Email Still Outpaces Online Networking

Internet users spend about 4.6 hours a week on social networking, a survey from global market research firm TNS reports, but e-mail is what they use the Internet for most often. The survey found that users spend about 72 percent of their time every week reading and sending e-mails, which accounts for about 4.4 hours of activity.

Checking their Facebook and LinkedIn profiles and related activities takes up about 46 percent of their weekly time. Almost 75 percent say they check their e-mail every day, but fewer than half visit their social networking sites as frequently.

Given these statistics, it makes sense for you to have email as a component of your marketing plan. This may consist of monthly newsletters, coupons, invitations to special events or for free whitepapers or books. If you are not doing email now and need some help, give us a call at (919) 850-0605 or send an email: jfrazer@theexpertspeakers.com.

Strategic Plans that Grow Your Business

The last few months of the year are generally the months when businesses work on strategic planning and budgeting for the upcoming calendar year. Planting seeds so to speak. And for many business owners and managers, the task can seem overwhelming!

Strategic Planning helps save money when you set solid goals and develop your plan with checklists for your target markets, brand messages and budget. By setting up these checklists, you have an easy decision making guide process to follow and you will be less likely to make impulsive decisions or follow paths that will draw you away from goal conversion.

The overall strategic plan is supported by sub-plans for each functional area. The strategic marketing plan will define how the marketing department will support the overall plan and aid in accomplishing the stated goals. These sub-plans cannot be created in silos, but rather all departments must coordinate their efforts to ensure the plans are integrated and working toward the same end. As an example, if the overall plan includes the introduction of a new product in 2011, marketing must work with operations to learn product features and the timetable for release so that it may create packaging, sales materials, update web content, plan advertising campaigns, etc. Marketing must also coordinate with finance to ensure that funds are available for these programs.

In its’ supporting role, the strategic marketing plan should include the following elements:

1. A clear definition of the target markets. These targets may be different by product or service and may be narrow or broad, depending on your needs. You may also define secondary and/or tertiary markets, if appropriate. Consider geography, demographics, preferences/”likes” and behavioral restrictions. The majority of marketing efforts should focus on this group (or groups) and use the appropriate messages and channels for the group. Generally, the more defined your target is, the higher the conversion rate will be.
2. A detailed list of action items to accomplish the plan.
3. Assign budget dollars to each task or set of tasks and assign a team member to be responsible for managing to the budget.
4. Resources and due dates must be assigned, and teams built to coordinate efforts.
5. Define measurement & review checkpoints to keep the project on track.

A strategic marketing plan is a living document, like a plant. Results should be reviewed on an ongoing basis and tasks, focus and budget adjusted to ensure goals are met. Integration and coordination are key to an effective plan. A well thought out strategic plan is an asset and should help you manage to the bottom line and grow your business.