The point of any strategy is to accomplish a set of goals, but some agencies create marketing strategies without ever taking the time to identify their marketing goals. Maybe they think the goal is obvious: make more money. However, making more money is a business objective, not a marketing goal.
Your marketing goals should align with your business objectives, but they’re not the same thing. For example, your main business objective may be to improve profits. The marketing goals that you might choose to support that business objective could include:
Generate 40 percent more leads
Acquire 10 new client per month
Decrease customer attrition by 10%
Raise brand awareness on Facebook by 30%
Note that the marketing objectives are specific and measurable, ensuring that we’ll know whether the strategy we develop is working.
Before you begin developing a new strategy, it’s a good idea to take a look at the marketing tools and tactics that you’ve been using during the previous year. You may find, for example, that your blog post series on planning for retirement drew in thousands of site visitors, but your Twitter account hasn’t elicited much interest at all. Understanding your current circumstances before moving forward will eliminate wasted efforts and help you refine your new strategy.
A review of your marketing tools and tactics should include:
A website audit
A content audit
A social media audit
As you conduct your year-end review, you may come across specific issues that are negatively affecting your marketing strategy. Get these problems resolved as a first step toward a more robust marketing strategy in the new year. Common problems to address include:
Slow website load times
Broken links and forms on website
Email newsletters consistently landing in prospect’s Junk Mail
Poor mobile responsiveness
Before you start planning new content, get in touch with your existing clients and find out what questions they’d like answered in the new year. An end-of-year survey is a great way to show clients that you’ve got their needs at the front of your mind as you plan out your agency’s new year. It will also cut down on the amount of time you’ll have to spend brainstorming content topics. While you’re at it, ask clients to identify any ways that you could improve your service in the new year and to share their wish list for your website.
During your review of your social media campaigns, did you find that some platforms were more effective than others? It’s not necessary to connect with clients and prospects on all platforms. The best strategy involves finding the social sites where your clients and prospects spend most of their time and prioritizing those sites. Trim the fat, so to speak, and spend the new year fleshing out the your most effective social media platform with richer campaigns.
At last! You’ve done all the work necessary to begin developing your 2018 marketing strategy. So much of strategy depends on planning, doesn’t it? Now that you’ve got specific goals in mind and you know what’s working and what’s not, it’s time to align marketing strategies and tactics with the goals that you’ve set.
If you want to increase your brand awareness locally, and you’ve discovered that Facebook has been a very effective platform for your agency historically, you might make geotargeted Facebook ads a big part of your 2018 marketing strategy.
If you want to generate more leads, and you’ve discovered through a survey that your self-employed clients want to know more about employee benefits, consider creating a lead magnet that satisfies existing clients and entices prospects to provide their contact information.
If you want to develop a marketing strategy that covers all your bases, get in touch with the insurance marketing specialists at AgenciesOnline. Our professional consultants have decades of experience in the insurance industry, and we offer a full range of marketing support for independent insurance agencies nationwide.
What are your marketing goals for 2018?