Does it feel like your SME’s marketing efforts have gone stale as of late? Does the business have specific goals set out, yet is failing to meet them due to marketing shortfalls? Is your messaging being lost or just not having that effective reach that you had hoped for? Not to worry, as this is a common issue that can happen. All that it signals is that it’s time to go back to the drawing board on the marketing plan, examine where you currently stand, analyze your efforts thus far, and shake things up a little bit.
To help give you that boost you may be looking for right now, here are some ways in which you can shake up your current marketing efforts so that your SME can start to experience better results and return on your marketing budget.
Analyze What Is and Isn’t Working
The very first step in your plan should be to do a thorough analysis of what is currently working and what isn’t. There’s a good chance it’s a mix of good and bad, which means you don’t want to scrap everything. By identifying what is currently working, it gives you some basic building blocks that you can start with.
Is Your Messaging Clear?
It’s also important to look at your marketing message. It is as clear as you hoped? Is it calling out to your specific target audience? Could it do with a little modernization in order to be more effective? Branding needs to be concise in any of the marketing messages you put out there. Customers need to be able to understand what kind of business you are, as well as what sort of products and services you feature. If they have to struggle to figure out what the business offers, they are just going to give up.
Embrace Social Networks Wholeheartedly
If the company hasn’t yet embraced social networks/platforms or has done so in a rather timid way, it’s time to shake up your efforts here too. Social networks offer some of the best ways to engage with customers and truly spread your marketing message. And it’s not just one specific network; it’s a matter of being active on as many as possible.
So, what does this require from your end? First of all, you need to be posting relevant, engaging, fun, and noteworthy content, and it needs to be done on a consistent basis. Posting to your Facebook page once every couple of weeks just won’t cut it. This is a surefire way to sink your social networks.
In order to build a following and hopefully create buzz, you need to be posting content as close to daily as possible. Granted, there won’t always be a need to post each day, but at the very least, be sure to engage and answer questions and comments even if you don’t have anything new to post.
As for which social networks to focus on, all the usual ones should apply, which are Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Use Automation Tools to Your Advantage
Automated tools can also be a way to shake up and extend your marketing efforts. Automation is meant to streamline processes, eliminate duplicate and redundant steps, and truly make a business more efficient and effective. So, how can automation be used when it comes to marketing?
Take a look at the marketing platform Autopilot, which is used to improve and increase customer engagement. Now, what if you could automatically sync it with the popular Mailchimp email marketing tool? Mailchimp is used for targeted messages, newsletters, and campaigns.
You can use this free trial from PieSync, which effortlessly syncs these two powerful tools together, giving you the ultimate streamlined and effective automated tool. You can sync Mailchimp and Autopilot two-way, which unlocks all kinds of possibilities and applications.
Try Something Entirely New
Then there is the fact that it may be time to try something entirely new. If your current efforts aren’t working, you really have nothing to lose.
Some popular marketing tactics you may want to employ right now include:
- Creating a blog
- Writing an e-newsletter
- Creating lists or statistics that you can share with followers and website visitors
- Adding some personality to your marketing message
- Capitalizing on the things that make your company unique and stand out
- Connecting with the local community and media
- Forming a partnership with a local business
- Working with an influencer
Each of these tactics has its own list of pros and cons, so you need to figure out what would make the most sense for your branding and the product/service you are trying to sell.
Start Getting Better Results
Each of these tips is designed to help your SME realize better results with its marketing efforts, and therefore increase sales and profits.
