Is your marketing consistent?
Business Buzz
by Candice Sealey
We are almost six months into the year, so now is a good time to stop and evaluate your businessâs marketing efforts. One of the most important things that some businesses forget when it comes to marketing is consistency.{{more}}
There are small businesses that show signs of enthusiasm when it comes to marketing, but at times this enthusiasm is coupled with urgency and no plan. Jotting down marketing ideas on paper or on a flip chart is not a plan. If you are a business owner/manager or work in the Marketing department, what have you done over the past few months on a consistent basis?
If your answers include the fact that you have now started thinking about marketing or that your business has done many things, but not on a consistent basis and that you didnât track your efforts, well, Houston⦠you have a problem!
Believe it or not, sometimes your marketing enthusiasm can put your business at risk, especially now as we head into the Carnival/summer season; you may feel an urgency to create Carnival promotions, but before you do so, you must have a plan in mind. Evaluate your marketing efforts thus far by answering True or False to the following:
1. I have not focused on any particular marketing initiative in the last four months.
2. My marketing ideas list continues to grow and Iâm trying new things, but I canât trace any success to my bottom line.
3. I donât know how much I have spent in marketing in the last five months. Iâll have to sit down and calculate it.
4. Iâve cancelled a marketing initiative before starting it because I heard there was something better and now I canât decide what to do or I just thought it was too expensive to execute.
5. I donât qualify any of my marketing efforts; I just know they work.
Whilst it is important to market your service or your products, you must approach it strategically and with knowledge. You can get distracted and in doing so marketing can be thrown off and not be nearly as effective as it could be if you had a marketing plan to follow and a strategy to work from. So, whether you decide to sponsor a section in a mas band, sponsor a JâOuvert band or Miss SVG Contestant or create a promotion for the Carnival season or to suddenly start advertising at this time of year, ensure that you have a strategy and a plan.
Here are some tips to ensure that you use strategies that will grow your business:
1. Know where you stand.
What have you done? How has that worked for you? Are you seeing results from existing marketing initiatives? When you know what has worked and what hasnât worked you can make educated decisions and not be caught off guard with the latest trends.
2. Have a budget.
Having a marketing budget doesnât limit you, it empowers you. When you know how much you can spend on marketing and you stay within that budget, it will lower your stress level and help you develop a plan and strategy that will work for you without breaking the bank and not realizing it until itâs too late.
3. Be knowledgeable when it comes to your target market.
Who is your market? What media outlets do they use? Know their needs and know how to present your marketing message in a way that makes them take action.
4. Review your marketing plan every three months.
Candice Sealey is Founder of Ignite! Full service Marketing & PR Consultancy Company offering tailored services to help businesses succeed. Let Ignite! help you create a social media policy that benefits both your brand and your employees. Create new sparks and get better results for your business.
Follow us @Ignite3D
Email: igniteresults@gmail.com
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