Most of us know that putting the pedal to the metal on marketing is how to grow a successful business. Whether your sales are floundering, booming, or somewhere in between, making marketing one of your strategic business priorities can always help you start (or continue) to grow.But even though we know this, it’s very easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and the things on our lists that seem more pressing, so marketing often ends up taking a backseat. In order to avoid this happening to you, here are some ideas that can help you increase marketing efficiency and keep this very important piece of your business’ puzzle strong and working for you.1. Set visible marketing goals.Even if you have an idea of where you’d like to go with your marketing, you’ll likely keep putting it on the back burner if you keep your vision in your head. And when there’s a customer issue, an employee conflict or a product defect in front of you, it’s no wonder why. Marketing seems like something you’ll get around to when you have the luxury of extra time. But let’s be honest… none of us ever really has that “extra” time, do we?In order to keep marketing as one of your strategic business priorities, force yourself (and your team) to be held accountable. Hear us out. Let’s say your company hands out product samples at Farmer’s Markets as one of its key grassroots marketing tactics. It’s proven to be a valuable source of leads for you, but it’s slowly been slipping down your list of priorities.Start by reviewing the past year and figuring out how many times you tried this tactic. If you or your team went to six Farmer’s Markets in the past year, set a reasonable but more ambitious goal for the current year. Your goal could be to double this number, which means you need to go to one Farmer’s Market per month. Let your team members know what the goal is, and post it in a public place. Each month, measure how you’re doing, and each quarter, let your team know how you’re doing. Trust us - it will keep you on track.2. Onboard a new client - you.If you’re a customer-centric company like we are, the temptation always is to put your customers first. And that’s a great thing! Except when it isn’t. Here’s what we mean… Sometimes, it’s in everyone’s best interest (your customers included) to spend some time, money and TLC on your own company.If your business is thriving, you’ll have more time to devote to your customers. Your employees will be better compensated and rewarded, and therefore much happier, which spills over into their interactions with customers. Much like a parent has to prioritize their own health in order to successfully care for their children, you’ve got to take care of your own business in order for your customers to get the treatment they deserve.What we’ve done before is actually add ourselves to our client roster. We set meetings about our own marketing as we would for our clients, and we call it “StringCan as a client.” It was a little weird at first to get used to, but when we got intentional and blocked out time on our calendars to prioritize our own marketing, it was incredible what we were able to accomplish.Even if you’re not a marketing agency like we are, you can - and should - still treat yourself as your own marketing client. Just setting one meeting a week to discuss goals and strategy, or putting aside an hour on your calendar to devote to your blog or social media content, can go a really long way in accomplishing goals.3. Get a partner.Sometimes, you really don’t have the knowledge or time to adequately handle your own marketing like you want (and need) to. Maybe you’ve tried to treat yourself like a client, or set shared, visible goals… just to find that tactics are still falling through the cracks and you’re not making any headway. Or perhaps you’re part of the way there, but you’re lacking the internal staff or resources to get the job finished. If these scenarios sound familiar, it’s time to consider bringing in a partner.A third-party marketing agency (yes, like StringCan) can not only take some of your tasks off your plate; we can also bring in an additional layer of expertise and experience to help you make the right decisions. We can also work in tandem with your internal team to get it all done, so you’re not spinning your wheels. We speak the language of marketing efficiency, which helps you achieve your loftiest goals.Contact us if you’d like some more help prioritizing your marketing so you can start (or continue) growing at your maximum potential.

Work Habits & Productivity

2. Effortless
BY GREG MCKEOWN
Speaking of actions becoming more effortless, this is another book of McKeown’s that topped our 2022 reading list. Adding onto the powerful guidance around essentialism, this read delivers “proven strategies for making the most important activities the easiest ones,” like mapping out the minimum number of steps, finding the courage to “be rubbish” and more.
About the Author:
Shana O'Connor
About the Author:
Jay Feitlinger

Jay, the CEO of StringCan, oversees strategy and vision, building culture that makes going into work something he looks forward to, recruiting additional awesome team members to help exceed clients goals, leading the team and allocating where StringCan invests time and money.

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