On my Business Owners and Entrepreneurs – Transition Guy Podcast I interviewed Jared Yellin, the CEO and founder of SYNDUIT. We discussed having a 12 month marketing plan.

Most of us are not marketeers

Whether you are in travel, property or finance that is your zone of genius, that’s where you are creative. Outside of that, it’s harder, and with marketing it is almost an elusive concept. People just don’t know what ingredients should be inside of a marketing plan. They know they need to have a plan. They know there needs to be a consistency around communications and promotions, but many people don’t know what that actually means. 

A monthly newsletter is not a marketing plan

A 12-month, month-by-month process that puts your business from defence (reactive) to offence is a marketing plan. If you are only reacting to events you may miss them or be chaotic in your scattergun approach to dealing with them. Technology also plays an important part in a marketing plan. Years ago, marketing was hard to get reach but it was easier because you could touch it, It was papers and direct mail. Now it’s digital and it’s really abstract for businesses. Some CEOs and entrepreneurs don’t have digital experience and when they started out there was such a thing. They need to relearn how to use technology in a marketing strategy. It will undoubtedly save them time.

Social media is not marketing per se

People think that if they are on top of their social media they are marketing. This is not true. Social media is another way to connect with people and should be viewed as such. Good marketing is a comprehensive process. It’s a combination of email, social media, print, text messaging, workshops, webinars and networking within your community including physically. Social media works hand in hand with a marketing strategy.

Inspirational content

It is important to note that within social media there are three different types of posts that businesses should embrace. The first one is inspirational content. Find a way to inspire people who are on social media. You can do that by finding motivational quotes or sharing a little bit of what the company means to you. Start humanising yourself. People want to know a bit about the personality of the brand and know that you are real.

Intellectual posts

The second kind of post is an intellectual post. These are posts that might not get a lot of engagement but are really good for establishing yourself as an authority. You will need to do research into what type of information people want to know. Work out the articles you could share and from which publications. Also sharing research is great and reinforces the reason you do what you do. 

Living out loud

And the third type of post is living out loud. That’s when you have a great client interaction, you post about it. Testimonials are great for these types of posts. You share client wins or big projects if it is OK to do so. This gives the customer an idea of what you can do for them and what you are already involved with.

 

If you want to discuss how to come up with a 12 month marketing plan and how it can benefit you then – get in touch

Remember, failing to learn is learning to fail.