The positive effects of switching up your marketing
Is your business stuck in a marketing rut? Have you spent countless hours and dollars trying to build your brand but you’re not seeing the results you expected? It may be time to shake things up.
Having an effective marketing strategy is one the most significant parts of growing your business, and as a business owner, it’s likely you’ve tried your hand at developing it yourself.
But if you’re struggling to pivot to meet customer needs as a result of the latest COVID-19 restrictions, or you don’t have time to follow the latest social media trends, now may be the right time to bring in some outside help.
Benefits of switching up your marketing
First of all, if you’re reading this then give yourself a pat on the back for being the kind of business owner to take initiative. Marketing is a fundamental pillar for any successful business but trying the same concepts over and over will see your plan burn out.
This is where seeking external help for your marketing can be one of the most valuable tools to have under your business’s belt. Excelerate Marketing specialises in tailor-made marketing solutions for your business and yours alone. We’ll work hand in hand to illuminate your strengths and help to increase your brand reach.
It is estimated that the latest COVID-19 restrictions in Greater Sydney are costing retailers alone up to $1 billion a week, according to the Australian Retailers Association. Small businesses, in particular, have taken a hit in recent weeks, with ABC News reporting some say their revenue has fallen by up to 90 percent.
This is why it’s never been more important for businesses big and small to have their budgets spent effectively, in particular for their marketing. So, what do you do when your standard practices aren’t working? You flip your game.
Let’s explore some of the many benefits of shaking up your business marketing by seeking external help so you can stand out from competitors and continue to grow in 2021.
Bespoke Solutions
One of the most common marketing mistakes a business can make is spending thousands of dollars on one size fits all marketing strategies. But your business is not like every other business, and Excelerate Marketing knows that. If your marketing is feeling stagnant and you’re not seeing the results you were hoping for, it may be time to consider a bespoke marketing solution.
Excelerate Marketing does just this by walking clients through a series of questions, asking them to describe their current customers, what their current unique value proposition is, and what problems their product/service solves.
We then take clients across some of the basic principles, such as the four Ps of marketing. This means asking yourself:
Product: How your product meets customer’s needs?
Price: How do you value your product?
Place: Where can customers search for and find your product?
Promotion: How to differentiate your product from competitors
Before we begin, Excelerate Marketing sits with the relevant stakeholders of the business to understand the goals they’re trying to achieve. We then explore the areas they’re interested in improving, and the timeline for those improvements.
For example, if a client wants to immediately improve their brand and reputation, we might look at some trade press and obtain quantitative data from existing clients to understand feelings towards the brand. If they need to increase leads and sales urgently, then a tactical paid campaign across search and social may be the best option.
Automation and Consolidation
Another major benefit of refocusing your marketing plan is the time it could save your business by incorporating more automation and consolidation in your strategy. This is particularly valuable if you’re using outdated software - if any.
Excelerate Marketing uses many tools to systemise the way marketing is delivered i.e. scheduling tools, setting up analytics reports across Google Analytics and Social Media. We’re also all about consolidation, meaning focusing on one or several aspects of your business and doing that well.
For example, a client plans to run a series of webinars for the next three months. Rather than sending out a communication about each webinar, we instead consolidate the emails for that month by theme or audience, which gives us a more impactful message. We can then take that content and share on socials, send out recordings, promote on their YouTube channel, and even turn the transcript from the webinar into a blog article.
There is a balance that a team like Excelerate Marketing can provide in avoiding over-saturating the content while leveraging the topic across multiple channels in a way that reaches the customer. This helps customer’s absorb the message and provides greater value to them at the end of the day.
If you’re still using the same processes you set two or even five years ago, you could be missing out. Something else we've helped a client with recently is incorporating their promotions into their email signature, which is a subtle but effective reminder. If you want to be a little more obvious, you can always make it a GIF!
A Fresh Pair Of Eyes
Another advantage of reaching out to Excelerate Marketing to shake up your marketing strategy is that you’ll benefit from a fresh pair of eyes. While there’s no doubt that you know your business better than anyone else, when it comes to targeting new customers, sometimes it takes a third-party coming in to identify strengths you’ve not yet unearthed.
