Oftentimes we hear a marketing term, particularly those in the digital arena, see that it’s working for our competitors, and decide that we must do the same.
But are your marketing efforts costing you more than they should?
If you decided to go to the grocery store for some wine, would you take a plane? Of course not! If you wanted to get to Tokyo from London, would a car suffice? Probably not.
How can you avoid spending extra on marketing efforts that’ll eventually get you to where you want to be? The answer is simple: define your marketing goal, then pick your medium.
For example, if you’re sure your website needs SEO, but your primary goal is to make more sales right now, then doing SEO to your website shouldn’t necessarily be your first investment in marketing. Will you need SEO eventually? Yes, but SEO takes time, and if you’ve determined that your priority is to increase sales right now, then your money would be best spent elsewhere.
So how can you prioritize what you need so you pick the right place to start and don’t waste money on your marketing?
How to Prioritize Marketing Needs in Five Steps
This simple five-step process will help you narrow down your choices and determine where your budget is best spent at the moment. However, these tips will also help set you up for future digital marketing success!
Step 1: Determine the true goal of your marketing campaign.
If there’s more than one, list them in order of priority. Examples of marketing goals can be: increase online sales, increase brand awareness, grow your audience, increase brick and mortar traffic, increase phone calls, increase appointments.
Step 2: Determine your budget.
You may only have room in your budget for one priority at a time, and that’s ok. (See Pro Tip #1 below.)
Step 3: Determine your timeline to hit this goal.
If you need online sales right now, pay-per-click (PPC) marketing may be a better option than SEO in the short term.
Step 4: Determine which mediums are designed to hit your goal.
If you need to educate your audience about a new product or service, email marketing and social media are great options. If you need to overcome a hard-to-find brick-and-mortar restaurant, a billboard on the freeway may do the trick.
Step 5: Determine what success looks like for your business.
The word “conversion” can mean a few different things in the business world. As a marketer, a conversion is a lead that your company engages with. For you, a conversion might be a sale. One company could get two new clients in one year and consider that a wild success. Others may get two new customers a day and have to shut their doors. When you want to “increase sales,” put a hard number on that. Knowing your success threshold will help you determine if you’re really making money or wasting it.
Pro Tips to Help You Even More
It’s rarely easy to define a goal, budget, and timeline for your business, as well as what your version of success is. But don’t worry, with a couple of pro tips, you’ll be on your way to a smarter marketing investment!
- Pro Tip #1: If your marketing budget is tight (like most small business owners), pick a medium that will help you make sales in the shortest amount of time. Syphon off some of that money to reinvest and expand your marketing budget WITH INTENTION. No more “Gee, I hope this works”. Stick with the medium, expand that budget a bit more. This is a great way to see how much more to spend and then when you can set a cap for that medium.
- Pro Tip #2: See if there’s a medium that can do double duty. For example, social media pay-per-click ads, such as Facebook ads, can both increase brand awareness and potentially make sales. This is not true for every industry, but it’s worth looking into.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with having business dreams that are unachievable right now. Just remember that big dreams are achieved through a series of small goals. The amount of marketing opportunities available these days is overwhelming and can make even the most savvy and successful of business people feel lost. Keeping your efforts clear and simple is the easiest way to see if you’re on the right path.
Need help defining and prioritizing your marketing needs for the better? Schedule a free strategy session with us at GoBeyond SEO!
