The Web Advisors are a small group of hard working marketers who like to have fun while we do our jobs. In the spirit of the holiday season, we found ourselves a little sidetracked on a winter adventure this week and thought we would bring you a smile…
Having picked the snow out of our ears, we are back busily preparing for another exciting year of exceeding marketing expectations for our clients. As Christmas is about giving, we’ve listed three marketing questions we believe that every business should be asking about their marketing efforts. Understanding the answers to these questions will be a great foundation upon which to build your future marketing campaigns.
What Is Your Conversion ROI?
Every organization is engaged in marketing of some sort. Some businesses undergo very elaborate and expensive campaigns, others are more homegrown organic efforts. Regardless of the tactics you employ, you should be asking yourself “What results are my efforts producing?” Not everyone has those answers.
One of the common errors is not knowing exactly what you’re trying to accomplish with your marketing tactics. Sure you want to sell your product or service, but there are typically multiple steps along the path to completing the sale Understanding your sales cycle and progression therein is where the real return on investment appears. Cornerstone to return on your marketing investment is the development of a marketing strategy, and determining which tactics to utilize to get the results you’re looking for. It’s important to ask yourself these questions and then have a well researched answer.
Where Do You Rank?
You probably know who your main competitors are but do you know where you rank on an internet search when a potential client is looking for your service? Do you know where your competitors rank? What about when the search occurs from a different neighbourhood or city?
It’s relatively easy to look and discover some of these answers for yourself, however it is not always clear how to change the results if you’re not happy with what you’re seeing. There are a multitude of ways to ensure your business shows up when your services are needed; optimizing for organic search, using text and display advertising through networks like Google Adwords, and digging into your website analytics to discover what is it about your business that people are looking for. Understanding how these tools affect your ranking and then making adjustments to ensure you are visible will help you stand out in 2014.
Do You Manage Your Brand Reputation?
Social Media is thought by some to be where people go to share cat photos or talk about what they had for dinner. While it’s true that cat photos are popular (just check out LOLCats for proof) social media for business is so much more. It’s a place to share your voice, but it’s also a place where you can listen and engage with your customers. Make sure to read our recent blog for 6 Tips For Managing Your Online Brand Reputation. Then ask yourself if you are doing any of these or is it time to redirect some energy.
There are always more questions to ask but as you sit back for a breath over the holidays, maybe start with these. If you know the answers, but are not happy with what you see or you are not even sure where to start – hit us with a snowball, and we’ll give you a hand!
From our entire Web Advisors team to yours, we wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas, fun filled holiday season, and a healthy and happy New Year.