What's your objective?

In an attempt to generate leads and grow her business, I had one client recently say, “I’m thinking of placing some ads in the local community newspaper”.  That same week another said, “I’m considering going to some networking events.”  And yet another said, “I need help with search engine optimization.”

Hey!  I’m glad they are even thinking of marketing themselves and their businesses.  That’s better than marketing inertia (the inability or incapacity to get a marketing project out the door).

But to each of them, I replied, “What’s your objective?”

It always amazes me that people take such a shotgun approach to marketing.  They seem so impatient.  They want to make a decision quick and… like an army in a chaotic war scene… they want to charge the hill!

Slowwwwwww down!!!!

Before running off half-cocked, why not take a moment to determine your objective?  It won’t take much time.  In fact it will SAVE you tons of wasted hours on marketing efforts that inevitably don’t deliver any return on your investment.

First and foremost, your marketing objective should be to generate sales and profits.  But let’s drill it down a bit further.  Here are some common marketing objectives.  Does your marketing fit into any of these buckets?

1. To generate leads
2. To acquire new customers/clients
3. To retain your current customers/clients
4. To cross-sell your current prospects/customers/clients
5. To up-sell your current prospects/customers/clients
6. To increase loyalty among your customers/clients
7. To reduce the number of customers/clients that defect
8. To manage your company’s reputation (think BP during the oil spill)
9. To increase awareness of your brand so your product or service is top-of-mind
10. To build traffic on your website
11. To optimize your website for usability
12. To optimize a landing page to improve lead conversions

I could go on and on.  Feel free to add to this list by commenting.

Bottom line:  Let’s market smart!  Determine your objective before you charge the hill.