The year is rolling along and you may finally have time to focus on marketing. Before launching into your efforts, it is important to have effective marketing strategies in place. So, how should you go about it?
Your Game Plan
What you need is a “game plan.” Having worked with hundreds of professionals over the past 25-plus years, I’ve seen that all of them appreciate having realistic and achievable marketing strategies. They also want to know what are the best practices for each area of marketing. While this article isn’t mean at all to substitute for personal consultations on strategic planning, here are some steps to consider:
(1) Develop specific objectives. Before embarking on a number of marketing programs (which can be expensive and fruitless if not managed correctly), identify your overall objectives. What are your revenue goals? Are you going to change your service offerings? Do you need to diversify your markets? Are you recruiting new partners with different areas of expertise?
Further complicating the decision-making process is that every firm is different, even if the services are similar. When you look closely, the differences can include target markets, culture, personnel, client relations, referral sources, resources available for marketing, etc. All of these, plus more, make an impact on marketing.