Famous last words.

I love the industry I’m in and the industries we serve, but sometimes it is very frustrating. Agencies and brokerages come to us all the time that are disenchanted with their lack of visible results with ‘marketing’. Most have come around to understanding social media is here to stay and that digital is a necessary business strategy, but they also know they have invested a lot of resource with little to show for it. The worst cases are those that have invested in a ‘program’ for years and can’t articulate what they are supposed to receive, and have no idea if they are on track to hit their results, and further don’t even know the expected goals in the first place.

Of course, finding the right-fit strategy for any particular agency is a challenge. Your audience continually evolves, your business continues to change, and what happened last year will almost certainly have to change this year. While there are a lot of high-level strategies and tactics to consider when finding your ‘win’, there are some very basic things you can stop doing TODAY, in order to put yourself in a better position online.

So, let’s end the cycle of frustration, waste, and doubt. Following are either cost saving ideas or things to finally focus on and get right with regard to your marketing.

Go To Your Target Audience

If you are like most business owners, sales people, A-type personalities, Millennials, etc., etc., etc. then you are intrigued by the newest idea and latest technology. And why shouldn’t you be? There are new platforms and ways to connect with your audience popping up almost monthly. The problem with being everywhere is that it’s hard to maintain any kind of momentum. If you decide to participate on a platform, you have to have an intimate knowledge of that platform. As an example, I come across LinkedIn profiles all the time that tell the following story.

Hi, I have been convinced to be here by my younger ________ (employees, children, consultant). I signed up for this account, but didn’t go through all the steps to complete my profile. As you can see, I have not uploaded a picture. I have listed my company but have not connected to it, nor have I provided a compelling story about me or my company. I have twelve total connections and am a member of zero groups. Don’t bother checking to see if I can provide any value to you as I have not uploaded any expertise, and I won’t be providing any sort of thought leadership here. I will be idly waiting, hoping that this turns into some revenue for me, but I am skeptical. 

I DID, however, pay for the upgraded service. I’m told this looks good, and I figured why not? What’s $50 – $100 a month? I will of course never use the additional features that come with my premium account.  

Well, feel free to send me a connection request. You will more than likely sit in queue with the eight other requests that have been pending since I created this thing about 12 months ago.  

Oh…and I’d love your business!

A bit harsh you might think, but that is the truth. When you create an account online and never use it, you send a message that it isn’t a priority, and you frankly don’t care. Again, the point here is if you are going to commit to a platform, then learn it and do it well. If you aren’t going to bother to understand how to effectively use it, then don’t waste your money paying for features you will never use.

Want to save yourself some money? Here’s a tip:

If you have a large team and nobody is truly getting value from or using their premium features on LinkedIn, then drop them back to basic. It will take some of the pressure off of them, will do no damage to their already lackluster presence there, and it will save you thousands of dollars per year! Even if you are a sole-proprietor, you can save yourself $600 – $1,200 per year.

I am not saying any social media platform, premium accounts or features are a total waste of time – you just have to know how to use them in order to get any kind of ROI. So I don’t come off as totally negative here, below are 6 points to help you maximize your LinkedIn Presence*. It is truly a powerful tool when used correctly!

1. Make sure you have a good-quality, professional picture
2. Write a strong summary statement
3. Make sure to review spelling and grammar
4. Stay active
5. Make sure you are at “All-Star” status with your profile completeness
6. Expand your network on a regular basis

*Points 1 – 5 come directly from my book “Brand Aid”. For a complete list, and for a resource on how to develop and manage your personal brand, click here!

Get Social

Having a social media presence, like a Facebook page and Twitter account, is expected today. It really is the minimum your agency can and should do. The best way to utilize any social media presence is to GET SOCIAL. A lot of marketers and companies still deploy old school methods of promotion but they are using these new channels to do so. Your customers and prospects do not want to be barraged with your special offers and product announcements.  They want you to do what you are meant to do on social media – interact and be social.

If you are using social media to push messages only, then you can probably shut down these profiles altogether and not get much pushback from your connections.  However, if you are using social media to create and nurture relationships, and respond to questions, then you are one of the few agencies that truly ‘gets it’.

Want to save yourself some money? Here’s a tip:

If you cannot clearly show the impact your social media presence is having on your agency – driving traffic to your website, establishing brand awareness, increasing interaction and client satisfaction – then stop paying for your social media to be managed. It’s not.

Be Smart About Your Website Redesign

Companies typically get tired of their current website after about two years. Coincidentally, that is about the same amount of time you can leave your site up without getting left behind by technological change. Before you decide to do a redesign or build out a brand new site, you have to realize you go to your website a heck of a lot more than anyone else. Most of your traffic will be first-time visitors; therefore the design is new to them.

If your site is not producing the results you want and if the design is old and tired, then it is absolutely okay to give it some love. When redesigning your site, there are three things to keep in mind.

1. Does the proposed new site help you achieve your goals?
2. Does the proposed new design compliment your offline brand and is it consistent with your brand identity?
3. IS IT MOBILE COMPATIBLE?

It doesn’t matter how beautiful your new site is on a desktop or laptop. If your new site isn’t responsive, then you will have wasted your time and money. Mobile visitors will not spend any time on your site if the experience isn’t optimized for their device.

Consistency in Brand

Your digital presence should be an extension of your offline brand. I’ve met with agencies that are market leaders, however their digital presence tells a completely different story. There is plenty of evidence to prove people are looking up you and your agency online before ever meeting with you. If you are portraying yourself as smaller or less competent than you really are, you are losing opportunities. If you lose a minimum of 4 to 5 “A” opportunities per year, what does that equate to in lost revenue?

Respond

You could spend a lot of time determining your audience personas, mapping out content for them based on their sales lifecycle, and creating the perfect call-to-action and landing page – all leading to a huge success in lead generation. However, if you do not respond to your leads or follow-up with them when appropriate, then you are not only wasting resources developing your process, but you are leaving real money trapped in your system.

It really amazes me that companies don’t respond to web submissions. I have done my research on some vendors here locally in Virginia and then contacted them asking for a bid/quote/etc. and have not heard back. I was ready to buy, and all they had to do was respond to get my business. Revenue was landing in their laps and they didn’t bother to follow-up. That is insanity!!!

Want to save yourself some money? Here’s a tip:

Make sure you have a process in place to follow up with all of your qualified leads. If you don’t, you are leaving money on the table and paying for marketing that isn’t equating into sales.

Test & Track

There is only one way to know if you are getting a return on your investment in marketing – track it. There are numerous tools out there that can help you monitor general metrics as well as very in-depth analytics.

Whether you are a seasoned veteran, or an agency just getting started in the digital space, download our DIY Inbound Marketing Guide, and run your next campaign like a pro.