The beginning of a new year always comes with talk of creating (and sticking to) a new set of resolutions. Have you made any resolutions for yourself this year? How about for your agency?
A great place to start for your agency is with your inbound marketing strategies. Is the agency doing everything it can to put itself in front of customers and prospects? If you aren’t sure, then it may be time to create some inbound marketing resolutions for your agency. Here are some ideas to get you started:
Blog More Frequently and Thoughtfully
Blogging is one of the best things you can do for the health and performance of your website. Writing and posting unique, high quality blog posts provides your website with a continuous stream of fresh content, which both users and search engines like to see.
If you’re currently posting twice a month, why not increase that to once a week? If you’re posting once a week, why don’t you try twice a week? If you haven’t already, create an editorial calendar to keep track of all your agency’s posts. Make sure, however, that you’re posting with reason and strategy. Don’t duplicate content or write irrelevant content simply to have more blog posts each week or month. Only increase your blogging frequency if you have the means to produce more engaging content that is relevant to your audience.
Introduce a New Social Media Network to Your Agency
Think about which major social media networks your agency is truly active on (think Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google Plus). It might be just Facebook, it could be Facebook and Twitter, or it could be all of the major networks. However, if you’re like most agencies, you probably haven’t had much time to build a strong following on all four of the major networks. Take the new year as an opportunity to work on integrating one new social media network to your agency. If your agency is active and posting consistent and valuable content on Facebook, why not give LinkedIn a try?
If you feel that your agency is fully engaged on all four networks, look at the metrics behind those networks. Evaluate which networks are bringing you the most engagement, website traffic, and, ultimately, lead opportunities. If there are networks that are not performing as strongly for you as others, concentrate on one or more of those networks in the next year.
Be PR-Worthy
Chances are, your agency is doing press-worthy things and you may not even realize it. Submitting online press releases provides a great way for you to promote your agency, while gaining a high quality back link to your website from the online PR website of your choosing. Not only that, but you have the potential to gain even more exposure if local news outlets pick up your online PR to publish on their own websites.
If you have agency news, like a new division or staff member with new expertise, it’s probably PR-worthy. If your agency is taking part in any type of local community events or sponsoring a local charity or organization, that is also PR-worthy. While these things may seem like second nature for your agency, they’re things you should be sharing with your audience. Constant improvement as a business and local community involvement show great reasons why people should work with you!
Get Creative & Meaningful with Email
The new year brings a great opportunity for your agency to hit the reset button with some of its email practices. Make sure that this year, all of your email marketing goes out with a purpose, and that you’re not simply sending the same old emails you have for the past five years.
Have a list of restaurant owners in your area? Why don’t you get creative with how you’re marketing to them through an email campaign. Create a campaign that speaks to the specific commercial insurance concerns of the restaurant community. Don’t just blast them with a series of emails about how great your agency is; prove it to them. Highlight scenarios and coverage options that they need in their industry. You may just bring to their attention something they hadn’t even thought of, or something their current agency did not go over with them.
What is your marketing plan for 2015? You don’t have to tackle everything at once; start small and work your way up to each resolution and plan. Above all, make sure you’re putting out content that is creative, unique, high quality, and significant to your audience, regardless of the channel. Think outside the box and step up your efforts from the previous year; it will pay off!