How healthy are your marketing efforts? It’s easy to fall into a routine and fall out of the habit of examining your results. Also, some marketing campaigns take weeks or even months to show how well they are working for your business. Just as it is necessary to get periodic physicals for your personal health, every now and then, it’s necessary to do a check-up on your business. Assess what is working, what is bleeding money without results and what efforts could use a vitamin shot. Take the time now to give your marketing a check-up and decide what to do to improve your business’s health.
Checking Your Vitals
Start by looking at all of the statistics you have available. Break it down into whatever chunk feels manageable; monthly is most common, but, you may want to look at weekly results, as well. Think of these as numbers that are akin to your blood pressure, cholesterol count and your weight. Consider factors like revenue, traffic to your blogs, clicks on PPC advertising and engagement on social media. Look at all of these factors together to see what correlation, if any, you can find between what you do to bring in clients and your sales results.
Quitting or Cutting Down
Sometimes marketing efforts feel good, but don’t deliver results. Looking at your figures, does it look like the weeks that you tweet a lot look no different from the ones where you forget to look at Twitter? Does it seem like the last ebook you commissioned was downloaded a lot, but never resulted in sales? Do you get a lot of clicks on PPC campaigns, but little follow-through? It’s important to remember that every business is unique, and what works for one may be wasted effort for another.
These are all signs that your funds and energy are being misdirected. Talk to content strategists about revamping your efforts in these areas and even cutting out the least effective uses of your resources altogether.
When It’s Time to Supplement
Marketing your business can be a lot like going to the gym. Sometimes, we know what’s good for us, but we can’t seem to find the time or energy to do it. Have you noticed that blog posts seem to get good traffic, but, you don’t write enough of them? It might be time to hire blog writers to take up the slack and keep prospects coming in. Do a study of how much it costs to have content written for you; often, you will be surprised to learn that you can pay for several updates a week with just a few sales.
By periodically checking up on the health of your marketing efforts, you can make your business leaner, more efficient and more profitable. Reevaluate often and make the necessary changes to keep your venture’s health in tip top shape.
Lara S is a content writer and blogger. She’s written professionally since 1998 and specializes in creating reader-friendly posts for complex industries like healthcare, law and insurance. On the weekends, you’re likely to find her out on her sailboat or ensconced in bed with a book.
