The period immediately after you come on board as a new Marketing Director is so critical. This is when you need to establish your authority, get your house in order and start proving you can do what you’ve been hired to do.
In 1933, whenFranklin D. Roosevelt became President of the United States, America was firmly in the grips of the Great Depression. Already in its fourth year, the Depression had brought the country to its knees – definitely not the ideal time to start a presidency! But Roosevelt knew exactly what his people needed, and quickly announced an unprecedented programme of initiatives aimed at addressing the key issues of the Depression. He called this “the first 100 days,” and it was pure genius. Roosevelt went on to be re-elected three times – the only US President ever to have done so.
Admittedly, when you, as a new marketing director, join the management team of a company, your challenges are a little different. But, to the company in question, they are no less important because of that.
You’ve been brought in to achieve results, but first you need to determine what success means to the company you’re working for, and who actually evaluates it. How is your marketing budget determined, and by whom? What metrics are they looking for? If your predecessor wasn’t able to prove that the marketing department’s performance has a quantifiable effect on the overall health of the company, then this is where you need to start.
To help you define your priorities, draw up an action plan that details exactly how your department’s various efforts will be judged. Then decide how you’ll present this information management. Of course, your team must be involved with the entire plan, so that they understand their roles and are fully engaged with the process.
The Holy Trinity of any business plan, these three areas should always be attributed to the efforts of the marketing department. If this isn’t currently the situation, then this is something you need to rectify as soon as possible. If necessary, move resources from other departments, with the justification that the efforts bringing in the most revenue need the most resources.
This is where Marketing and Sales can work hand in hand to identify “easy-sales” areas that aren’t currently being exploited. For example, are you making the most of up-selling opportunities? In other words, when your customers buy from you, are they offered additional choices to complement their purchase? Selling similar or related products to a customer who has just purchased from you is infinitely easier – and often more lucrative – than finding a new customer from scratch.
This is also the reason why it’s so important to keep in touch with previous buyers. They are already aware of your product or service, so may only need the smallest nudge – such as a special offer or a simple email – to get them to buy from you again.
Sometimes new marketing opportunities crop up in the most unlikely places. Finding them can be as simple as surveying customers, prospects and even your staff about how they would rate their experiences with your offering. Use the information you find out about their likes and dislikes to find new ways of doing things better.
Your website is the heart of all your marketing efforts. It’s essential to regularly examine it to see how it presents your brand, how it showcases your content and how users engage with that content – and with your offering. Two key areas on which to focus are your core content – which may well need refreshing – and your Calls To Action (CTAs), which need to be regularly tested and optimised.
If your company already uses paid search, check how the campaigns are managed, and how their profitability is being assessed. Don’t be afraid to call a halt to the whole process if calculations are faulty or the ROI isn’t clear. Then introduce a scalable strategy that will generate measurable results. Paid search isn’t a long-term marketing strategy, but in addition to boosting sales over a short period, it’s also a very useful way to determine the efficacy of keywords for your SEO strategy.
SEO is, admittedly, a longer-term goal, but this is why you need to tackle it at the start. Find out which keywords you already rank for, and which you’d like to. This then forms the base around which to base your approach going forward. You could think about building a content calendar based on the terms you identify, but might also want to run a full technical SEO audit to make sure you’re not missing any easy wins.
It wouldn’t be exaggerating to say your email database is your company’s greatest asset. Well, at least one of them, anyway! However, if it’s not audited regularly and kept up to date, it could end up becoming a liability. Regular auditing eliminates duplicate accounts and bad addresses, saving time and money in the long run. It’s also useful when you want to segment your database into audiences based on demographics or preferences, allowing you to more precisely target individuals with specific messages.
Always be cognisant, however, of the relevant data security and consumer protection of information rules.
Getting your own team on board is essential when thinking about a marketing strategy that’s designed to appeal to a broad selection of consumers, retailers and vendors. After all, if your colleagues aren’t on board with your plan from the start, it’s just going to make the entire process slower and more difficult. Your team mates may also have valuable input as to how strategies or tactics could be improved.
Once you have a short-form plan in place, your next step is to develop a full and detailed marketing strategy. Examine your assets and liabilities. Are they logically structured? What about your results? Are they easily measurable and quantifiable? Once this information is to hand, you’re ready to begin making exciting plans for the future of your company’s marketing operations.
If you need expert, affordable marketing advice and guidance, talk to us. At The Marketing Centre, we have a large team of highly skilled, part-time proven Marketing Directors ready to share their abundance of diverse know-how with you.
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