How to get ahead, hit the ground running in 2021 and take a leaf out of Google’s marketing plan!
It’s one of my favourite weekends of the year – sad I know – but, if you’re anything like me, you’ll really love the luxury of that extra hour as the clocks go back.
This year though, instead of enjoying the pillow for a few extra zzzz’s, can I urge you to consider investing that precious hour to think about how you are going to tackle 2021.
Perhaps you can make it your very best year ever or, if you are facing problems caused by current COVID restrictions, you might want to plan how you are going to be better, stronger and more resilient after this is all over by planning your marketing strategy well in advance?
I know it’s only October and we are facing a great deal of uncertainty, but if you start preparing now and put things in place, there’s every chance you will be ready to hit the ground running come January. And besides, it’s only an hour….
Start by listing what you’ve done in the past – did it work or not? Next, think about your very best customers – how did you win them? Press advertising, a promotion, a sale, a referral, they walked into your premises based on your fantastic merchandising or special offer, perhaps they came across a really great piece of content you published on social media or you served up a targeted advert….?
Whatever it was, it’s unlikely to have been just luck.
Next, have think about some of the different strategies you could use – don’t choose just do one thing, that’s putting all your eggs in one basket and really try to avoid using more than 10 as that gets way too complicated.
Maybe take the Goldilocks option and try to aim for 5 different strategies – which work together….
To take a leaf out of one of the most successful companies in the world, just look what I got through the post the other day… a mail shot from Google!
Blimey! An online marketing giant using good old ‘snail mail’ as a marketing strategy? It’s clearly one of the tools they are using alongside their usual online marketing tools… they are varying their strategies and creating a marketing mix – brilliantly!
Perhaps you could be looking at trying to do a bit more work with the local press this year – aim to feed them some news stories and pictures about your business – or better still, businesses you work with or have helped.
You could also self-publish focussed articles on LinkedIn and then let your prospects know what you’ve been up to.
These might not directly win you customers but they help to raise awareness – we call them ‘enhancement strategies’ – and they work well alongside an advert, mail shot, leaflet drop, or telephone call.
At Good2Great, we have a whole list of ideas (over 100) of possible marketing strategies for you to consider – they range from easy ‘quick win’ strategies, though to more sophisticated and expensive. You can be sure that there will be at least 5 in there that are really ‘doable for you’.
So, go on – use that precious hour to consider what strategies you want to use next year and MAKE A PLAN!
Has this article got you thinking about your business and how you want to grab the reins and drive it forward. Lots of people in your position feel just the same but struggle to find the time or feel they lack the skills or knowledge to do so?
Since 2007, we’ve helped thousands of business owners who have faced this exact challenge (the reality is that we all feel like this at times during our business journey. We run regular free events and we’d love you to come along some time soon and join in.
Bookings are open now: https://good-2-great.co.uk/free-seminar/
OR – perhaps you’re still at the start of your business journey – Check out Start Up Support
