Did you start using Twitter in order to waste a stack of time attracting “followers”- Or to generate more sales, leads and business connections?
Did you invest in those expensive brochures in order to watch them slowly go out of date – Or to increase the effectiveness of your marketing?
Did you invest in your website in order to remain invisible online – Or to generate a regular, predictable flow of sales, leads and enquiries?
Marketing tip: Focus on your outcome
It’s way too easy to start a marketing activity with all the right intentions, only to realise one day that you have been slowly drifting off course and are now getting little if anything in return.
Grab yourself a coffee and take a few moments to look at your current marketing activities. Are they on track to help you make more sales and generate more high quality business? If not, stop whatever you are doing and either get back on track or develop a more effective marketing strategy.
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I just spent a great deal of time developing a plan for a client’s website. It was created in the “build it and they will come” ages so it needs kind of an upgrade.
Assessing what does and doesn’t work is important for finding a great traffic/customer source. I’m always experimenting and trying to learn more.
Corey,
You’re right. Experimenting is key – after all, marketing is about testing and measuring.
Thanks for the comment.
Jim the problem is people haven’t realized that marketing has changed.. people just want to be entertained… if you look at youtube, ijustine, sxephil and others are able to drive traffic to sites just by being interesting. I call it penis based marketing where in this new social world you can essentially highlight your business just by telling stories… any stories.. even lockeroom stories.. see businesses need to start looking how its people can market just by being interesting.. I would have every department run a group posterous blog, twitter, facebook fanpage and have a youtube page. if you want to sell in a social world you need to learn to be social… its funny how businesses will fire the people with interesting pictures on FB.. even though they tend to be the most social.. what is your social impact should be the first question every employer asks..?
Thanks for the comment Gebadia.
I don’t agree that people ‘just want to be entertained.’ If you want to successfully market anything, you need a structured, targeted approach. Just being entertaining might get you noticed; but it’s not enough. Take a look at the people who spend all day ‘entertaining’ people on Twitter; slowly going broke because no one’s buying anything from them.
You need to identify your market, connect with it and then inspire people to take action.
Yes and no… I suppose it depends on what you are selling. What I mean by entertaining is that gets you subscriptions… yes you have to slowly turn those subs into sales.. but you have a longer period of time to do that. Make a person laugh, make a person feel an emotional connection to you they will be more likely to want to support you.. and in reference to youtube.. entertaining can pay. partner program… so you can make money that way and then by being interesting, helping people, helping them see the value of products I am able to get people to add my facebook app… for me my market is the youtube, twitter viewer.. it lets you should off your vanity urls in a fancy way.. so for me being entertaining works as I mix in my URL’s… My whole point was people like people, they find people interesting…how did they do that is huge as is reality TV… shaecarl did some really funny sanyo ads.. and they paid him for it..
I agree with JIm that people don’t just want to be entertained – and certainly if one is trying to compete on the entertainment front, then you will have a very hard job doing so and have little USP.
JIm I recognised 6 weeks ago I was off course and have been working through some plans not only to ‘get’ me on course, but help to keep me there when I next feel the desire to wonder off on a new fad!
Certainly your blog – (which has become more of a business blog I might add!) – has given me many tips and help for building this framework.
Scott,
It’s really easy to get so wrapped up in the ’social’ side of marketing, that the sales side gets neglected. I remember Chris Brogan recently having to write a blog post, after being taken to task for advertising Thesis so heavily on his blog. The only reason this was even an issue, is that people have a VERY hard time being treated as a ’social media friend’ and then sold to or pitched to.
If a respected, full-time social media expert like Chris Brogan can get it wrong, anyone can.
Jim thanks for reminding me of that – like you say, it does help to know that the experts get it wrong too
Even though I am not in traditional sales, this information as still helpful to me since I am my own commodity. I’m learning the importance of marketing myself!
Great post, Jim!
I know for a fact that if you don’t test what you do, their will not be a way for YOU to know how, and what works from your slaving on a PC!