Have you got a marketing plan in place that you’re working towards? Or are you more of a fly by the seat of your pants kind of person?

In the ever-changing landscape that is the digital world, it can be tricky to keep up with and nail all of the things. Having a marketing plan in place doesn’t mean that you can’t deviate from time to time. It simply gives you a nice solid base to work from because your digital space is likely filled with lots of different channels that you communicate to the public on. A well-considered marketing plan helps bring clarity and continuity to your communications.

With the world feeling heavy these days lots of folks are struggling with their content and finding the right vibe that works for them. I’m not going to tell you how often you should be posting. But not having a plan could mean that you’re missing opportunities or scrambling to meet them. So even if it’s basic - it will still give you that solid base to work from. Here are some ideas to give your plan a glow-up.

Are your channels all working together?

Trying to get all your ducks in a row across all of your digital communication channels (eg. your website, socials, email marketing, digital ads etc) can be a real challenge. Particularly if they aren’t all singing the same tune! Consider how your customers will perceive your offer if you can’t articulate it properly or it appears differently across media platforms.

Clear and consistent messaging across all your channels – driven by your marketing plan, will boost engagement and build stronger brand awareness. Perhaps you could consider how a blog article might translate to a social media reel, an email blast, or some targeted advertising, for example. In some cases, your key messaging may need to be reframed or voiced slightly to suit a different channel (eg Instagram vs TikTok vs Linkedin), but ultimately you’re still saying the same thing.

You’re ignoring your mailing list

Oi! You… stop that! Your mailing list is gold! These are people that have chosen to willingly step into your digital universe because they want to know what’s happening in your world.

These are are your easy-reach audience (your warm leads, if you like). The beauty is that you don’t have to rely on countless hashtags, algorithms or targeted ads to reach them. All you have to do is get them to open their email. Commit to writing a regular email (not a newsletter) to your peeps. And, it doesn’t have to be weekly or monthly, just regular intervals are enough. But please give them some love and make it a priority in your world.

Your socials don’t have a plan

If you’ve been slapping your socials together on the fly with no coherent consistent narrative, are you even doing it right? Spend some time to think about what your customers want and need from you. Or better yet, do a quick poll and ask them! Do they need more hints and tips? Recipes? Do they want insights into what you do. Just info in general. This following this is a two way street.

Are you commenting on aligned business posts? Being an active engaged member of the online community and replying to your comments is just basic decency and keeps you connected with your network. Give them some love - they might just stop by and do the same for you. This is a two-way street. Finding your rhythm on what works for you - consistent posting is a great idea. See what works best for you and your level of enthusiasm for these platforms.

You haven’t made friends with ads

Sure, I get it… the Ads Manager is a weird place to be, but targeted advertising for your business is a great way to enhance your offer. Ads should complement your marketing strategy and be supported by all of the channels in your digital universe.

Using ads to build your mailing list, for example, can be a great way to grow your business and customer engagement giving you a direct line to your customers. Even if you get a follow out of their interaction with your ad it’s a win - so take it.

Build value

Have a think about how you’re building value for your customers. Remind them over and over again about what you’re doing and why you’re the right fit for them. Consider what problems you are solving for them, and what improvements you’re making in their lives. This is your opportunity to make your mark on their brain so you capture their attention and they remember you. So, tell them about the value that you bring. Make cute reels about how customers feel after they’ve worked with you.

repeat yourself

One of my favourite follows on the socials of lockdown days was an Irish woman who just graduated high school and was renovating a vintage pony box for her portable bakery business. I can recite her purpose for you here because she tells me every time that I watch one of her videos. Clever woman! She knows that repeating a message and banging on about it as much as possible really helps to make connections and it embeds in peoples brains. The same goes for posts. If you have a look at your stats you’ll probably see that roughly a third of your people are actually seeing your posts and even less are engaging with them.

You know what sort of content gets the most engagement? I’m talking about saves, shares and comments type engagement… Engaging and thought provoking content. Simple. Give your audience something to think about.

Maybe they don’t know your business origin story and are missing out on the reasons ‘why’ your business exists?

Reboot your content

Speaking of repeating yourself, rehash your greatest hits in all different formats is another way of doing this. It also helps to reduce your workload, by making it part of your digital strategy. Post it once a quarter on your channels. Make a few social posts about it and redirect people back to it. Each time you’ll be reaching someone new - who is keen to hear what you’ve got to say! Not to mention reminding your existing customers! There’s some great tips to reboot your content over here by the way.

Some great content to reboot is your popular blog posts. Your blog posts are already passively driving new traffic to your website. Which the Google SEO Gods love.

get cracking!

If this year is your year to have a plan to work to then get in touch and let’s talk about getting a digital strategy together for you. Book a call with me and we can have a chat about what you want to achieve.