If you have been following our SME Marketing series over the past couple of months you should have a great framework for a joined-up approach to your marketing. However, the biggest battle is now to come. How do you keep the process moving so you have sustainable marketing activities that simply become a part of your ongoing business development process? In our experience, this is the most challenging part of the process, and is an area where clients find we add significant value. We can help to prioritise your marketing process and make sure that it “Just Happens”. But enough of the promotional spiel, what is the trick to keeping the process going? Here are my 5 tips for ensuring that your joined-up marketing is sustainable in the long term:
- Make a commitment to the process – Managing a business is all about prioritisation. You spend time on the things that that you consider important. You always pay the wages, you always deliver for your clients, you always do the accounts & pay the tax man because you believe that they are important. Your business would not be successful without doing these things, and you would be right in this. I suggest that having and sustaining a joined-up marketing process should be high up there in your priority list, because without it you will not be able to develop and grow your business.
- Have a plan – With a plan, you know what you are committing to. As a minimum, the plan should be detailed for the next 6 months & then outline for the following 6 months. This can then be reviewed developed on a regular basis (maybe every 3 months) so that you always know in detail what your marketing activities are going to be for at least 3-6 months in advance.
- Continually review and develop your plan – It’s no good writing a plan and then putting it on a shelf. It needs to be a living document that is continually reviewed and developed. See point 2 above.
- Develop a content radar – One of the big challenges in keeping a marketing process going is making sure you have interesting things to talk about. This is where the content radar comes in. By staying on the lookout for interesting, relevant subjects and issues that you can talk about, you can develop your position as an expert in your field.
- Be realistic – One of the most common reason we see good initiatives fizzle out is because people try to do too much with the resources available. “We’ve got loads to talk about; let’s do a weekly newsletter”. You may have lots to talk about now, but your subject matter may be quickly exhausted if you are putting out a newsletter every week. You shouldn’t underestimate the resources required to write good, engaging copy on a weekly basis. Instead, look at the resources you have and establish what you can commit to on an ongoing basis. Better to commit to a monthly or quarterly newsletter at first and keep it going than to do a few weekly newsletters & then give up due to not being able to sustain things. It’s a cliche, but remember this is a marathon not a sprint!
As a young salesman, one older & wiser colleague told me the story of the 2 bulls on a hill. Although his phrasing was slightly different, the story goes like this:
An old bull and a young bull are standing on a hill looking down below at a valley full of cows, all of which were just grazing away…as usual.
Soon, unable to contain himself, the young bull blurts out, “Oh WOW, man! Look at all those hot, sexy cows down there! Let’s RUN down there and GET ONE!”
The older bull pauses for a second, then looks casually over at the wide-eyed younger bull.
Slowly and calmly he responds, “I’ve got a better idea. How about we WALK down there and get THEM ALL?”