Elevate Your Business's Marketing Strategy with Strategic Innovation - Part One

Businesses that rely on yesterday’s tools and strategies to market their services are severely limiting their growth potential.

Tom Pfingsten

Part 1: Self-Evaluation

Businesses that rely on yesterday’s tools and strategies to market their services are severely limiting their growth potential. On the other hand, innovation without strategy is a recipe for confusion. What’s needed is strategic innovation—using the right tools with skill and purpose.

The first step is to see what you’ve got in your toolkit and how well it’s working since good marketing resources will result in a growing business. Artisan Workshop is here to help you make the necessary changes and move forward.

No business is entirely unique—in many ways, it reflects the patterns and trends of the wider economy.

For example, 68% of internet users form their opinion of a business after reading fewer than 6 online reviews.

With that in mind, here are seven questions to ask of your marketing. Your answers will chart a path forward, and in part 2 of this series, we will give you our top five strategies for finding and working with a marketing agency to help your business thrive.

1. Do you have a clear and comprehensive marketing strategy?

Think of your marketing strategy like a plan of care: A blueprint of small, actionable steps to be taken with a view of the overall vitality of your business.

A good strategy clearly states your goals and related marketing activity, including:

Who your ideal client is and how to reach them
Which social media platforms are most active among your audience
Your most valuable services (valuable to your business and to your clients)
The most important metrics to capture to determine effectiveness
What you consider to be long-term success

One of the most common marketing miscues among businesses is the simple absence of strategy—hoping that your expertise and word of mouth will be enough, and letting the chips fall where they may.

But even with a strategy in place, it’s a common mistake to omit important elements. Your plan must be as comprehensive as possible to achieve consistent growth.

2. How effective is your messaging and your brand identity?

Your relationship with a client who will eventually be under your care begins long before you even know their name. They are forming opinions about your business—many of which are unconscious—from their first moments on your website.

That’s why your business needs a strong, distinctive brand image that will help prospective clients form a positive flash-perception—before they have even begun to learn about what you do.

Don’t take our word for it: Read The Importance Of Branding In Business, from Forbes online.

Someone might see your brand for only a moment, but if it sticks out in a positive way, there’s a good chance they won’t forget it, even if this person isn’t ready to use your products or services just yet. Eventually, when they’re ready to take the next steps, if your branding has stuck with them, they’ll come back to you. — Kristopher Jones, Forbes

3. Is your website responsive?

According to the Pew Research Center, more than 85% of Americans now own smartphones.

Besides the screen in everyone’s pocket—ready to connect them to your website at a moment’s notice—there has been a proliferation of other devices of varying dimensions and display ratios.

In other words, if your website only looks good on a computer screen, you’re losing potential clients who end up squinting at their iPads trying to read your phone number.

4. Are you reaching potential clients on social media? (But are you really?)

It’s common for business owners to assume that their Facebook page is doing its part to bring in new leads—but few have realized the full potential of social media to vitalize every aspect of an organization.

For example:

Are you intentionally building loyalty within your social media community?
Are you consistently providing useful content that does not serve a promotional purpose?
Are you reaching out into untapped markets adjacent to your existing network?
Are you advertising on the platforms your target clients use the most?

Business Owners have powerful resources for building trust and loyalty on social media, simply by sharing information from within their specialty.

But don’t stop there. Social media is an incredible resource when used to its full potential.

5. Are you taking full advantage of the latest search and advertising resources?

In 2023, there’s no reason to throw advertising dollars at the wall and see what sticks. The byword of our time is targeted.

With a little bit of planning and, yes, strategy (see Step 1), you can identify and target your ideal client with pinpoint accuracy.

We’ll use search-engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, and geo-targeting to connect you with better leads.

6. Do you know if your online reviews are helping or hindering your business?

Managing the reputation of your business is probably not a new concept. But do you know what all of your reviewers are saying online?

Are you aware of all of the places where a satisfied or disgruntled client might leave you a review?

Better yet, are you making full use of the positive reviews that your best clients are writing? These could, after all, be client testimonials, right?

If you answered “no” to any of these questions, let’s talk about how to bring your reputational game up to speed.