FOCUS YOUR MARKETING AROUND RESULTS

One thing marketing in not is 'fluffy.' There has to be an objective or its a waste of everyone's time. So doing a bit of social media or sending the odd email may sound like a good idea. But without a clear goal you can't begin to expect a great result.

Marketing can drive results for your business but there needs to be some thought before you start.

The world of marketing has changed lately. Updates mean Google are now looking at mobile first ranking, ad blockers prevent your audience from seeing ads in various forms and 'UX' or user experience places a higher focus on website functionality.

Keeping up is getting harder. So the best way to get the most from your marketing activity is to follow the three E's.

ESTABLISH

Establishing your marketing covers quite a bit. First we need to talk about your business goals. What are you looking to achieve? What will it take to get over the line?

This first stage has to be nailed down before you can move on. So define your marketing strategy and purpose. For example - if your business goal is to double sales this year, your marketing strategy has to break down how this will be achieved. Perhaps half the increase will come from existing customers and half from new business.

Once you have identified this detail you can start to create a marketing plan. A marketing plan is a document that shows daily, weekly and monthly activity. It will list the channels to use, the campaigns you will use, the offers and frequency.

An important part of the first stage is to be clear how much you are willing to invest to reach this business goal. Marketing can cost money, time, resource and patience! Be clear about what you will invest.

Your investment is important because it will allow us to measure the 'return on investment' achieved from all this exciting activity.

EXECUTE

So you've planned what you need to do. Doing it is a whole different ball game. Planning the resource and time needed to complete the marketing you need to do is going to be crucial to achieve the results you need. If you don't have time yourself you may need to think about outsourcing or recruiting.

Either way, don't under estimate the time needed to keep the marketing activity going.

EVALUATE

Measurement is a crucial part of the marketing process. Without it you may as well stick your finger in the wind. Monthly reporting should be part of your marketing process.

But reporting on the results you achive is one thing. Understanding what the results are telling you is something else.

Every marketing action should have an ROI figure attached to it. If you are going to invest in something, knowing what return you need to make it worthwhile is a must.

Typically we aim for 3 to 5 times return on investment. So for example if you spend £1,000 on Adwords every month you would need a minimum of £36,000 in new business.

Evaluation is a long term activity. It needs to be done monthly and yearly to get a picture of the build up of the activity and the return it creates. Regular reporting will help next years planning process so much easier.

Remember the 3 E's and plan accordingly.

Good luck. And if it's all still a blur why not book a FREE marketing clinic place HERE.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen Moore FCIM, is a former Strategic Marketing Consultant and Marketing Director, currently living in beautiful Suffolk. He has been writing about marketing developments for 20 years with articles in The Metro, City AM, Fresh Business Thinking, AllWork, The Marketer and Marketing Week.

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