1. Automation Will Supercharge a Small Team
Do your people have the marketing software they need to move fast? Do they have a clunky CRM or one that enables marketing automation? It’s worth the move. Some favorites: HubSpot is a sales-forward CRM that integrates with key marketing technology. Choose a platform and remove day-to-day pain from the Business Development team. Removing pain means speed. It also means retention. Help them help you.
2. Accelerate Your Digital Marketing Efforts
People aren’t networking in person anymore. We need to connect with your customers in the moments that matter to them with content that is right for the environment. Get there with the right message. Ensure that your marketing program is a profit center! Do this within the first 90 days of running ads. Grow from that baseline. Ask your Digital Marketer if you are covering all of the bases, especially on LinkedIn – the new “water cooler,” where daily work conversations are shifting.
3. Align Marketing and Sales
Lead and reinforce collaboration between marketing and sales. They will teach one another how to move faster and bring in more of the right leads within your target customer segments. They will teach one another how to move more quickly and precisely through the marketing-to-sales cycle. Collaborate on drip email campaigns. Reply.io is a great, inexpensive platform to get started.
4. Leverage Machines to Do Work For You
Clever software, new materials, and smart machinery are converging. Create businesses focused on mass customization and invest in technology to do this for you. Or, in a more B2C world, make sure that you are using technology to help customers make decisions so you don’t have to. Is your menu 100% online? Can they refine their orders themselves and generate a ticket to the chef with specifications? Try Square for that one.
5. Make The Transaction Seamless
Can someone find you online and add your service or product to cart – checking out without ever speaking to someone? Decision Makers will want to behave more and more like online shoppers. Make it easy for them. Automate vetting the size of a business. Automate which email response they receive if they fill-out a lead generation form. You can even automate your rate card and contract. Make the flow of revenue smooth and easy everywhere you can.
Now get out there! There isn’t a moment to lose.
Are you ready to come up with a marketing strategy to support your business for years to come?