What can you do to improve your online marketing today?iStock_000002807197Small

The problem with this question is that it implies that there is a list already in existence that you can pull from and apply.  Without specific plans, you could always find an idea from reading ‘advice columns’ and simply apply it and see if it works.  But let’s go back to the first problem – what do you know to do?

What is preventing you from making the change?

Many times, we already know the opportunities available to us, we know actions that we can take to improve, we just lack the time, technology or team members to implement these changes.  As a result, known changes that could increase the profitability of the business sit on the site, UN-used and UN-utilized.  Until the perception changes that every day that goes by are lost dollars, inaction will be the rule.

That is the perception that we battle against.  By not constantly evaluating your marketing for changes and improvements, there is a tendency to forget that more money can be made with simple adjustments or improvements.  The businesses that are aware of this are the ones that tackle improvements and changes on a daily business – they are aware of the money that can be made by applying questions, hypothesis, and tests to find more revenue and profitability.

I once performed a site audit for a company and delivered a list of 10 items that would improve their online marketing.  After 2 months, the owner called me and was excited to report that they had implemented half of the list and had already seen a remarkable and noticeable difference in the business.  However, ever the marketer, my question was :  “Why didn’t you do the entire list?”

What is it that makes people satisfied with partial success?

The beautiful problem in online marketing is the constant availability of things that can be improved.  From simple optimization techniques to coordinated landing pages.  From email headlines to social media account consistency.  From color evaluation to making calls to action buttons bigger.  Some of the easiest changes are the simplest.  Why is there hesitation to continue finding opportunities to improve?

I find that most companies or executives simply don’t know where to start.  They know where they would like to be, but not exactly how to get there.  Their goal is a noble pursuit of improvement, but the execution simply seems to be an elusive hour or two that simply slips by.

Create a Habit of Success

  1. List all of the improvements that you know should be done to your online marketing; your website, emails, social media, and analytics.  There are things you know that need to be done, and there are things that you will need to look into – arrange them into lists of ease of execution.
  2. Open your calendar and create an event – improve your website or your marketing every day.  Make it an appointment with your business to find an improvement.  Otherwise, it won’t happen and it will be pushed aside, along with other things that aren’t on your calendar.
  3. Commit to an improvement a day for 7 weeks, or 35 business days.  I’m sure that you have at least 35 things you can do to test or directly improve your website.  Right?
  4. Measure.  Without measurement, all of this is useless.  Measurement is the only way to know if your efforts have been worth the effort.  Maybe getting measurement in place takes up a few items of your to do list?
  5. Analyze.  Was it worth it?  Can your efforts be measured in terms of increasing revenue, reducing spend or improving profitability?

 

Know What Works and Why

Artistotle observed, “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”  To be a better marketer, the first step is to act like a better marketer and do what great marketers do – today!