2024 is here. It sneaked up on us. So, what are your marketing plans for 2024? Will you be throwing some more stuff at the wall, and see what sticks?
Some smart person once said:
As long as you keep doing what you are doing, you will keep on getting what you currently get.
Some small business owners will undoubtedly just keep doing what they have been doing. For some of them it will work, and for others it won’t.
Some of them will find that what they have been doing up until now is not working as well as it used to.
Some others will try to get onto the AI and chatbot bandwagons. After all, if it is new, and it looks great, it’s good, right?
Maybe, and maybe not.
It depends on who you are dealing with. As always, it comes back to your typical client or customer. For instance, if your typical customer is 70 years of age, they may not want to talk to an AI chatbot that doesn’t understand what they want.
And if you want to get onto the AI blog content bandwagon, you may want to consider the source of the information used to compile your article.
If that seems unnecessary, you may want to Google “New York Times sues Open AI”. You can expect a few more of those as times go on – and some sellers on Etsy have also come into the line of fire after using AI image generators to create their artworks.
So, what is your marketing strategy for 2024?
(and don’t worry if you haven’t got one – we can help with that. Just Click Here to watch the short video)
What we would suggest – if you are a small business owner – is that you consider the following when compiling your marketing strategy for the year ahead:
1. Take a long hard look at what you are doing right now.
Which marketing avenues are you currently investing in (time, money or both)? Have you been tracking any of those results? Do you at least have any idea which of them are working or not?
If you are not tracking your results, may we suggest that you start doing so. Even if someone calls you, make it a habit to ask – somewhere during the conversation – how they came to know about you (or the specific offer you are promoting).
Some avenues may generate many inquiries, but few sales, and vice versa.
Figure out what works, and see if it is possible to expand on that. And if something isn’t worth the money or time you are investing in it, let it go – and find something better (or divert your ad spend and/or efforts to that which already works).
2. Explore new marketing opportunities.
Fair enough, you will need to do your due diligence on this. Not everything works for everyone – or every type of business – and not everyone offering you advertising space will be honest about how many actual buyers frequent their platform.
Getting clicks you your website, or getting many eyeballs on your ads are not a guarantee that any of those will translate into business.
And all too often, even “reviews” about products and services are put up by people who stand to make money off it (directly or as commission).
See if you can find comments by actual users of the platform. Among those, see if any of them target a similar market to yours, and see what THOSE people have to say.
3. Turn it all upside down.
Instead of seeing where you can get affordable advertising space – or services – start with the customer first.
What are their interests and behaviors? Where do they hang out? Which platforms or websites do they frequent?
Willie Crawford – brilliant online marketer who eventually moved on to joint venture brokering – used to say this (when asked about getting traffic to his offers):
“I go where there are many people – and then I simply place myself in their way.”
Of course, it has to be “the right people”. It wouldn’t make any sense to try to sell life insurance to a crowd of teens. Nor would selling gaming computers to people at the retirement home.
Before advertising on any website or platform, ask if they have any information about their visitor/user demographics. In some cases they could have a wide range – if it is (for instance) an advertising network with a number of websites on their books.
But then they can help you to identify the best audiences for your ad spend.
In conclusion:
There is an old expression that says: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
Not to mention the old saying “fortune favors the prepared”.
If you are unsure what to do to grow your business this year, talk to us. Just follow the link below, and watch the short video clip to see how we may be of assistance.