In July’s virtual Marketing Coffee Break (completely free to attend, just join my mailing list), we talked about what you need to be thinking about now, while the sun is still shining, to have the right marketing foundations in place for the Autumn.
I was joined by fellow SME business owners in the Zoom Room to tackle this question:
What should I be doing over the summer to get me set up for a truly successful Q3?
Here are the four key actions that came out of our discussion:
1. Use your data
You now have a solid six months of marketing data to inform future strategies.
Take time to track where your clients have come from and measure the effectiveness of your marketing activities.
It’s harder to do this without a dedicated CRM system; members of the group recommended Capsule CRM, Zoho and FOAK to manage contacts and leads.
But if you don’t have an online tool, then spreadsheets are a simple way to track client interactions.
2. Focus on your ideal client
Being really clear about your customer persona is something I often talk about, and it forms a huge chunk of my ‘Marketing Growth Optics Course‘. It’s about knowing who the right clients are for your business. And knowing them so well that you can’t help but create the marketing that attracts them.
When developing an Ideal Client Persona (ICP), base it on your best-fit, right type of client for your business (they need to be clients that are profitable and satisfying to work with).
Then hone in and find the key decision maker and get to really understand THEM. And, most importantly, identify and understand why they would choose you over competitors.
Finally, present your persona on one clear page.
3. Reconnect with existing network connections
Summer is a great time to do this because not everyone is away, and if they are, it’s only for a week or two. Don’t miss the opportunity to catch people at this quieter time, either on the phone or for a cool drink!
You’ll be able to have deeper conversations about what’s challenging them right now, and it lays the foundations to communicate how your services could help them.
4. Prepare your autumn content themes
Content planning takes time, and it’s easy for it to slip down the priorities in September when things get busier again.
I always think that summer is a great time to outline the themes you want to talk about for the rest of the year, consider how you might repurpose existing content, and what new hero content pieces you need to create that you can share and break down into bite-sized golden nuggets of advice across your channels.
To finish off…
Bringing in some discipline around these four activities can get your marketing into much better shape and help you finish the year on a high!
As always, we had a rich and engaging discussion with lots learnt and lots to put into action.
The next Marketing Coffee Break will be on 10 September, from 14.15 to 15.00. Join us then for another marketing chat and inject some Autumn energy into your marketing!
If you’d like to go deeper before the summer ends, you can join my free hour-long Marketing Masterclass on 26 August.
Get set for marketing success!
Why I Love What I Do
I’m Kara Stanford, a Strategic Advisor to Business Owners, CEO & Founder of The Marketing Spaces, a NED, and Marketing Strategist Consultant.
This year, I’m celebrating 20 years of running my own business.
Join my mailing list to get the “20 Years of Lessons Learned, 20 Top Tips, and 20 Moments of Joy” delivered straight to your inbox.
