PLANTING GOOD SEEDS FOR SUSTAINABLE OUTCOMES
The Day You Plant The Seed Is Not The Day You Reap The Fruit
I will risk sounding condescending or trollish here, but I think it is important to put this on the table. Let’s just agree that business outcomes are the results of actions and decisions you make for your business. Now that it has been said, very plainly, we can begin a very orderly, reasoned narrative regarding advertising a business, or brand, or sharing the good news about your goods and service offerings.
Seeds are incredibly fascinating, in that they are vessels for the beginnings of life. In plain speak, we are planting good seeds when we build a permanent allocation into the annual budget just for advertising. We are planting good seeds, when we end the year analyzing our sales patterns to strategize for the upcoming cycle. We are planting good seeds when we include impressions and shared experiences from the people on our team to develop strategies for the upcoming year.
There is so much that happens long before the sprout ever comes into being.
Without a solid strategy, marketing efforts are like fractals, they spiral out into the void and who knows what they will become, touch, or affect. Still, so many small business owners get a little change, and so willingly toss their jingle into the Trevi Fountain in hopes that Rome will deliver a solid return – rather than hiring a professional marketing team to secure a win.
Advertising is not a gamble unless you treat it as such. We prefer communicating or sharing offerings through the very systematic methods modern technology has to offer online, and also in real time. It can involve educating potential customers in a way that adds value for them and dropping a series of friendly hints about the products or services you offer. There is preparation and tending, nurturing and patience, that goes into cultivating the conditions to make germination a reality.
Building Through Inexpensive Means
There is a way to generate business without spending money on advertising. That way is through effort. Not many small business owners have the time or the energy to understand the complexities and challenges of marketing digitally. They understand the daily workings of the business at hand, and rightfully so, it’s a full-time operation.
It’s true, advertising is not a fit for every small business. There are, however, practical digital marketing strategies that are too valuable to overlook even for the small business owner. In this way, we recommend a solid foundational online presence for everyone we encounter.
Even on the local level, the not-so-recognizable brand can gain some traction to compete in their small community with a website and a manageable social media campaign. These items are as foundational as a flier, brochure, or business card, and are not to be overlooked.
We All Started Somewhere
Many other marketing agencies would gladly help small business clients part with their money, making them pay for services that may or may not be effective. This does not fit into our philosophy. We service many mid-sized corporations and even a few large and impressive ones. We feel small business owners are the captains of their ship, and they deserve a team of solid marketing professionals to navigate the storm on their behalf as well. Simply put, no company is too large or too small for us, and we are here to meet you where you stand right now. We have your best interest at heart.
Seeds are incredibly fascinating, in that they are often vessels for the beginnings of life. To ensure success for future generations of plants, Nature has continually adapted, given intention, and evolved to give seeds the best chance to fit into their environment.
Not every small business embraces risk. Anytime you spend advertising dollars, there is a possibility that you will not get what you expected in return. We advocate for a more practical approach to growth. We know our well-thought-out, well-planned, and deliberately executed strategies, reduce risk as much as possible.
We recommend taking a foundational inventory to examine the tools already in place in your organization that are primed for growth. For example, let’s look at the site you have, and how much content you are releasing now.
Social Proof and Recurrence
One of the ways we can measure the effectiveness of a digital campaign is social proof. What do customer reviews say about your establishment? Reviews, testimonials, and recurrence tell us a lot about whether or not your communication is hitting the mark with targeted markets.
Content Quality and Volume
Collaborate to generate content. Content generation can be contributed by staff, and moderated by your marketing team. Who knows your customers more well than the people on the front line of your staff? Utilize a marketing company to help you use and reuse meaningful content that comes right from your own experience. Choose a marketing team that cares for your customers as much as you do.
Establish Infrastructure To Convert Leads
The fundamental digital marketing foundation will keep you ahead of the game, by keeping you on top in every transaction. There is a customer life cycle, and it is something you will want to educate your team to be aware of. It is different for every business, culture, and industry. From the weblog, and email, to the sales funnel, the callback, the order, and the repeat, wash, and rinse of your customer cycle, you want to be as flawless as possible. Even if they are not returning, what kind of an impression have you left, and why? If you don’t address these questions, it can lead to wasted effort and wasted spending. From customer service interactions to dead links on the website, we want to plug every hole, and cross every ‘t’.
Ideas are like seeds, apparently insignificant, and often stepped on. When they are held in the hand, placed in the ground, and watered carefully, they can grow into something wonderful, like a giant redwood, or whatever you might imagine if you take hold of the process.
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