It’s almost here. I can smell it in the air– football season is upon us! I know that probably gets you thinking about your small business marketing tactics, right? No? Well here’s 3 things that the pre-season can teach us about small business marketing.
1. Don’t be afraid of a little team competition
Competing for the number one quarterback position isn’t really that different than striving to be the best in the workplace.. except for that whole risk of being tackled thing.
However, this message can be transferred to any workplace. Whether you have a full marketing team or a few employees who split marketing duties, everyone should focus on what they do best.
Is someone better at content writing? Give them the responsibility of the blog. If someone is best at design or staying in touch, have them design and send out an e-mail newsletter.
All small businesses approach marketing very differently. Some of you may have 1 person who handles all of these things. That works too, but don’t be afraid to hand some tasks to someone else–who may do them better.
2. When your audience is bored– they will leave
Nothing is more boring than watching a non-competitive pre-season football team. I know that many coaches want to save their big guns and surprises for the regular season– but look at the stands! The majority of these games look pretty sparse after half time.
This principle applies to a lot of things, but it definitely rings a bell with small business marketing. Don’t let your prospects and customers forget about you! If you do, they will go somewhere else!
So how do you stay top of mind? Send the occasional email newsletter to give your customers updates. Send “checking in” emails just to let your contact list know that you are thinking of them. Ask your customers if they are satisfied with your product or service to make sure that they are happy with your business.
3. Always test, analyze and change your marketing practices
The pre-season is the time for teams to test what or who works for their team and what doesn’t. Knowing which players to cut has to be a tough decision. Testing enables you to compare results and by constantly testing which marketing practices work and don’t work for your small business, cutting out unnecessary processes will be much easier.
Testing everything is important– from what types of communication work best for your business (social media, email, direct mail, advertising) to the nitty-gritty details– like testing the subject lines of your marketing emails.
See, so you haven’t been wasting your time watching these pre-season games! You’ve just been working on your marketing strategy!