5 Marketing “Must Knows” for 2018

Are you sure you are not shooting yourself in the foot while you are trying to promote your practice? Depending on what you are doing and the strategies you have in place your efforts could all be in vain. Let’s take a look at some of the most common ideas that make sense on paper, but fail in execution.

1. I want to blog!!! = Reckless Blogging

Day after day, you write post upon post, yet nobody is reading them. Are you a terrible writer? Is your niche boring an unengaged? Maybe, but more than likely the real problem is that you are not promoting your blog posts. Before you type the first word of your post, you need to know a few important details.

• Who is my audience?
• Where can I promote this post to them?
• What unique value can I bring to the topic?
• Is there supplemental information I can also provide to further engage a reader.

Once you understand who you are writing for, make a list of places those people gather. Use that list to create a promotion plan for your content. If you are writing about tips for DIY auto repair, automotive forums, FB groups, or even a car thread on Quora are a few places you can promote your content.

Engage your audience, blogging is the on line equivalent of having coffee with friends, create your blog as if you are having a friendly social conversation. Read your blog out loud to yourself, if it sounds like it was written and delivered by a college professor, it’s time for a rewrite. Blogging has an entertainment component many miss.

2. I want to be on all social media sites!!! = Misguided Effort

While it’s true that having a presence on social media is important, should you work harder or work smarter? Maybe work hard smartly! When it comes time to promote your business, there are countless platforms and methods of promotion available on social media. Many Affiliates fall into the trap of believing they need to be on all of them. Spreading yourself too thin will cause you to give less than your best efforts in the most important areas.

If you are using a method to promote yourself on social media make sure you are tracking the results with the site’s analytics or something similar. If you are not seeing a return on your effort, it may be better spent on another platform. After testing and tracking, you should be left with a shortlist of effective ways to promote your business.

3. My site’s fine the way it is! = Failure to Adapt

There was a time, not so long ago when spending money on internet marketing instead of phone book ads was a risqué business decision. Today, if your main marketing strategy is still the hypothetical phone book ads, you are way behind the curve, unless you are a criminal defense attorney.

Change in the on line arena happens non-stop, and at lightning speed. It is however where you need to be. Today the internet is the primary source of advertising, and visitors are also educated on how to conduct their on line searches and transactions. They know a good site from a bad, a new from an old and whether or not to “trust” where they land on searches. Presenting your visitors a modern site with a well thought out UI (User Interface) will create the professional authority your practice needs to your prospects/suspects comfortable to engage with you.

4. What is everyone else doing? = Fear of Failure

Marketing is far from a perfect science. Many times, throughout history two companies have offered a very similar product. Let’s say one is Beta Max and the other is VHS. One company prospered and the other one went out of business. In many of those cases, the marketing decisions made lead to their success or untimely demise.

Whenever you are planning your marketing strategy, don’t be afraid to push the envelope. Don’t be afraid to take some calculated risks, and stay nimble. If you test a strategy and it isn’t working, pull the plug and try a new direction.

5. Build it and they will come! = What can be Measured can be Managed

Now matter what marketing approach you choose to follow, every marketing tool kits comes with a way to measure your outcomes, which means you have the means to manage your efforts. Do you have Google Analytics on your site? It’s free and very powerful. Do you look at the activity reports that are generated and emailed to you by your social media channels? If “yes” do you know what you are looking at and how to make best use of the information? Your successful marketing answers may have very well been in front of your for some time now, but do you take the time to see what they are showing you?


Go For It!!!

Don’t let a fear of being penalized in 2099 stop you from dominating your marketing efforts in 2018 and driving revenue through the roof. Refuse to stick to “how you’ve always done it” and adapt, learn to do it better. Bust your butt, but do so intelligently. If you approach marketing for what it is, a continually evolving, never guaranteed way to dramatically multiply your market reach, you can leave the competition in the dust.

As T.S. Eliot once said, “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” If you want to succeed beyond your wildest dreams, be prepared to take risks and evolve.