At this time of year, people are talking about their resolutions for the New Year. Eating healthy, exercising, making time for others and saving money are all common themes. But what resolutions do you have for your business and how are you going to take them from a resolution to reality?
We can not tell you how to be a better accountant, engineer, plumber or snow plow driver, but we can offer some guidance when it comes to online marketing.
If your goal is to reach a broader online audience, we suggest a three-step approach to your goal setting.
1) Set concrete goals. “Reaching more people through marketing.” is vague and hard to assess if you have been successful. Maybe rethink your goal and make it more concrete. What if you changed your goal to, “Reach 15% more people through social media marketing.” That is a number you can definitively say you have succeeded in. And, if you are not headed where you want to be, you will know it and can make adjustments or alterations.
2) Determine how you are going to measure your success. If you want to drive more people to your website, do you have a way to see how many people visit the site? If you want more social media interaction, do you know how to tell what your reach is on your social media accounts?
3) Know how long you are going to test your technique and what you are going to change if your initial plan is not working the way you envisioned. Do you have a “Plan B” in place if you need it? Do you even know what to try next if your initial attempts do not reach your goals?
Once you have decided what you want to accomplish, you need to figure out how to get there. To do this, you need to look at where you are now.
Although we often think we are the best person to market our business, that is not always the case. If you can find someone who understands your company and can speak in your “voice” you may experience significantly better results by allowing an online marketer to manage these tasks for you. As one of our clients just told us, “I made a mistake thinking I could do it all myself. I am so glad I brought you onboard. Now you can work ON my buesiness and I can work IN my business! The results you are able to achieve are hands down better than I was able to do myself.”
We encourage you to take a serious and honest look at what you are doing well and how you might improve your online presence. Evaluate if any of these three goals might work for you. We feel that it is ALWAYS the right time to make a change for the better no matter what date is on the calendar!