Maintenance–it’s what keeps cars running, and what keeps businesses selling.
In that regard, marketing is the same as machinery in that both could use a little upkeep from time to time. A quick check-up now and then will pay huge dividends for your business.
It might take some time, but here are four ways you can keep your marketing program running at full steam:
Market Share Audit
What percentage of all the transactions in your market area–including from competitors, private sellers, and marketplaces–are you winning?
For many businesses, market share is the ultimate litmus test of success. Having your finger squarely on the pulse of your market is a must. Unfortunately, it’s often difficult getting the right intel as to how you’re faring relative to your competition.
For many, obtaining market share data is cost-prohibitive since the necessary data doesn’t come cheap. However, sometimes you get lucky and find a marketing partner or chamber of commerce that has access to the goods. In either case, it’ll be worth your while to dive in to that data.
TV & Radio Planning Check
No one knows your customers better than you. But that doesn’t always mean you shouldn’t double-check some of your assumptions, especially when it comes to TV and radio advertising.
For example, when buying media, are you providing specific objectives for each campaign? When was the last time you did some deep audience research? And how are you assessing your success post-purchase?
Auditing your traditional ad spend is not always easy work, and a little conventional wisdom will go a long way. If you have an expert in-house who can guide your efforts, you’ll be in a much better position. Alternatively, retaining an outside professional on an as-needed or per-project basis is smart work, as well.
Website Analytics Review
Even if you’ve got a marketing partner, it’s good practice to get a fresh set of eyes on your website’s activity. That way, you’ll be much more likely to spot trends in traffic, customer behavior, and market demographics, among other insights.
Briefly, here’s a few items you can check for when you’re doing your website analytics audit.
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Site downtime. If you’re noticing huge drop-offs in traffic, you may be having site stability issues. Contact your hosting provider immediately if you think there may be an issue.
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Bot traffic. Random, large fluxes of traffic can result from nefarious sources and muddle your data. Get an analytics filter in place ASAP.
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Goals tracking. Without goals in place, it’s impossible to know if your website is working for you. Don’t limit yourself to just form fills–there’s tons of other valuable events to track.
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Pixel issues. Occasionally, something can happen with your Google Analytics pixel (the snippet of code required to use analytics) and data stops being recorded. That’s a waste of valuable insight.
Digital Advertising
What’s the best thing about digital ads? Transparency.
The trackability of your digital spend means that you can almost always see where the waste is. With the right reports, you should be able to see what’s not working with your digital media, and afterward be able to stop the bleeding.
With a little practice, you’ll be able to spot some basic digital advertising mistakes, such as search engine marketing spend for non-converting keywords, and poor ad placements for display and banner ads.
No Time For A Check-Up? Let Incite Do It if For You FOR FREE
Experts say that market audits should be performed at least twice annually.
But what busy leader of an business has time for that? It’s hard enough just getting to the dentist once per year, much less make time for marketing.
Don’t fret–we’ve got you covered with a completely free Marketing Check-Up.
Specifically, here’s what we’ll do for you:
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Assess Your Market Share–We’ll let you know where you know exactly where you stand in regards to the competition using high-fidelity data.
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Analyze Your TV and Radio Planning–Our veteran media-buyers will chime on your traditional media buys with ideas for smarter spending.
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Review Your Website Analytics–We’ll peek under the hood of your website and make sure everything’s in tip-top shape.
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Audit Your Digital Marketing–Your digital may be doing well, but could it be doing even better? We’ll let you know!
BONUS: Co-Op Marketing Review, 100 Percent FREE!
With more than 10 years of marketing experience, we’re sure to find some way to make you money. Sign up for an audit now to get your results quickly.