Get Growing by Digging into Your Marketing
It’s late spring, and everywhere you look the greenhouses and garden centers are bursting with plants and supplies. Kids will soon be trading in school books for swimsuits and public pool passes. The calendar will soon turn another page, summer will roll in, and the reality hits us: This mile marker means Q2 is ending. Half of the year has gone, and do we know if any of our marketing goals have been met or exceeded? Did we even check on them when Q1 ended? Or have we completely lost track after we implemented them in January?
You’ve got to know to grow: your marketing roots
Any avid gardener will tell you, to grow successfully you’ve got to first know the condition of the soil in which you’re planting. The same is true for having an effective marketing strategy. You’ve got to first do your research and have a clear understanding of your business, your customer and how that customer consumes content in order for your marketing efforts to have any chance of reaping a harvest. Some questions you may consider in your marketing “soil sample” are:
- Who is our target customer, the individual whose problems our product and/or services can
solve? (And get specific; consider age, educational background, marital/family status, etc.) - What is the current state of our market, is it saturated or are there sufficient opportunities?
- How is our competitive advantage different from our closest competitor’s?
We know “time is money” and you may already feel far behind in your game plan. But the time spent in
laying this critical foundation is absolutely necessary. And, it is an incredibly small amount to invest
when compared to the substantial bounty of both time and cost savings you’ll reap later because your
marketing efforts are far more efficient and effective!
Nurture your process & track your progress.
Alright, you’ve done the work to make sure your efforts are targeted to where your seedlings will have
the richest environments to grow. Now you’re ready to execute the planting and watch your sprouts
take off. The two biggest mistakes most people make with their plants? Overwatering and underfeeding.
The two biggest mistakes most businesses make with their marketing goals? Not having a clear, precise
strategy and not monitoring nor measuring the marketing tactics they employ. Stay on track by
“measuring what matters”:
- Which products or services do we specifically want to monitor?
- How do we want to measure and report our results, in volumes (%) or financial increments ($)?
- What quantifies as a success to us, and what time frame will we give for each marketing
endeavor?
Allow Tingalls to be your almanac!
Tingalls is proud to offer a new consulting program aimed at helping businesses to strengthen
their marketing efforts by digging down to the heart of who they truly are, who their audience is, and
how best they can reach, connect with and serve them. Contact our office to learn more!
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