Preventive Marketing Tips

At the start of a new quarter, I recommend doing what I call preventive marketing. Preventive marketing includes tasks that can improve your current business, help with future planning, and diagnose potential issues before they become costly or time consuming.

1. CONDUCT A MINI CONTENT REVIEW | A full content review should be completed at least 1x/year. However, regular interim reviews of digital tactics will make the annual task less daunting and time consuming. Plus, if messaging is updated mid-year, outdated tactics will not be in market for a full year.
   • TIP | Establish brand guidelines which include both visual identity and messaging guidelines, and ensure anyone who is creating content is following them.
2. ‘GOOGLE’ YOURSELF | Search your name and/or your business name on Google. Consider other search engines if there is significant web traffic from them. Also include sites like YouTube and Amazon. Make sure what appears first is what is expected (and wanted). If not, cover the basics of SEO such as a site map, titles, and tags. Or invest in more strategic tactics such as writing content based on what the audience is searching for.
   • TIP | Set-up a Google Alert to see when any new items are published. Monitor top competitors this way as well.
3. CHECK IN ON COMPETITORS | Review what top competitors have been up to – product offerings, marketing, pricing, etc. Check to see if there is a new company to be aware of or if they should added to the “top” competitors list.
   • TIP | Do the same thing for peer (non-competing) companies or organizations. They may provide new inspiration or insights.
4. SCAN TERTIARY ACCOUNTS | While I’d always highly recommend timely review of any social media accounts, I understand the reality of small teams and limited time. At a minimum, I recommend taking a look at least 1x/quarter. Respond to messages (with a make it right note if necessary for a late response), see what’s new, and consider account deletion or more regular monitoring.
   • TIP | Even if a target audience is not on a particular platform, periodically monitoring it is helpful to identify any trends. Plus, the platform may have added a feature that makes it more interesting to an audience – e.g., Twitter added Fleets in late 2020.
5. BREATHE | Leading a business, team, or family is challenging. Self care is a buzzword, but it is a buzzword I fully support. Establish “work hours” and personal time when working from home. Enjoy a hobby. Talk to a friend. Take a walk around the block at lunchtime. Disconnect for a few minutes or hours.
   • TIP | Take care of yourself, so you can take care of business.