Mad Marketing Skills and Drills for Small Business Owners
It’s Time to Slam Dunk Your Marketing Goals
Basketball is a fast-paced sport that requires a tremendous amount of endurance, drive, passion, and skill. Players need to think on their feet, make quick decisions, and know how to work as a team. In this way, the game of basketball is a perfect metaphor for the game of marketing. Successful marketing takes skill, drive, commitment, and team work. Sometimes all it takes is a little basketball terminology to explain how to succeed in the quick-moving highly-skilled world that is marketing a small business. So lace up your high tops. Game is on.
BLOCK
Did you know that a large majority of your visitors access your website from a mobile device? 80% of internet users use a smartphone, and if your website does not convert to a mobile-friendly view, they will leave your site. When it comes to marketing your business, connecting with your target audience, and converting website visitors into customers, your website must be mobile-friendly. Read “31 Mobile Marketing Statistics to Help You Plan for 2017” (http://bit.ly/1Q5Fs0w) and learn why optimizing your web presence for mobile is paramount when it comes to your marketing.
ASSIST
As a small business owner, it’s important to take advantage of your community. Becoming involved in the community is a good way to market your company. Sponsor a local fundraising event, donate time or services to local schools, or become an active participant in annual community events. These actions will both show your commitment to your community while advertising your business name and marketing your brand.
AIR BALL
Some companies make the mistake of throwing out a high quantity of content without a focus on the quality. If you don’t have a clear focus on what you’re doing, you’re throwing air balls. Nothing is going to land or resonate with your audience without a strong well thought out plan and focus. Instead, read “Use These 5 Steps to Create a Marketing Plan” by Entrpreneur.com at http://bit.ly/1QX202L then get ready to step up to the free throw line.
GUARDING
Not sure how to start putting together a marketing plan for your business? Check out what your competition is doing. Any good marketer knows it’s important to watch their competition. Follow them on social networks to see what they are doing and take note of what they are doing well. Then improve the move for your own business and you’ll win the game.
TRAVELING
Want more exposure? Then travel around the internet as a guest blogger. Writing content for other websites and putting a link back to your site is a fun and easy way to drive traffic to your website. In addition, it allows you to appear as an expert in your field while you promote and market your brand. It’s a win-win!
PIVOT
Have you been trying to pass off email campaigns successfully but feeling stuck and unsure what to do? Email marketing is key to marketing success. So where do you start? It’s a good practice to take a look at what others are doing successfully to help stir up ideas for your own marketing strategy. The article “15 of the Best Email Marketing Campaign Examples You’ve Ever Seen” is a great place to start! Read it here: http://bit.ly/2nIiPrH.
DEFENSE
Negative reviews can not only damage your online reputation, they can halt your online marketing efforts when it comes to promoting your brand. How can you protect your reputation after getting a negative review? For starters, DON’T become defensive. The best reaction you can have is to take the high road. Reach out to the reviewer with an authentic and non-confrontational response. Avoid excuses. Instead, focus on finding a solution to their complaint. In doing so, you’ll potentially earn their loyalty and trust. With that in your pocket, you’ll always score.
SET PLAY
In basketball, a set play is a strategic plan designed with a specific sequence of movements aimed at getting open shots and scoring points. It’s used to change up the existing offensive strategy. This same concept can be used when it comes to your failing marketing strategies. If you find your efforts are not working as well as you need them to, call a time out and set up a new play. Read “5 Ways to Turn a Failed Marketing Campaign Into A Win” at http://bit.ly/2n3i3X9. Review the numbers. Take a good look at your market. Understand the situations that are affecting your ability to succeed. Then create a new marketing strategy, get back on the court, and score.
FIELD GOALS
When setting marketing goals for your business, be sure that they follow the S.M.A.R.T. platform: Specific, Measurable, Agreed Upon, Realistic and Time-Based. What does that actually mean? Read “SMART Goals: How to Make Your Goals Achievable” at http://bit.ly/1VjrmzF to learn specific information about ways you should be setting up your goals for marketing success.
TEAMWORK
Every small business owner understands the importance of having the support of others to help them succeed. Whether it’s the financial backing of an investor or the professional support of a business network, anyone trying to succeed in business needs the help of a team to get to where they need to go. They need family and friends who can help them promote their business through word of mouth, they need advisors that they can go to with questions, they need support systems in place to help them grow. Marketing and growing a business is truly a team effort. To win the game, it takes play makers from all sides, it takes others being in the right spot at the right time to help, it takes coaches who lead us along the way with advice, references, and motivation. No one is in this game alone.
