Your 2009 Marketing to do list

During busy periods it’s hard to focus on marketing but when things go quiet you’ll wish you had.

It’s a bit like having money in the bank, so keep a constant presence up and try new things to see how they work in your particular market. The first place to start is to analyse what marketing you are currently doing and decide if the response you are getting is meeting your needs as a business.

If the response to your latest local press advert has been good, but the direct mail hasn't performed as you expected, try a different method for a while and test it to see if something else works better.

Here's a list of marketing activities to try in 2009, if you have any to add to this list leave us a comment:

1. Google Adwords - if you aren’t in the natural search, this method of advertising will guarantee you get seen for the keywords your customers are searching with. We are an adwords specialist and manage many accounts for our customers. Take a look at what we do here.

...keep an eye on Google's changing requirements

3. Survey your Customers - Email your customers and ask them to take part in a survey to find out what they think of you. Offer an incentive such as a voucher or bottle of wine for completing it. Even if you hear some less than positive feedback, it gives you the opportunity to put things right. Try Survey monkey for a low cost easy to use survey builder www.surveymonkey.com.

4. Spread the Word - Use PR to announce what’s happening in your business. Is a member of staff running the marathon? Have you recently gone green and saved lots of money and the environment? These are just two examples of how you can get your name in the news for very little outlay.

5. Social Networking - try Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter to raise your profile. Join a forum and impart some wisdom and create a blog but make sure you post on it regularly (about once or twice a week). Join us on Facebook.

6. If it’s Good Pass it On - Tell your customers that you’ll give them vouchers or commission for every friend or colleague they tell about your business and it leads to a sale. If you're good they should do it anyway but it may be a good incentive to spread the word.

Take your product or service out of your own environment

8. Go Local – Get involved with your local community. Sponsorship, events and even activity days will get your name known in your local area. Even if a service is available nationally, most people like to buy locally and word of mouth is the best form of marketing.

9. Track your responses - Monitor the response to your marketing to get a clear idea of what is and isn’t working. Allocate non-geographic telephone numbers to marketing and advertising and analyse the results. Alternatively, ask your callers where they found you. Once you understand what marketing works you can tailor your spend to the more successful areas. Click here for a demonstration of Mediahawk’s Response Monitoring product.

10. Have a clear out! - Clean your data and make sure its legal. If using it to email, ensure you have asked your list to opt in to receiving marketing messages from you. If you don’t adhere to this you may get into trouble with your ISP and with your potential customers, you certainly won’t sell to them!

Next months list: top ten telephone training tips