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10 marketing resolutions for the new decade

“You’ve got to keep up with the Joneses”

Times are changing. If you’re still doing the same marketing activities that you were doing three years ago (print and broadcast ads?), then perhaps it’s time for a bit of clear thinking. What will you do differently this year?

Here are 10 things you can do to stand out from the crowd in 2010, and beat your competitors to customers.

1. MARKETING INTEGRATION: Consider updating your marketing toolkit to include some of the latest marketing techniques that could make a difference to how your customers buy from you, and get your message out to potential new customers. Don’t do a wholesale digital replacement of your tookit, your marketing toolkit should be a powerful mix of complementary online and offline. Ask: Does your toolkit support your sales process and PR effort efficiently? Does is reach out to customers in their space, and talk to them in their language? Is it ensuring that your online presence is stronger than the competition?
2. ANALYSIS: Talk to your customers and employees regularly to find out what people are saying about you, your industry and the competition. Find out what they like about your product and/or services and what they don’t. Ask them what you could do to make their lives easier. Listen to your employees too, and make sure they are up-to-speed and ‘skilled/tooled-up’ to do their jobs properly. Ask them to read forums and blogs regularly. Use online tools like Kampyle, Google Analytics and other ‘Buzz’ monitoring to pick up the wealth of intelligence out there online.
3. REFRESH: When was the last time you updated the content on your website? Added a news article, or new product offering? Updated your key messages? Added a blog? Are your sales people equipped with case studies from the last six months, not the last six years? Also, have you understood the latest legal obligations?
4. KEEP UP-TO-DATE: This time of year is the ideal time to look at your customer database. Could you take this opportunity to clean your data and update records, revisit dormant ones or evaluate non-profitable ones? Think about getting back in touch with old customers that perhaps haven’t bought for a while. Are they fully up to speed with your latest offer and news article? Also, have a look at activating all those memberships and clubs you’ve been thinking about, but have never quite got around to. With the Internet becoming totally integrated with almost all sales and marketing activity, how compliant are you regarding the data protection, permission act or the DDA (Disability Discrimination Act)?
5. ENGAGE: Your products and services might have been market leading when you launched them, is this still true? Do you know who your audience is and how to engage them? Take another look at your USP (unique selling point) and guarantee. How powerful is your offer? How does it compare to the competition? What could you do to make it even more engaging?
6. TECH ENABLED: Think hard about how the internet is working for you. If you Google your company, what comes up in the search results? What are people saying about you on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc? What could you say about your industry? If you haven’t already, consider joining online networks like Linked In and Twitter, and start blogging. If you don’t, your competitors will. The web is your shop window. Your digital footprint goes well beyond your website.
7. INVEST: Think about investing your time, not just your money in some of the free things you can do to build on your marketing tool kit. Even in the downturn, marketing should be on your list of priorities. If you’re doing something that’s not working, stop doing it. If you’re doing something that does work, do it some more.
8. NETWORK MORE: These days more and more organisations are finding value in networking. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but have a look in your area at what networking events you can attend. Pick them carefully, and only attend the ones where the delegates are of interest in you. Networking is free and there are even specialist consultants available who can help with your technique. And, with some smart online networking added, you can make it really work for your business.
9. GET SMART: Try out-thinking rather than out-spending your competitors. New digital techniques have really levelled the playing field. Spend your money on ideas, spend your time on execution.
10. 2010: And finally, if you haven’t got a marketing plan for 2010, think about jotting some ideas down in achievable 90 day chunks, or talk to a specialist (like us).

To kick off the decade in style, why not start by working out if your marketing pays; Clear Thought offer a marketing health check. We work with small businesses to equip them with the marketing strategies, skills, suppliers and set-up that they need to become bigger businesses.

By Cheryl Crichton | Associate Clear Thinker | Clear Thought Consulting Ltd | @cherylcrichton | www.clear-thought.co.uk

You might also be interested in:

• Webcast: Bryony’s 30 minute webcast: Online Word of Mouth on SlideShare
• Case study: Fraudscreen lifecycle campaign
• Blog: What to say when – managing content through the sales funnel
• Blog: B2B Social Media: Be There, Be Relevant, Be Proven

Clear Thought Consulting works with small businesses, equipping them with the marketing strategies, suppliers, skills and set-up that they need to become bigger businesses. We do this by planning and delivering 12-month marketing transformation programmes – supporting a small business through a step-by-step process to making marketing pay. We firmly believe that when you can’t out-spend your competition, you have to out-think them.

Published on 6 January 2010