Welcome to halftime, everyone. We’ve come to the conclusion of the second quarter and that means we’re officially halfway through the year.
Some of you may have taken action for your business growth, Ninja Warrior style! Some of you may have taken baby steps to get started, with the hopes of gaining momentum in Q3.
Aaaand, some of you may have gotten distracted, allowing other business priorities to creep into the view.
If you’re disappointed with the scoreboard—don’t give up. We’ve still got six more months to make some big plays for the year.
For business owners and executives, we know it’s incredibly challenging to work in the business while working on the business. Most of the time, you’re focused on the big to-do list. You lack the time and interest in learning about all the digital marketing dohickeys and lingo.
For marketers, we know there will never be a shortage of ideas and initiatives; you’re working against the clock trying to prioritize and filter all the needs and wants across all departments. Your backlog is likely a mile long.
Without further ado, here’s how to increase business growth at your halftime checkpoint.
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Set Business-Growth Goals and Stick to Them
So, where do we go from here? It’s time to huddle up and get our head in the game.
Our 60-second pep talk goes a little something like this:
First and foremost, the team has to show up. You can’t win if you don’t show up. If there is a gap in your business, it’s time to fill it. Temporary fixes and bandages will fall off in Q3.
It’s time for long-term solutions that will turn into ROI for your company. There has to be an intense desire to succeed and a willingness to solve the big challenges.
Your company hasn’t made it this far by simply wishing, hoping and dreaming from the sidelines. It’s been the result of hard work, and now the same effort is required to continue growing upon your successful brand.
Quick and Easy Action Items:
- Write the big hairy goals in permanent marker on your calendar.
- Look at them regularly and make decisions that align with them.
Showing up ready to make big plays is the only mindset that will translate into action.
Budget for Your Goals
Stated simply, your digital marketing efforts must be included in your sales and marketing budget.
If you are marketing from a fairly static annual budget, you’re viewing marketing as an expense. Good marketers realize that it’s an investment.
—Seth Godin
We know businesses can easily spend over $25k to attend one tradeshow and over $15k on annual janitorial services. Both of these are important in keeping your business healthy.
But, a true sales and marketing budget should be reflective of your business growth goals. It should encompass the life-time value of a customer and include the costs of what it takes to acquire a new customer.
It shouldn’t feel like paying rent. This is an investment; the plan is to get out more than what you put in. It won’t happen overnight and it’s unrealistic to assume “the marketing person” can do it all.
The “marketing person” is your anchor, an MVP for your business. But this person needs to be set up for success and equipped with the right tools. If you actually have a marketing person that can do all things design, front- and back-end development, content, analytics, marketing, reporting and more every month, we’d like to meet this person. (And, if you wouldn’t mind sending them to our careers listing—we’ve been looking for this majestic unicorn!)
Don’t Wait for Your Competition to Make a Move
Last but not least, pinky swear that you aren’t going to wait for the competition to make all the moves. You can’t actively grow your business if you’re always on the defense.
We often hear, “our competitor just launched a new website,” or, “our competitor is showing up above us on Google and we need to do something fast!”
Don’t ? let ? this ? be ? you?. Chances are, the business growth you are seeing from a competitor is a compilation of strategic and continuous digital efforts for several months.
We hear ya, it takes work. We know because we don’t just do this for our clients, we do this for ourselves. We have six team members working on our brand at different times throughout the month. We know the amount of work it takes and that it requires multiple skill sets to get the job done right.
From design to development, to content and analytics, there’s a lot to get done.
Moving Forward for Your Business Growth
So, in review:
- Let’s show up!
- Allocate the time, talent and resources to winning!
- Agree we will be proactive and not reactive to the competition!
Both your competitor and your customers are one click away. Let’s go get those new customers and get your business growing.
Feeling ready to make a move?
