Ten Signs You Didn’t Invest In Marketing Last Year
We’re going to make you think long and hard about whatever marketing you did or didn’t do in 2017. This may hurt, but if any of what follows stings even a little bit, you should make marketing a priority for your business in 2018!
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You don’t have a marketing strategy for this year
Marketing strategies are important, and they should be far reaching to anticipate the needs of your company. This means you should have had much of 2018 mapped out way back in 2017. If you have absolutely nothing at all, you probably didn’t invest nearly enough time, energy, or money into your marketing resume.
Does this look familiar? You have no marketing strategy or road map for growth.
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Your site is hosted on something called “DIYSites.lv”
Okay, nothing against Latvia, but you really shouldn’t be using a website template or builder at all! Seriously consider moving to custom built website with quality servers to host it. A good, local digital marketing firm will keep functionality and ease-of-use in mind, but also work with the backend information to ensure your company sits higher on search engine results. Drag-and-drop websites just can’t compete.
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The marketing blog hasn’t been updated in a couple of months, or worse…
…you don’t even have a marketing blog! Blogs are great, not just for branding purposes and showing the depth of your personality, but because they show search engines that your website is a living, functioning, updating presence that should be trusted! Plus, it’s a lot easier to fit appropriate keywords to make your site SEO friendly with a space you can update regularly.
If your blog was a book in the library would people want to read it regularly?
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To you, SEO stands for Sociedad Española de Ornitología
We’ll admit, if that’s what SEO means to you (it’s the Spanish Ornithological Society, i.e. bird conservation), we’re quite impressed, you nerd. But for your company, SEO should only mean search engine optimization, and your search engine marketing should be tailored with this in mind. Keywords, inbound links, and sitemaps will all give your site an advantage when it comes to search engine returns!
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Your logo is just your business’ name in Comic Sans
Branding matters. Your logo should be the embodiment of your marketing strategy, and investing in one that reflects your business accurately can go a long way to legitimize yourself in the eyes of John Q. Moneyspender. Even if it’s just a playful-yet-professional looking fox, taking the creation of a logo seriously can change your whole branding trajectory for the better!
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Your latest advert was the CEO doing the Ice Bucket Challenge
There was nothing wrong with the Ice Bucket Challenge. But four years and at least ten viral charity challenges have gone by since then (can you believe that was in 2014?). You have to make actual, effective advertising an integral part of your marketing strategy. It’s something a lot of small businesses purposefully overlook to save money, but it can be very effective at spreading your message and drumming up business. If 2017 wasn’t the year for marketing news from your company, make it 2018!
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Your last head of public relations left the company in September to finish high school
Don’t skimp on PR! Good public relations is part of a successful company. Taking it seriously and making it part of your marketing strategy will allow you to make it through the worst publicity storms. A digital marketing company can take on these challenges and walk you through them if confrontation sends shivers down your spine.
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You have no numbers to back up your marketing efforts
It is so easy to measure, plot, and interpret the numbers behind your social media and marketing campaigns, and you should be doing it – go back to 2017 if you have to! If you don’t have access to this information and/or a time machine, now is the time to use every tool available to understand what parts of your marketing plan are working, what parts aren’t, and how you can make tangible marketing goals.
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The About Us page on your website is in Latin
It’s easy to take a website for granted, and if you’re running it yourself, it’s very easy to overlook the details or save them for later. But the details matter, and they can do a lot to turn your website into an authority that Google takes seriously. Even the About Us page can have information that increases your site’s appeal to search engines!
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You’re taking down customer email addresses with a pencil
Sure, get ‘em however you can, but if you’re soliciting emails physically, you’re missing out on a huge marketing advantage. Your site should have been constructed so that any visitors are willing to give their email to you, even if they didn’t end up going with your service. Email marketing campaigns should cast a wide net, not simply rely on regular customers!
Don’t walk, run to SlyFox if any of these apply to you. You should be taking your marketing strategies as seriously as you take any other part of your business! Check out our previous posts for all the latest marketing news, search engine marketing tips and tricks to add some depth to your company’s marketing resume.
