Going back to basics is similar to conducting an audit. It’s about pulling every single piece of marketing material, sales, and advertising and scrutinizing each slice to see if it’s providing the most effective outcome for your company. If there is nothing else to do, it’s an excellent way to implement discipline within your company regularly.
Here are some concrete examples of marketing strategies that aren’t expensive and will keep you on the right track for next year.
Website
A lot of small-scale business owners have a web presence. However, if you’re an owner of a company that doesn’t have to have a website, I highly suggest that you consider this as your first priority in marketing. If you’re in need of convincing reasons, send me a message to talk about.
A website can be as easy as having a profile on a variety of websites for the industry as well as your own page on Facebook or your company’s details on a number of directories or a whole website devoted to your company.
Have you ever stumbled across websites that contain transparent outdated information? I’ve been there, and I do it often. I realize that it’s not a perfect environment which is why there exist a variety of reasons for information to be out outdated on websites. The first step in your ‘back to basics approach to marketing is to take the risk to go on your site and have a fair assessment of the information it provides about your company.
A checklist of things to look for:
Does your homepage have outdated information?
If the last time you’ve written an article on your blog or in an electronic newsletter was four years ago, it might be time to have this section removed.
Do you have timetables or price lists you can download that was in effect one year ago?
Does your site have the last date of the last update? If you’re not regularly updating your website, you should consider getting it removed.
Does the content on your website appear from the perspective of a user and speak to their needs, and not just yours?
Are there spelling and grammar mistakes in the work you’ve written?
If you’ve discovered that you’re better at your job than updating the website, then it’s time to delegate that task. Whatever you assign the task to, ensure that they spend the time to familiarize themselves with you and your company, and then you plan regular updates to them.
To put this in perspective, the issue of outdated website information is a frequent problem for every business regardless of size or small. For instance, today, I visited a popular website to check to price for advertising, and the contact information in the rate sheet was not correct. Utilize this standard error in your favor. Be ahead of the competition to present a professional and modern image of you and your company.
Sales Letters
I recently conducted a significant audit for a customer that included reviewing all of the sales materials used for their company. We examined surveys and sales letters, quotes and follow-up letters, and even ‘with compliments’ gift cards for a variety of reasons. What I discovered during this study was that there was no degree of consistency in the tone or message of the way this company was being portrayed. This could happen to any company. Documents are written over time by various employees, and in this instance (see below), they tend to reflect the persona of the writer rather than the usual business tone.
Being consistent in how you position your company is sure to help you win more business both now and in the future. Here’s an illustration of what I mean.
Example – sales letter pre-audit:
“I am writing to follow up on my phone and letter on October 12 and 14 November. I haven’t heard back from you. If I don’t hear back within seven days, I will delete your information in our databases.”
Example – sales letter post-audit:
“I write to let you know that I am here to continue our conversation from just a few weeks ago. I hope that this letter is a happy one for you. As the close of the year nears, it is possible to accept our offer up to December 31. We’re happy to complete your task within a short period of time to meet your particular needs. We hope to hear from us in the near future.”
If the economy was in a boom and you had excellent sales, collateral might not have been required since you could get work and gain jobs regardless. As the economy is slowing and you’ve noticed that while the position remains but it’s perhaps slightly more challenging to obtain. It’s time to conduct an exhaustive review of your sales documentation.
Voice messages
A beauty salon in my area has a voicemail that changes every few weeks. Each every time I contact them, a new product or special offer is made available for a specific duration of time. The person at this salon who takes the call may speak too fast for me to comprehend the whole message. I am sure to be informed about “what’s new whenever I make an appointment.
In your workplace, What’s the voicemail you receive contain? What has been the most recent time that you updated the message? Perhaps you could make it a point to update every month to inform people regarding something going on in your business. It’s a low-cost and efficient method of keeping the people who are in contact with you updated on the latest happenings in your industry. Why don’t you grab your notebook and pen out and begin planning for your weekly updates today?
Signatures on Emails
It is clear that email is an integral part of personal and business communications. The less often used is the use of sales or marketing messages included in your signature. It is true that I’ve seen some companies or individuals use this technique too much. What I’m talking about is something simple, like a sentence or two or even a hyperlink to something taking place in your company. If you keep it brief and straightforward, it’s most likely to get read and will be much easier to maintain. Signatures for emails are an inexpensive and affordable essential marketing tool that you can start right now at no cost to your company. Utilize it to your advantage.
In short, here are some things to be looking for when you are taking a ‘back-to-the the basics’ approach
spelling mistakes
Grammatical errors
documents that are no longer valid
incorrect details
Pricing that is outdated.
To position your business favorably to potential customers, it’s an excellent business habit to you as well as your staff to review, analyze and revise all your fundamental tools for business.
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