When I get into the office each day, I have a routine:
- Download email off the server
- Check phone messages
- Double check appointments for the day & the next day
- Look at my to-do list from the night before
- Say “hi” to everyone & if the weather’s not so good – hang up my coat.
- Get a cup of coffee.
By the same token, I try to have daily, weekly or monthly business routines for all the functions that I oversee. Review A/P, A/R every Monday afternoon. Sign checks on Tuesday. Production status review on Monday. Review Sales Pipeline Friday mornings. Have a strategy session 3rd Tuesday mornings with my board of advisors. I’m sure you have routines too.
What are your marketing routines? Accounting routines (although NOT fun to me) are pretty easy to identify. Marketing routines might be harder to list, so I thought today I’d share some of the routines I use with my own business:
Daily:
- Write a thank you note
- Read a newspaper, magazine or on line article and send a note to the author or to a business acquaintance who would be interested in the content.
- Have my email signature “advertise” my company with every email sent.
Weekly:
- Check the webstats for keywords, long readers w/ multiple pages.
- Review google alerts on competitors/customers
- Send out a media kit/speaker kit/press kit to help build a relationship.
- Attend an event/association meeting and meet 2 or 3 new people.
- Write in the blog (usually a few times)
- Put new business cards in the computer/plastic sleeve file. Write on the back of the card where I met the person and something memorable that we talked about.
Monthly:
- Send out a press release. Post it on the website.
- Review the website for something old/something new/something to add or tweak
- Speak at a business function
- Help a recent grad network in marketing & ask them to pass it forward
- Review new leads, review prospect mailing list, review upcoming tradeshows or other events.
- Call or email some old contacts that I don’t have an immediate reason to talk with but really want to stay in touch.
- Work on my yearly project for at least 4 hours sometime during the month. Maybe 1 hour a week… maybe all on one rainy Saturday afternoon.
Quarterly:
- Review goals/review progress
- Compile tracking reports on key performance indicators
- Compare marketing goals to company goals
- Do a mailing of a direct mail letter, newsletter or other communication piece
- Have a long coffee conversation with my “partners in crime” — trusted business buddies who are willing to talk strategy, swap headache solvers and share ideas.
Yearly:
- Figure out what BIG marketing project we need to complete (Tradeshow Booth? New Website? Launch strategy for a new service?)
- Look at last year’s sales results and determine how to modify this year’s marketing focus. Re describe the profile of the PERFECT customer.
- Research the target market to better understand recent changes in the marketplace.
- Determine whats the BIG NEW THING that I need to learn about for the coming years. (For example, it took me a while to start blogging with a lot of baby steps.)
What routines do you do regularly to build your marketing?
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That’s very impressive Chris. Wow, you’ve really got all the pieces put together well. I don’t think you missed anything.
I don’t think I’ve ever looked at the whole marketing picture like you do. But, now that’s a goal for me.
What I do daily:
-Send a heartfelt greeting card to say Thanks, Congrats, Happy Birthday or an occasional Apology.
-Send a marketing card out to share about our system
-Follow up by phone to contacts from the previous week or month
-Like you, I build my contact manager. I am a BNI member and meet new visitors each week. I also, attend one more networking event.
-Personal development – either reading a great book, listening to a tape or chat with a mentor
-Demo my product with someone either remotely via computer or I visit their office and work on their PC
Weekly;
-Once a week, I invite everyone I met to link with me on LinkedIn. (http://www.linkedin.com/in/askandreapage)
-Once a week, I randomly choose a letter of the alphabet and look at my card scan file and call 5 people to “catch up” with them.
That’s where mine breaks down. I have not created monthly or annual goals, as such. I have tasks that I do, but not consistently or automatically…..other than, looking for holidays that I can send cards out for.
When I had my mortgage business, I would send monthly mailings related to a holiday theme.
Well, thanks for sharing your ideas. I love the PR idea. I learned a lot reading your post today.
Andrea
Andrea:
Thanks for some additional marketing ideas! I love the idea of the random letter of the alphabet for re connecting with contacts.
Sometimes I feel I spend too much time looking for NEW contacts, when the existing ones I have are gems!
Chris
PS. I sent you a linked in invitation! We are connected through 22 different people!!
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For those who don’t have their marketing down to a schedule like this, a great thing to do is plan out a marketing blue print and map out all of your marketing avenues and see how they work together. Then see what you need to be doing. It is an easy way to see what needs to be done and when and what things you need to do yourself.