Take the Time for a Mid-Year Marketing Checkup
Each year around this time it happens. We say to ourselves – and others – where did the time go? How could it possibly be halfway through the calendar year already. Yet it is. And here we are.
At Chartwell Agency, this is the time of the year where we regroup on our marketing efforts, determine what is working, what needs to be enhanced and what we can change up in the second half of our fiscal year. We recommend this to clients as well to ensure that nothing goes stale and that ideas remain fresh and new opportunities are brought to the front. Here’s a top five list for you to consider as you conduct your mid-year marketing checkup.
Revive your digital marketing activities.
Take a closer look at your analytics. During what times did they spike? Where have you fallen short on the results? Is it time to refresh your ads to encourage your prospects to take another look and further engage them? Do you have – or can you develop – short videos or animation to grab attention and draw people in? Digital marketing can offer some of the most measurable results for your organization – if you haven’t started down the digital path, it may be time to begin.
Investigate preventative options.
Hopefully your year has been crisis-free so far. Mid-year (whether that is now or in six months – depending on when your fiscal year starts) is the time when you’re usually not in the midset of developing full plans and budgets for the year ahead. This “down time” allows youthe opportunity to provide preventative offerings to your management. Develop a game plan for any possible crisis management issues. Develop possible scenarios, internal and external communications structures and, if possible, provide training to key individuals on your approach. The best time to work on a crisis is when you don’t have one.
Prescribe training to your key asset – your people.
As you are looking at the company’s efforts to further engage current and prospective clients, remember to look inward to prioritize that same level of engagement to your employees. Mid-year is often time when your staff members been caught up in the hustle of the year and could use some TLC through fun and impactful training from teambuilding to developing their leadership skills. The more you invest in them, the more they’ll invest in you.
Provide a wellness checkup on your website.
Review your analytics on what website pages visitors are going to the most. Research the most utilized key words your clients/prospects are using when seeking your services – are they prevalent on your website? Have you taken your graphic design and/or photos for granted and let them languish? It may be time to boost your website with new content, color and/or photos – and now is the time to start reviewing and taking action to do so.
Resuscitate your brand.
Mid-year can be a perfect time to begin investigating whether your brand – and thus its personification of how it represents you – is where you want it to be. Is it time to review a new logo lock-up approach? Add or tweak your tagline to better represent who you are today rather than when the organization was started? Do you need to refresh your message to the marketplace based on your business’ growth and expansion of scope of work?
All of these ideas can be conducted on a quarterly basis as well to ensure you’re moving opportunities forward to keep your marketing and communications efforts engaging, healthy and vibrant.
