Is winter over yet?
Ok, granted it was a very mild winter in El Paso, it’s been warming since February, but spring is finally here — I’ve been dreaming for a while about breaking out those swim trunks and enjoying some poolside burgers and brews.
This post is for all of those who are dreaming of pools and BBQs, cardigans instead of coats, sundresses instead of wool pants, flowers instead of flurries.
But before any of that comes true there’s that old ritual: spring cleaning.It’s time to clean, fix, restore, and replace everything.
Spring is all about change, rebirth, and renewal.
It’s time to do those chores we avoided all winter, to get our homes (and heads) organized, uncluttered, and squeaky clean. Spring cleaning may be an old practice, but it’s also an effective one to maintain and improve your interests year after year.
The same principle goes for your marketing strategy. As your business grows, you get busier, and your marketing needs keep expanding and evolving, it gets easy to lose control of things. Your lists can get outdated. Your website can get a little dusty. Sometimes things just need a quick clean up.
Figuring out where to start can be the toughest challenge.
Start by creating an inventory of your current marketing strategies and ask yourself: Do I need this? Can this be done better? Is there another way? There usually is.
To help you do this better, we’ve created a quick checklist of things you can start doing today to jumpstart your marketing spring cleaning and give your strategies that extra shine that will keep your business moving forward.
- Scrub your social networks – Check all the social networks your brand is active on, make sure they have all the correct contact and hours information, and update them as necessary.
- Launder your client lists – Every business has several marketing lists and they need regular cleaning for maximum efficiency. Keep your lists updated, complete, and accurate.
- Detail your website –
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- Is your site still easy to use
- Is there is no outdated content, bad links, missing images, or unnecessary pages.
- Check the copyright info and privacy policy/disclaimer on your website,
- Your website number, address, and phone number.
- Check your prices if applicable for your site, are they current?
- What about your About Us & Team pages?
- Did you hire anyone new? Did anyone left the company?.
- Test your contact forms, refresh your home page graphics.
- Backup your site and update your site software/security (but hey, if you’re a 8 Signal site management client, we’ve got you covered)
- Cleanse your emails – Look at all the emails that your business sends (automated or not) and determine if there are changes to be made. Remove contacts that don’t respond.
- Polish your brand – Your branding should reflect your business’s up-to-date identity. It may be as simple as updating your logo or website or as complex as a completely re-branding.
- Google yourself – You should know what people are saying about your business and where it’s being said. Explore and fix any issues you find.
- SEO – Search engine optimization is very important to enhance your brand and its content, and to rank well on search results. What are you doing in terms of SEO?
- Analyze Analytics – Look at your website visitors’ behavior to see where the conversion funnel is working and where it’s not.
- Review your content strategy – Keep up with your content schedule, and think about how you can create valuable content that speaks to your audience’s needs and values.
- Go mobile – Mobile website traffic is on track to eclipse desktop traffic. Visitors expect a seamless experience between devices. Is your website mobile friendly?
- Update all ads – If you just launched a new website, updated your logo, or published new ads, review everything else to make sure there is consistency in your brand.
- Check on your goals – Audit your marketing. Make sure your marketing strategy is focused on the right target. Revisit the why of your plans and make sure it hasn’t changed.
- Set new goals – If your goals have changed, you’ve decided to go after a new market or you’ve introduced a new product or service, establish measurable goals to achieve results.
- Take out the trash – No spring cleaning is complete without a big ol’ trash can. If something in your strategy isn’t working, think about letting it go. Make room for greatness.
- Go shopping – If your marketing strategy is outdated, incomplete, or simply lacks its old shine, think about shopping around for new designers and marketing pros (cough cough). They can help you with everything, from integrating a social media strategy or building a new responsive website to creating a blog or doing a complete brand overhaul.
- Pat yourself on the back – Great job! Hopefully, while you were doing your spring cleaning, you found the ways in which you’re rocking your marketing.
Just like your home, your marketing needs a little love and maintenance. Outdated marketing and branding can create the impression of a failing business.
You need to take the time to go through the checklist above and make sure everything’s working and looking good. In the long run, this will make your marketing strategies stronger and more effective. It will also save you from potential headaches and extra work down the road.
The goal of marketing spring cleaning is to market your business with direction, with a plan, and with measurable goals, so that you’re putting your effort, time, and money towards achievable results.
Maybe you have an awesome blog with an engaged readership — why not add an email newsletter so that your readers never miss it? Or if you have a loyal base of social media followers, you can offer exclusive deals to your fans to keep them coming back to your business. It’s time to think about how you can take it to the next level.
8 Signal offers you a fully staffed marketing department for less than the total cost of one full-time employee. We believe you can outsmart, rather than outspend, your competition, so we’re ready to help with any and all aspects of your marketing spring cleaning. We’d love to help you, so feel free to contact us at (915) 585-1919 or fill out our online form.