It’s Fall – Time to Plan for 2016

We’re finally seeing a change in the weather and before too long people will be thinking about holidays – Halloween, then Thanksgiving and then the winter holidays. That also means it’s time to start considering your advertising and marketing strategy for 2016.

In most cases, you have already been hit with opportunities to support many of the worthy causes in our area. If you are not looking at those as part of your marketing and advertising strategy, you are making a mistake. Hopefully, you have not used up your budget saying yes to all these causes.

So in looking at your strategy, the first step is to consider your target audience(s). Who do you want to reach in 2016?

Then you need to do what may be the hardest part – determining the budget. For continued growth and success, you should be looking at putting 5 to 10 percent of your gross into marketing and advertising. Of that number, take a small percentage and put it toward charitable causes. Then determine which of those causes you want to support. As I have written here a few times in the last several months, the United Way Small Business Partnership program is a great way to deal with that.

The next step is to look at your website. Is it an effective marketing tool? Has it been updated in the last few years? Does it have good organic ranking? Are you implementing a strong social media campaign to support that ranking?

Following that look at the advertising opportunities – print, radio, TV and online. What will work best to create brand awareness, so when someone does an online search and finds your website, will they recognize your name?

What about promotional material? What do you want to put in the hands of your potential clients, so they will remember you?

There’s a lot that goes into planning an effective strategy and increasing your profits. We’re here to help you with that process. You’re an expert in your product or service. Why not bring in an expert in marketing that product or service?