Happy New Year from Marketing Matters and with it brings the beginning of a new season of our podcast, this week inspired by 'The Infinite Game' (by Simon Sinek). The way we think about marketing can be impacted by our focus on the short term and hitting targets, rather than the wider vision of the organisation. The real long term objective is about staying in the 'game'.
Christmas is upon us and it can be a challenge to keep marketing consistent during the holiday periods of the year. With most businesses closing between Christmas and New Year, you have less time to produce content in December than the majority of months. How can you ensure your marketing doesn't get derailed?
In this episode, we discuss what makes a good client.
With good clients the relationship should be a mutually beneficial to both you and the client.
There is no single definitive answer to this. Generally, it's about finding the right fit between your core competences, and what your client is looking for. But , whether it's service or product-led, making sure you are targeting the right clients is crucial to a successful & sustainable business.
In putting together our new website recently, we had cause to review the relationships we have with clients, and one thing that came out of it was just how long we have been working with clients (5 years is not unusual). In a world where the focus is short term, it made us realise that THE Most important thing in marketing is to STICK AT IT.
To discuss this issue, we talk marketing with one of those clients Mathew Done, MD at Slõ Drinks.
Over the years, the same issues of digital have continually cropped up. Even now in the age of the internet, SMEs are willing to pass the responsibilities of marketing off to third party experts, but good digital marketing needs your own input as, after all, nobody knows what you want out of your business better than yourself.
For small companies, marketing responsibilities are often handled by only one individual in a secondary role. However, every role and position in your business can impact your marketing, and should therefore be involved in some aspect.
Businesses tend to focus on either marketing objectives or the tools used to deliver them. While the former should be a priority, suppliers and SMEs often target the latter. Lots of enquiries and leads are obviously a positive but it is missing the vital question, "what is my marketing trying to achieve?"
In order to recognise the value of content you produce on the Internet you need to understand exactly why you're doing it and what you aim to receive as a result. We're all used to information being freely available online but, as this costs money to produce, outlets are increasingly putting their content behind a paywall.
When in comes to small businesses, agility is key to delivering competitive advantage. However, without process, priorities may be misjudged, and customers may receive all the attention, sacrificing marketing for your business. And the only person a lack of marketing hurts is yourself.
Your website can be central to your marketing process and the single biggest tool at your disposal. Traditionally, the company responsible for your web design adds on hosting as extras without a thought. However, hosting should be the first step of your on-going marketing strategy.
