As I draft this blog, it is the beginning of March, which means spring is just around the corner. It?s a good time to ?pause? the calendar and take stock of how your marketing efforts are going.?

At Beacon, we always recommend doing a thorough evaluation of your marketing efforts every three to six months so you can make improvements or do more of what works. So, while everyone else is doing their spring cleaning, you can also spring clean your marketing.?

It?s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day routine of life and work. Days turn to weeks that turn into months; it?s easy to get lost in the routine of marketing or even let bad habits develop. If those bad habits go unchecked, they can cause you to miss your short- and long-term goals.?

This month, I?m going to review how you can do some marketing spring cleaning and review your current marketing efforts. You?ll be able to ensure all of your marketing channels are updated and the content you produce is in line with your current goals.?

This first blog will be a general overview on spring cleaning your marketing efforts. In the coming weeks, we?ll also take a look at spring cleaning your website, email marketing, and social media.

Review Goals

If you have read any of my previous blogs on marketing strategy, then you know the first thing I do when developing a marketing strategy is to set goals. This is where you should start your spring cleaning.?

Review your goals to see where you currently stand. Are you on pace? Or potentially ahead of schedule? Maybe a little behind? Hopefully you?re right on track, but if you are behind, it?s better to find out sooner than later. This will allow you time to take corrective action(s) to get you back on track.?

Take a Fresh Look at Your Services/Products

Next, you want to review your products and services to make sure your marketing, sales, and fulfillment is on the same page (especially the members of your team, if you have one). This is particularly important if you have seasonal offerings.?

You want to make sure that your website, any promotions, and all communications reflect any change in strategy. Why might you have a change in strategy? It could be a change in season, a change in your offerings, or even simply going into the second quarter of the year.

Review Your Target Audience

Take time to review your analytics to see how your target audience is interacting with your marketing content. Are your social media posts generating interaction? Are you emails being opened and the links inside clicked on??

If not, then either you are targeting the wrong audience or your content is not connecting with the people you have deemed important to your marketing efforts.?

Spring cleaning is an excellent time to ensure your marketing efforts are aligned with the needs of your customers.

Freshen Up All Marketing Channels

I will be going in detail in the coming weeks on marketing channels, so I will not spend much time here. But it?s important to make sure that you are portraying the right image for your business on all lines of communication with your audience.?

Make Sure Branding is Consistent

Part of portraying the correct image is making sure your branding is consistent everywhere it is visible. And it?s important to remember that branding isn?t just about logo and colors. You want to make sure that your potential and current customers have the experience you want them to wherever and however they may interact with your brand.?

Your goal should be to make every interaction your customers have with your brand is a positive one, whether it?s your website, social media channels, customer service, or something as simple as posting the hours on your website.?

Update Marketing Procedures (If Needed)

As you spring clean your marketing efforts, you may notice opportunities to improve how certain things are done. Go ahead and make those improvements. It can be reassigning people to new tasks or changing the workflow for certain procedures. The point of this exercise is to improve how you promote yourself and your business, so make sure you do what is necessary to accomplish that objective.

Spring cleaning your marketing efforts does not have to be a long, drawn out process. It?s primarily about checking in with your day-to-day marketing activities to ensure you are on track to meet your short- and long-term goals. In the coming weeks, I will go into detail on how you can do this for your website, email marketing, and social media.