The days are longer, the first blooms have emerged, and bees and other critters are showing their tiny faces after a long winter. No season represents growth or renewal quite like spring. Motivated by the change in seasons to start anew, we scan our closets, bedrooms, offices and garages in search of anything that can be cleaned, reorganized or pitched altogether. But, what about our marketing strategies?
If your current marketing efforts aren’t working quite as well as you’d like, consider dusting off your old initiatives and starting over fresh. Enhance your brand strategy, invigorate your business and find new prospective customers with these marketing spring-cleaning tips.
Polish Your Company Website
Look at any page on your website for 5 seconds, then look away. What do you remember? What products or services were featured? If you can’t remember your own message, then your customers won’t either. Consider re-evaluating the messages you’re sending with clearer, more concise and action-driven copy. Make sure your headers are well targeted and succinct. (Our in-house copywriting & editing staff are experts at this!)
Out with the Old & In with the New: Clean Up Your Website
When you’re done tossing those outdated jeans you’ll never wear again, trash your old online content, too. For example, employees who no longer work at your company should not be on your website; if you’ve recently moved locations, your current address should be listed. Swap out old social media pictures for images that clearly and boldly display what your company is all about. Make room for newer products and services, current company headlines, accurate phone numbers and more.
How’s Your Social Media Presence?
Platforms like Facebook and Twitter are marketing social media tools that work. If you don’t have a company page or, worse, you’re not posting regularly, fix it. Are you making relevant entries on a regular basis? Are your posts interesting and engaging? Or, have you not posted since last spring? With social media, it’s all or nothing. Even if you only have time to post once or twice per week, consider scheduling posts in advance or creating a social media calendar so you stay on top of it.
Listen to the People That Matter Most —Your Customers
How do you learn how your customers feel about your company? Ask them! Encourage your customers to share their feedback about your products or services, brand and customer relations using a quick online survey. Consider incorporating a giveaway (an Amazon gift card, for example) where one lucky survey participant will win just for responding. Customers are more likely to respond if there’s a chance they’ll get something out of the deal.
Build Your Subscriber List
Now’s a great time to make sure your email marketing contact list is current. Check to see that addresses are correct and no emails are bouncing back. Categorize your contacts since not all correspondences go to the same groups of people. For example, our monthly Power Points newsletter goes out to a different contact list than our Builder Bulletin, so we have two separate contact lists in Constant Contact for each. That way, our content is very targeted to the correct audience.
Reinvigorate Your Company’s Brand
There’s no better time than spring to get outside of your stuffy office and start networking. A large percentage of new business comes from personal relationships, so begin associating your name and face with your brand. Be active and involved in local events. Attend networking luncheons, speak at industry events, or become a guest contributor on industry websites and blogs. Build new partnerships to help build your brand.
Sharpen Your SEO Skills
Check the rankings of your SEO keywords in Google Analytics and by searching for your keywords on Google. Are you getting the results you’d hoped for? If you’ve been using the same keywords for over a year and you’re still not seeing any on the top 1-3 Google pages, something’s wrong. Make sure your keywords directly relate to your business and have low competition but high search volume. Incorporate them in your website copy, title and meta description tags, photo alt tags, blog copy and social media.
(Extra tip: We know that navigating your way around SEO can be a full-time job in itself. A qualified SEO Maryland company, like Power Marketing, can help you research, create and analyze your keywords for better search engine results. If you have questions or want to learn more about maximizing your search engine optimization md results, give us a call.)
Review Your Website Testimonials
Customers rely on reviews and testimonials to determine if a product or service is worthy or not. If your website’s customer testimonials are no longer relevant or you don’t have any at all, now’s the time. Seek out your most satisfied customers — the ones you know are happy with your business — and ask them a few detail-oriented questions:
How long have you been a Company X customer?
What do you like most about Company X’s services/products?
Name one time Company X’s service exceeded your expectations.
Would you recommend Company X to a friend? If so, why?
Make sure you have that person’s permission to use his/her testimonial on your website and social media, and attribute his/her name to the review.
Never Stop Your Marketing Education
Aristotle said it best: “The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.” The only way your business will survive and thrive is to stay abreast on the latest trends, products and news affecting your industry. Research and attend trade shows, seminars and other educational resources within your industry. Request a meeting with your Internet marketing md team for a refresher course on managing your website. Subscribe to e-newsletters and other publications within your industry. The more you know, the more you grow.
Your Website Must Be Responsive
According to Morgan Stanley, mobile Internet use will match traditional desktop web use by 2014. Is your website ready for the future of communications? To meet the demands of more users accessing the Internet via smart phones, tablets and other electronic devices, your web design md must be responsive. A responsive site resizes itself depending on the screen size of the browser, so visitors don’t have to access separate pages for mobile and desktop browsers. You also avoid the cost and margin of error in managing many different sites.
If all of this sounds intimidating or you don’t know where to begin, our internet marketing md team is happy to help! We have the momentum of constant research and the experience of proven results to increase your website traffic, create a compelling brand and, ultimately, close more sales for your business. Call us today and find out how we can revitalize your business’ marketing strategies this spring.