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Four Marketing Must Do's

Published Monday Feb 3, 2014

Author MARSHA FRIEDMAN

I love the fresh-scrubbed feel of a new year. It’s a great time to set goals for myself and my company, which always fires me up and inspires me to charge ahead.

I do more looking forward this time of year than looking back, but it is important to pause and take stock of where I’ve been. It helps me avoid making the same mistakes twice, and reminds me of things we did that worked well, so that we can try to repeat them.

To that end, here are my top four marketing must-do’s in 2014.

• Define your marketing  goals.

With clearly defined goals, you have something to aim for  and a way to measure your progress (or lack thereof). Throughout the year, I  can easily analyze the numbers and see whether I’m on track to meet my goals;  if I’m not, I know I need to look for any problems that need to be  addressed.

Some marketing goal ideas include how many followers or  connections you’ll gain on your social media networks, and how many new  subscribers you’ll sign up for newsletters. Sales may be a number you take  into account, but it shouldn’t be a goal for your marketing efforts. Sales are  the result of a comprehensive strategy of which marketing is just one  component.

• Develop and build your own marketing  database

Building a database with email addresses and relevant  information about former, current and prospective clients is absolutely  essential. It allows you to communicate with them, reminding past customers of  all you have to offer; strengthening the confidence of current customers; and  encouraging prospective customers to move toward a sale.

If you’re just getting started, create a database of all  the people you know who might be interested in hearing from you: friends,  family members, former business associates – everyone.  Your communications should not be sales pitches; rather, offer valuable,  helpful information relevant to your field.

Keeps your database growing by offering content on your  website that includes a “call to action” – an invitation for visitors to share  their contact information in exchange for something that benefits them. That  might include free reports available as downloads, how-to videos or  subscriptions to your blog posts. If you’re an author, you can provide a free  chapter or two of your book.

• Maintain your marketing budget even when  sales slump.

The first thing some people do when income declines is  minimize expenses by whacking their marketing budget. Huge mistake! In fact,  you need to pay more attention to marketing when sales drop  off.

The new prospects you develop today, and the prospects  you’ve been establishing relationships with, will be your paying customers  tomorrow. If you allow that stream to dry up, you’ll be in even more dire straits a few weeks or months from now.

• Use every marketing tool available to  you.

Today we have more tools than ever for communicating the  value of our service or product to the public. Many of them cost you nothing!  

Forget yesterday’s expensive direct mail letters. Today I  can jump on Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and the other social media networks and  reach a potentially far larger audience for free.

Speaking engagements may be old school, but they’re still  effective; personal, face-to-face experiences create lasting impressions.  Traditional media -- radio, newspapers and magazines, and TV – are also still  powerful and carry the additional benefit of giving you credibility. That  implied endorsement from journalists and talk show hosts sets you apart from  the crowd.

Creating a great website accessible to millions of  potential shoppers doesn’t have to break the bank, and you can ramp up its  value by using it to showcase your publicity.

Use everything at your disposal to share your  message.    

Following these simple but essential tips will help ensure you stay in front of your customers in the months ahead, which may just make 2014 your best year ever.

Marsha Friedman is a 23-year veteran of the public relations industry. She is the CEO of EMSI Public Relations (www.emsincorporated.com/smallbusiness), a national firm that provides PR strategy and publicity services to businesses, professional firms, entertainers and authors. Friedman is the author of Celebritize Yourself and she can also be heard weekly on her Blog Talk Radio Show, EMSI’s PR Insider every Thursday at 3 PM EST. Follow her on Twitter: witter.com/marshafriedman.

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