The Marketing Corner: Mid-Year Business Review

It’s hard to believe that the year is already half over. There is still much more to be achieved during the rest of the year. Sometimes we have to take a step back in order to clearly map out where we want our business to go. Learning from the past can sometimes provide a foundation to develop a direction for the future.
The Marketing Corner: Mid-Year Business Review
Mitchell Modell (L), CEO and president of Modell's Sporting Goods, and a contestant attend a "Joey Glick" Look-A-Like contest at a Modell's Sporting Goods Store in New York City, May 9, 2013. Developing communication messages and clever marketing strategies like this can allow business owners to increase interactions with their customers. (Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)
7/25/2013
Updated:
7/25/2013

It’s hard to believe that the year is already half over. There is still much more to be achieved during the rest of the year. Sometimes we have to take a step back in order to clearly map out where we want our business to go. Learning from the past can sometimes provide a foundation to develop a direction for the future.

Developing communication messages to consumers and marketing strategies has truly become a yearlong work in progress. Gone are the days when you set your strategies once a year and then called it good. The following are a few best practices that could assist small-business owners to map out their roads to success for the remainder of 2013.

Setting strategic priorities is a step in the right direction. Know what results are desired with your communications messages.

Does your company offer choices that are relevant to your desired consumer target? Brainstorm product innovations with the consumer in mind.

Value is still paramount to consumers. Review your product mix to ensure that your products offer value. It’s not strictly price driven—consumers associate quality with what they are paying too.

Content marketing and social media are growing exponentially. Consider how your business can start generating useful content for consumers. Content is being consumed on a daily basis, and customers are hungry for good content that is relevant and informative. Many businesses are distributing their own content via social media. If you don’t have a social media strategy, it may be a good time to develop one. These two areas will continue to grow and your business should have a strategy to keep competitive in this arena.

Consider developing a blogging strategy to keep atop the latest thoughts. Yes, this requires time and resources. But, remember the point here is to be everywhere your desired consumer target is consuming media. Consider what advocates you have for your product and see if these advocates can spread the word on your behalf.

The aforementioned are just some of the top takeaways that are being shared across B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-consumer) businesses. As with all marketing strategies, continue to study the market environment on a regular basis. Invariably, clues are always hidden within current market conditions. Then, use these clues to help propel your business ahead of the competition!

Adele Lassere is a marketing/advertising consultant with 20+ years of experience, freelance writer, and author of “Elements of Buying: A How To Reference Guide on Advertising for Business Owners,” available at Amazon.com. Adele was listed on Black Enterprise’s 2011 Top Execs in Marketing & Advertising and Black Enterprise’s 2013 Top Women Executives in Advertising & Marketing. Contact: [email protected]