The secret to successful marketing is consistency. Marketing doesn’t happen overnight or even in a couple of months. It takes months, sometimes years, to see the fruition of your marketing efforts. The secret, though, is being consistent in your efforts and spending. By writing a marketing plan, you can be consistent, because you know who you are trying to target and can focus on those groups of people. Defining your target audience is the first step to marketing consistency. Once you have defined who you are trying to reach, your marketing becomes much more focused.
Consistently being in front of your target audience allows them to learn more about your firm and how you can help them. Marketing happens before you even pick up the phone or have a conversation with your prospect. Business development is the act of picking up the phone and making that call to set up the appointment. Marketing and business development work hand-in-hand. By determining where your target audience is hanging out (both physically and virtually), you’ll know where to spend your marketing time and money. If you don’t know where they are hanging out, then just ask them. Many times this is associations, trade shows, civic and community organizations, LinkedIn, Facebook, and many other physical and virtual spaces.
Invest time and money in these spaces, but make sure you have goals in mind and track those goals. Is your goal to gain three leads at a trade show and get appointments with those three prospects? Determine your goals and then you can have better marketing spend. If you haven’t properly prepared for that trade show and don’t see any results, you should evaluate your trade show process. Most of the work for trade shows occurs before and after the show, not during the show. If you aren’t following through on the things you’ve set out to do, then you need to re-evaluate where you are spending your time and money.
Woody Allen quotes, “80% of success is showing up.” The same goes for marketing. If your company is sponsoring an event, it’s always good for representatives from your firm to be at the event. You’ll get much more out of the sponsorship as you’ll be able to TALK to others at the event. People do business with people they like and trust. This is marketing (sponsorship) and business development (being at the event and TALKING to people) working together in unison. This is where the magic happens. Then you must consistently show up at your client and prospect events.
Almost every time I attend an event, I get at least one appointment, lunch, or inquiry about wanting to learn more about how I can help with their marketing efforts. This is what it’s all about. When you don’t feel like going or you have that client deadline breathing down your neck, you just need to SHOW UP. When you are there, be engaged and present. You’ll be glad you did.
Consistently marketing your business will allow you less valleys when the market is slow. Invest in marketing when you have the dollars to do so. If you are making initiatives to gain market share or enter a new geographic market, then you’re going to have to make a bigger marketing investment. You do need to track the success of your marketing efforts, so you can adjust them if it doesn’t make sense or you aren’t seeing any results. Evaluating your marketing spend is always important, but today clients and prospects have to see your brand and message over a dozen times to remember it. It’s all about consistency. You don’t have to spend a great deal of money, but you do need to set goals and track your results.
Marketing consistently requires time and money but it will be well worth your efforts in the long run. Write your plan, set your goals, and keep track of your results. By doing this you can consistently be in front of your clients and prospects making a bigger marketing impact.
Nu marketing can help you write your plan, set goals, and track your results. Call us today to learn more about working together to help your marketing stay consistent.
