chaos of the constantly changing environment, you are working smarter, not harder.
We have a few tips that will get you on track to a smarter workflow – which, in turn, will put you on track for better results with less effort. With no further ado:
Schedule Ahead What Can Be Scheduled
When you’re trying to promote something to your customers, it’s important to be nimble and able to pivot quickly and easily as you track the performance of your marketing campaigns. In order to be flexible and available for change, it’s remarkably helpful to get out of your own way and avoid the temptation to procrastinate.
Procrastination is human nature, but you never regret working ahead, particularly for things that are unlikely to change.
For example, we encourage our Retriever customers to schedule their holiday slides as well as any recurring promotions or announcements ahead for the year so that they automatically inject fresh content into their playlists and automatically unpublish irrelevant content, without additional effort.
Don’t Believe the Loudest Voice
While it’s incredibly important to be on your toes as a marketer and pay attention to your market conditions and campaign performance, it can be incredibly easy to focus on the wrong things. One negative voice telling you something critical can skew your entire perception of your business, your marketing efforts, and your customers’ actual perceptions.
So, rather than wasting time trying to adjust to one loud, critical voice, spend your time instead analyzing data that reflects a broad base of your customers – not just the one most critical person. In an age where every digital platform is encouraging people to review your business, remember that the most likely person to leave a review is someone with a gripe – not your happy and loyal customers.
Moreover, everyone believes that they are representing your entire customer base, but you can’t trust their opinions: you have to look at the data. So, look at campaign performance on digital campaigns and benchmark it; conduct market research; survey your customers with an incentive; follow up with your clients about their knowledge of your business; and look at results. Then, spend your time adjusting to the data, not the one loud voice in your ear.
Communicate Effectively
More time and money is wasted by businesses who need to improve their internal & external communications processes. Poor communication is at the heart of misunderstandings, excessive meetings, frustrations, and conflict for your business. Whether it’s a matter of assuming everyone heard you the first time, missing people on an email list, or having simply too many details to coordinate to get your message across, poor communication will eat up your work week.
We actually have way more than few tips for strengthening your communication skills, and we’d love to share them for you! We’ve created this webinar with 7 great strategies to take your communication to the next level, and you can get free access here.