Your customer tastes are always changing, and whatever the size of your business, it’s crucial that you find a way to keep up with exactly what products and services they want. In turn, your marketing must also constantly be shifting to capture customer attention.
Our team at Excelerate Marketing always asks - what's the purpose of this? What's the key message, who is the audience, what channels are we going to use and what's the timing? This can uncover a better way of doing things.
For example, one client recorded their time to close customers after sending a proposal as two to three weeks. However, we suggested they present the proposal to their customers with all stakeholders present, allowing them to better control the conversation. And before they leave that meeting we recommended they set a deadline to sign, or organise a follow-up meeting at a minimum. We discovered this practice immediately halved their time to close prospective customers.
If you’ve not changed up your marketing strategy in some time, our team at Excelerate Marketing can provide you with fresh ideas and new perspectives. All of which are derived from the existing assets you’ve developed within your business.
Move With The Times
As times change, so do marketing trends. And if you haven’t pivoted from your current plans since the days of direct mail or print ads, it may be time to spice things up.
Nowadays, we’ve noticed that many business owners can feel overwhelmed with information, particularly when it comes to their marketing. We’re sure you get dozens of emails a week inviting you to “join this webinar and learn how to grow your business”, “gain 1000 leads in 30 days” or even “did you miss our LinkedIn masterclass”. And it’s no secret that trying to keep up with the latest knowledge and skills can be stressful and time-consuming.
But following the latest marketing trends isn’t something you should have to add to your busy workload. Our team at Excelerate Marketing is constantly training, upskilling, and reviewing new releases of information, such as MailChimp’s new integration of pre-build customer journeys, as well as features like connecting Google Workspace with your domain.
How our clients and other businesses have recently shaken up their marketing
The way your target audience accesses your product can change at a moment's notice, so you need to be able to move with them. And the latest COVID-19 restrictions have seen businesses shake things up in ways we never thought possible. Here are how some of Excelerate Marketing’s clients have found success by changing their game.
hammerjack, an Australian & Philippine owned and operated outsource services provider, is offering 30-days free bookkeeping during the months of Spring. They identified bookkeeping as a significant area of focus for their target market, and in return have chosen to promote this service on an ongoing basis throughout September to November. A three-month-long targeted campaign is just one of many strategies your business may be able to adapt to increase revenue and client numbers.
But it’s not just your services that you may have to shake up, as ASX-listed pharmacy technology provider, Corum Health, proved recently. Corum Health held a conference in Western Australia on the 25th of August, and with staff across Australia stuck in various levels of restriction or lockdown, having everyone together was near impossible. Instead, they pivoted to an app-based conference with less focus on handing out materials and more priority given to purely demonstrating their products.
We’ve even seen Aussie retailers like Bunnings, Rebel Sports and Flower Power have to shake up their services. Where some stores have had to shut their doors thanks to in-store shopping restrictions, these retailers have changed the game by offering customers the option of ‘click and collect’. In this instance, these retailers have shaken up their entire service platform and transformed their technology to allow customers to continue shopping.
Business owners cannot be afraid to shake things up, even if it is currently working. Sitting idle can be the death of even the best marketing strategies, as your competitors rely on you to keep things the same so they can skate past you. As Confucius once said; “it doesn’t matter how slow you go as long as you don’t stop”. And this is what Excelerate Marketing is all about - accelerating your business.
There are many new avenues that your business could walk down in terms of switching up your marketing. If you’ve never thought about building on your existing content and improving your SEO or you’re intimidated by the thought of boosting your social presence, the team at Excelerate Marketing can help you target new aspects you’ve not been able to do yourself.
Algorithms will continue to advance and the strategies that will drive the best click-through and conversion rates will change, so you’ll want to align yourself with a Marketing team that can run this process for you.
So, when your customers are faced with changes in circumstances and your competitors are coming out on top, how will you shake up your marketing?
For a free consultation regarding your current marketing strategy, please reach out to our Excelerate Marketing team today.