"I send my words to you over the ether net like a message in the bottle"

Welcome to my first post of the New Year which through LinkedIn will reach all of my connections, but how can you ensure that the voice of your company will be heard among your most important and influential customers?

Incorporating the following elements as part of your New Year marketing strategy will enable you to grow your business and ultimately gain lots of valuable leads and sales. Surely it is better to reach a large audience with the correct message, than have a message in a bottle that never reaches your target audience!

Set objectives

The start of a new year is a perfect time to set objectives or revisit your existing objectives. Looking short term is fine but it is also important to set medium and long term objectives so you can determine where you want to be in the next one to three years. If applicable, focus on parts of the business that are experiencing change or need improving and make sure your objectives are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely). You should be trying to measure frequently whether you are on course to achieve your objectives, e.g. weekly sales or new customers each month and performance against objectives should be reviewed regularly at least one a month.

Invest time in your marketing plan

Before undertaking any marketing activity, it is important to know who you want to reach and why, this is where a marketing plan can help as it enables you to find your target audience and focuses your energy on creating appealing and attention-grabbing messages.

Analyse your 2015 sales and revenue trends

• Where did your sales and revenue come from in 2015?
• Did most of your revenue come from existing or new customers?
• How long was your average sales cycle?
• Who were your most profitable and least profitable customers and why?
• Why did you lose the opportunities you think you should have won?

Analyse your 2015 marketing trends

• How much traffic did your website get?
• How many leads did you generate online and offline?
• What was your conversion rate?
• Are you satisfied with the return you’re getting on your investment?

Analyse your competitors

Carry out an analysis of your top competitors to see what may have changed, e.g. look at their websites and on google for news and press mentions.

Confirm what makes you different from your competition

Make sure you are clear on what makes your products or services different from your competitors. By talking to your customers you can find out why they chose to buy from you instead of your competitors and equally what would make them transfer to one of your competitors.

Create a winning brand

Whatever your budget, having a consistent brand image is crucial to ensuring your customers perceive your business in the way you would like them to.

Target your ideal customer

By fully understanding your target audience you will be able to ensure your products or services specifically match their needs. If you are clear on who your ideal customer is, i.e. what they value, what problems they may have, or how is your industry missing something when it comes to solving their problems, you will definitely differentiate yourselves from your competition. A good starting point is to look back at your best customers and identify what makes them profitable and enjoyable to work with.

Make marketing a key part of your business

If you are lucky enough to get the majority of your leads through word-of-mouth that’s great, but it’s not a plan. Word-of-mouth is not 100% dependable. Therefore, it is a good idea to develop a lead generating plan which will provide you with a predictable number of leads each month. Marketing should not just be a reaction to having a low number of leads.

Create a winning promotional plan

Depending on the preferences of your target market there are a variety of ways to promote your company offline and online to gain visibility and encourage customer referrals and repeat business, e.g. direct mail campaigns, e-mail campaigns, local seminar’s, building relationships with complementary businesses, blog useful tips and ideas, advertise in publications aimed at your target audience, websites and social media.

Review your promotional materials

Ensure that your brand and messaging is consistent in all your printed and digital promotional materials. Also, make sure they are written in a style designed to attract your ideal customers highlighting your company’s unique selling propositions.

Try something new

Re-energising your business in today’s market is one of the best ways you can accelerate growth. This could be as simple as stocking new items or improving your premises to totally reinventing yourselves, introducing new products or services or targeting new markets.

By incorporating all these marketing elements into your first quarter business activity you are sure to have a successful 2016!

If you are a business looking for marketing support on any of the above elements, so you can have more free time to work on other areas of your business, then please get in touch. Tel: 07557 040 830 or e-mail: [email protected]

Many thanks for reading!

Clare