“If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up someplace else.” Yogi Berra obviously knew a lot about marketing strategy. If your marketing strategy is going to get your agency to the place where you want it to end up, you first have to know precisely where that place is.
Think specifically about your business goals. Forget vague objectives like “persuade more prospects this year.” Dig deep. If what you really want is to increase conversions by 10% over the next year, then that’s your goal. As long as your goal is attainable, being precise about what you want and when you want it is the way to go. Not only does having a specific goal simplify determining how to use your human and financial resources to achieve it, but it also facilitates tracking progress using analytics.
Go and have an honest conversation with marketing and all your agency’s stakeholders, that is. Align your marketing strategy with your goals by talking about:
Who’s going to do what
What “what” is
When he/she is going to do it
How each marketing tactic fit into the budget
How you’ll measure its effect on those SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, timely) goals that you so carefully designed
Use simple, relevant metrics.
Be realistic, and expect lag time, but don’t be afraid to abandon strategies and regroup if they no longer seem tied to/don’t move you toward your goals.
Aligning marketing strategies with specific business goals is a journey, but with a clear sense of direction, careful planning, and an unwavering awareness of the path you’re on, you’ll get there.
What are you insurance agency’s most pressing business goals?