4 Quick Ways to Boost Your Marketing

by Laura Armbruster, co-founder of Kick It Marketing

There are plenty of reasons you might find it a little more difficult to gain traction through your marketing efforts than in the past. Obviously, the economy has played a part in some of the challenges we may see. However, there are organizations that have been thriving during what others call a huge economic crisis.

So, how do you thrive when others are not?

By working smart, upping your marketing efforts when the “prudent” thing is to hold on to your cash, and most importantly…by understanding what your target market really needs.

Often we set our goals and plans and then forget to check in again to see how we are progressing. Without a consistent review of our business efforts, particularly in the area of marketing, we can put ourselves on auto-pilot only to wake up and realize we have missed our destination. One way that happens is by choosing to assume that we are always selling to the same people in the same way.

As the business environment changes, so does your business. You grow, mature, downsize, upsize, change products and services and generally continue to move forward to remain profitable. However, without making a concerted effort to review your target market, understand the buying habits of this target, and most importantly, build customer profiles for your various products and services, your marketing efforts may fall flat.

Here are some areas to review, especially when making changes to your products and services:

Sales cycle – is it taking longer? Do you have to pass through more decision makers? Or is it shorter and less people are making the buying decisions?

• What to Review – put together a consistent set of metrics for your sales efforts to ensure you are always moving forward. Some metrics to consider tracking include time to close, how many meetings/phone calls it takes to close, and whenever possible, ask the person why they did or did not choose you. NOTE: If they say it is price, try to get a second answer so you can find other ways your competition might be better fulfilling your potential customer’s needs.

Products and/or services – do you understand the need you fulfill for your clients? Is that need well documented? Would your clients agree that they no longer have this need after purchasing your products or services?

• What to Review – Put a Features / Benefits table together that outlines all the features of your product or service and how the customer benefits from each. Add a third column and put the customer need fulfilled. Make sure that this is focused on what your customer wants from you rather than what you “think” they need.

Communication strategy – are you showing up where your target market is, or do you make them work to find you?

• What to Review – list all the places you are focused on to generate interest in your product or service. When possible, put these places into your website analytics tool so you can at least figure out how much traffic they generate. Once you have put together a list of each place, such as Facebook, eZine articles, or even networking, add a column that outlines your goal. Then figure out if you are reaching that goal. For example, a goal might be that an article should generate 100 new hits to your website. Or networking and follow-up should generate two new leads for your business. Make sure that your communication strategy is aligned with who you are selling to, not what you think is the cool thing to do.

Ideal client profile – do you have a detailed profile for every client type who buys your products or services? Is it still relevant? Do you know what keeps him or her up at night?

• What to Review – If you have not taken a look at your target market or ideal customer in a while, then now is a good time to review that information. You can go to our website at www.kickitmarketing.com/training and sign up to receive access to our webinar and workbook on Presenting Your Perfect Business. The webinar will walk you through creating an outline of your ideal client profile, giving you solid information to create compelling, action-oriented content.

Once you have compiled the information from these reviews, you can devise a solid plan to communicate your company’s unique benefits to your target market. Becoming the “go to” person in your industry for a specific need will keep you in the forefront of your client’s minds, and you will have opportunities for additional sales with your existing clients by showing you understand their business issues and have the right solution.

Making the choice to expand your marketing efforts when times are a little tough may seem counterintuitive. However, organizations using focused marketing have seen large payoffs. The trick – know who you are selling to, what keeps them up at night, and how you can solve that problem quickly and efficiently. Basically, really understand your target market!

ABOUT

Laura Armbruster, Co-Founder of Kick It Marketing and Kick It University, is passionate about helping small businesses really maximize the internet and technology as powerful tools. Over the last 10 years, she has worked with many small and start-up organizations to get the most out of their online presence. She is a Certified Search Engine Optimization Copywriter and loves to help you get your message out in a compelling and creative way.

Kick It Marketing serves their clients in the areas of creating actionable marketing plans as well as local search engine optimization, web site design and development, and content marketing. Kick It University provides incredibly effective online training to service-based entrepreneurs in a convenient platform. Our classes focus on making the most of internet marketing and technology for your business.