Archive for the ‘Strategy’ Category

Goals and Objectives.

Strategy.  Tactics.  Logisitics.

All of the above are essential for business growth.

Take a quick assessment:

• 1. Have you written your goals for 2012?
• 2. Developed your marketing strategy?
• 3. Defined the tactics?
• 4. Mapped the logistics?

If you answered no to any (or all) of the questions, don’t be discouraged.
You can start preparing for 2012 business growth right now.

Let’s keep it simple. The most common goal among professional service providers is this:

Increase my client base.

Is this one of your goals for 2012? If so, right or type it right now in a place that will be visible to you daily.
Your strategy will need to be unique but the tactics don’t have to be.

Here are 5 tactics you don’t want to leave out of your 2012 online marketing strategy:

1. Build and nurture your email list (client and prospect base) by providing timely answers to problems they face. Email has been around since the early 90’s but it is still the hub of business communications.

Daystar New Media Client Example: Last year, a decades old insurance provider entered the email marketing arena by compiling an email client list.  The second email newsletter they sent out to the list contained info on how to protect property with adequate flood insurance coverage.  They were careful to include a call to action: Buy a new flood policy or increase flood coverage. The results were immediate. They received 15 calls resulting in 7 new policies from a single email.  Have you emailed your clients lately?

2. Commit to blogging your expertise. Unlike PPC, print ads and in-person networking, the value of the blog investment grows exponentially over time.

Daystar New Media Client Example:  Two years ago, one of my clients, a law firm, committed to blogging for the purpose of building visibility and credibility with a very targeted commercial audience in the legal industry.  The pay off for the more than 200 posts, has been an increase in visits from 800+ in year 1 to 8000+ in year 2. Unique visitors are up from 300+ in year 1 to 5000+ in year 2. ROI has also come in the form of conversation and feedback about the blog from important stakeholders and industry leaders. You can’t buy that with ads. Have you increased your traffic and your credibility strategically?

3. Create short, passionate video messages that contain content to HELP your audience accomplish their goals and overcome their challenges.

Daystar New Media Client Example: A commercial real estate company plans to provide informational videos to introduce not only the unique client workspace available at his location but also become the resource about how to utilize commercial tax credits, a complicated but very valuable opportunity for businesses. What content could you offer in video format that would HELP your clients/prospects?

4. Communicate with your clients & followers regularly using status updates. Use this space to offer quick actionable content such as tips and best practices. Make it worth their time to read what you post.

Daystar New Media Client Example: A real estate company maintains statistics on local home price trends and publishes them on the company web site.  Using social media status updates, this info is streamed out across social networks increasing the company’s visibility and driving traffic back to the website.  What content is sitting on your web site that is under-utilized?

5. Create a core message that you deliver in person to quickly communicate the value you offer on your blog, email list and/or social media spaces.

Daystar New Media Client Example: A CPA Firm partner regularly attends networking events.  He plans and practices his 30-second introduction. In 2012, after clearly stating the firm name and website, he’ll invite small business owners to subscribe to the firm blog so they can learn how to increase their profits by earning and keeping more money.  Let the people you meet in person know what’s in it for them to subscribe your blog, visit your facebook page or follow you on twitter.

 

To learn how we can help with your 2012 online marketing plan, contact us at info@daystarnewmedia.com or call 504-210-7690.

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About Michelle Cullison: Michelle is an acclaimed professional speaker, author, and the President of Daystar New Media, Inc.  Since 1993, she has helped hundreds of clients expand their businesses from web site to the web presence.   Michelle knows how to leverage the power of the social web with tools like WordPress, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.   Today, through her speaking, training and consulting services, she equips companies to expand from web site to web presence by developing and implementing effective social media strategies.

 

When it comes to social media and business, there are 3 approaches businesses can take: keep moving and yell, slow down and adapt or veer off and give it a try.  It’s a lot like a bike ride I took this morning.  I was moving briskly, enjoying the wind in my face, when I approached a curve and there in the middle of the path was an elderly man walking slowly and doing calisthenics—totally oblivious to my presence.  I had three choices: 

1. Keep moving and yell.
2. Slow down and share the path.
3. Veer off and go around him.

In order to keep from yelling and losing my momentum, I chose to veer off the path. What I landed on was a LOT of soft, loose sand underneath a thin layer of grass.  While swerving wildly, I proceeded to yell and lose my momentum.  In hind sight, the obvious best choice was:  Slow down and adapt.  

It is also the best choice for social media and business.

There are those who choose to: Keep moving and yell. They say things like: We don’t have time for social media. The phone accomplishes the same thing.  My target market isn’t there.  These folks will realize too late that while the tools (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) may change, social networking will be part of the business communication tool box for years to come.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are businesses veering off into the social spaces with little thought and no objectives defined. They say things like: This could be the golden ticket. Let’s give it a try. Everybody’s doing it. We’ve got to have a Facebook page. Like my bike in the sand, these folks will get stuck very quickly. In the end, they will yell and abandon social media as useless (no business objectives were reached) or they’ll see they need to slow down and adapt it.

The businesses that start with the slow down and adapt approach are careful to consider how social media fits into their overall business strategy. They say things like this: One of our goals is to increase leads on our website.  We also want to build our email list with targeted prospects. How can we use social media to accomplish these objectives? Or, they might say, we need X number of new sales per month. What methods could we use in the social media space to accomplish this? These folks are the ones that have social media success stories to share.

The point is, strategy is essential to anything and everything in business and it doesn’t come without a time investment.  Slow down. Stop to consider social media’s role in achieving your business objectives.  Make sure that everything you do for your business, including social media, has a clear, measurable objective.  When you do, you won’t get stuck in the sand.

We help our clients avoid the sand and get results.

To learn more about our consulting services, visit DaystarNewMedia.com or connect with us in the social spaces.