Aside from actually having no marketing plan at all, one of the biggest reasons businesses face challenges when trying to build their customer base and grow their business can simply be described as a lack of routine. Routines are important. Routines give us a purpose and having a daily routine gives your day an organized purpose that will enable you to get more done, in less time.
Large corporations have this on automatic. There are a lot of things you can learn from them. Before you throw up a stop sign though, I get it. You didn’t start your small business to be locked into the routines that large corporations employ. Just because you don’t want to be “like those guys” though, doesn’t mean there aren’t some lessons to be learned from them.
There once was a common held belief that it took 21 days to create a habit. Later, many came to believe that it was actually 66 days. When it comes to running a small business though, I believe that it’s much different. I believe that the most successful small businesses are those that practice their business routine every single day. These business owners do not let anything get in the way of their Routine. They follow through with every part of their routine, ensuring that they are covering all their bases and effectively growing customer base.
I also believe that these successful small businesses realize that due to the “reactive nature” of being a small business owner, and because there is always something that will be pulling at them, to get them off routine, they don’t believe in habits. They will not risk falling out of a habit. They simply believe in routine.
Marketing is a very, very important part of your routine, if you wish to grow your business in a measurable, meaningful way. I personally believe if you want to ensure that you are growing your business in the most efficient, maximum way possible, the only realistic option is to hire a marketing agency. That said, I understand that not everyone can afford outsourcing everything, and some businesses have people that work for them, in-house, that can take care of these things. To those ends, I want to share with you three tips to establishing a solid Marketing Routine for your business.
Make An Appointment With Yourself AND Keep It
Again, touching on the reactive part of the business of being a business owner, this is a critical first step. There are people, problems and other outside influences that are going to be pulling at you, day in and day out, trying to get you to fall out of your routine. You cannot allow this to happen. Set a regular daily meeting to go over your marketing goals, where current marketing projects stand, how your campaigns are performing, and what is coming up.
You would not blow off an appointment with customer. You need to treat this meeting with yourself the same way. Set your meeting time and make the commitment to be there for it, every single day.
The Devil Is In The Details (a.k.a. Analytics)
One part of your marketing routine that you have to keep an eye on are your results. I know it sounds crazy, but you would not believe how many business owners we talk to that literally have no idea what their response rate was on “Digital Marketing Campaign X”. You HAVE TO track ALL of your Campaigns. If you do not have a way to track a particular campaign, you either need to figure out how to do it, or quit doing that campaign all together. It’s that simple.
Let’s face it. There is ZERO excuse you can give for why you are not analyzing your Digital Marketing Campaign analytics, simply because they are so easy to track. Don’t be that person that never looks at the data.
A Follow Up Plan HAS TO Be Part Of Your Real Estate Marketing Routine
Lastly, you have to remember for every action you take as part of your marketing routine, there is going to be an opposite reaction. In this case, people engaging with your marketing campaigns and/or asking you for more information. Because of this, you have to get in the routine of reviewing all your campaigns, every single day, looking to make sure that all your new leads have been followed up with and that they have been placed into your Lead Cultivation System. If you do not have a lead cultivation system, that needs to be your first order of business. It makes absolutely no sense to spend your hard earned money on marketing your business, if you have no actual system in place to help convert those leads into customers.
[hs_action]