Our cup runneth over! The new year has been good to us. Over the past few months, we've added to the Out & About Team, worked with some incredible clients, and rolled out a shiny new website that we’re super excited about. With our new website, our goals were:

• Shine a light on the people who make everything happen behind the scenes, our amazing team!
• Highlight work we’re proud of by building out a richer portfolio.
• Create a hub for resources and galvanize professional services providers.
• Sprucing up our visual feel to better reflect our love of getting out there and being social.

There's more to come, so stay tuned to hear more exciting news on the horizon. In the meantime, take a look around our spiffy new website, drop us a line to let us know what you think. We can't wait to hear from you.

If the phone rings during dinner time, there’s no doubt you’re still thinking the same thing you were 10-15 years ago: telemarketer.

Those cold calls have evolved into cold emails, but they still retain one key characteristic: they’re cold. Meaning the person targeting you with that message hasn’t done much to identify whether or not it’s a message you want to hear, and they’re going for second base without ever having asked you out on that first date.

And that, small business owner, is a big no-no. (Even in the world of online dating.)

Enter the solution for small business marketers: Inbound marketing. It’s not new, but it is finally getting the attention it deserves.

Old school outbound marketing

Okay, it might be too soon to dub it old school, but when you think outbound marketing, think traditional: cold-calling, print ads, TV and radio advertising, direct mail, and trade shows.

The gist of outbound marketing is that you, the business, initiate a one-way conversation that communicates a message to your audience.

As Rick Burnes put it in this classic HubSpot article, outbound marketing often means using “techniques that are poorly targeted and interrupt people.”

Even with that rave review, we aren’t so quick to kick it to the curb just yet. Outbound marketing found its ground traditionally for a few reasons:

• Outbound marketing tactics are easy to create. Easy to create means easy to start.
• It’s measurable. Setting realistic goals is possible because predictive analytics exist, and are often decently accurate because there’s little that hasn’t been done before.
• You have control. Outbound tactics are typically directly connected to specific results. You pay to put a print ad in a Meredith publication, and Meredith will deliver X amount of leads to you at the end of the campaign. Straightforward.

Of course, outbound is earning its current reputation for a reason, because it does inspire quite a few cons -- here are a few of the big ones:

• You can’t guide the buying cycle. While you might be able to target on certain demo- and psychographics (Meredith publications = women decision makers, for example), there’s little you can do to target where they’re at in the buying cycle. Are they in desperate need of your service, or are they still unaware they have a problem? This uncertainty leads to our next con...   
• Lower conversion rates. A one-way conversation means little-to-no value-added information beyond the initial message, resulting in lower conversion rates. According to Search Engine Journal, SEO (an inbound tactic) leads have a 14.6% close rate, while outbound leads (such as direct mail or print advertising) have a 1.7% close rate.*
• It’s expensive. The average company saves $20,000 per year by investing more in inbound marketing vs. outbound. What could you accomplish with an extra $20K in your operating budget?

*If you’re looking to fully nerd out over marketing statistics like we do, here’s a great start. A well-deserved h/t to HubSpot on their intuitive data gathering.

From out to in: What’s behind the fuss of inbound marketing

Another way to think about outbound marketing is push marketing: You’re pushing your message on people, who may or may not need or be ready for your products and services.

The natural opposite of that? Pull marketing, which is where we find inbound: a “strategy used by marketers to generate the attention of customers that are actually in need of your business.”

In other words, customers come to you. Common inbound marketing tactics include content marketing, search engine optimization tactics, and social media.

In fact, content marketing is at the heart of all of the above (think: blogging, video marketing, ebooks/whitepapers, and much more), which, according to Demand Metric, generates three times as many leads as traditional outbound marketing, but costs 62% less.

Triple the leads at 1/3 the cost? Yes, please.

Here’s why inbound marketing tactics work:

• Communication is interactive. Social media is inherently that: social. The same goes for content marketing, in general. Sharing content inspires conversations, and naturally leads to follow ups.

• You can guide the buying cycle. With content, SEO, and social, you can intentionally choose social channels and different types of content to influence people at certain stages of the buying cycle. At the beginning of the cycle? You’d likely put more into educational content. Further along? Conversion becomes the goal, and your keyword strategy, content creation, and delivery should be catered to that. Essentially, with inbound, you have the opportunity to meet potential clients where they’re at as they move through the buying cycle.

• You can measure, iterate, and increase effectiveness. While you can’t fully control results, you can measure progress and iterate based on the results of those measurements. Unlike changing a print ad, implementing changes to inbound tactics tends to be easier to do. After all, a blog can always be edited.

While technology is empowering us to block/skip/ignore push tactics, your customers are seeking out the pull tactics. SEO is based on what your customers are searching. Content is based on what your customers are asking. Social media gives you a delivery mechanism with unlimited reach potential but the ability to target on such tight niches that leads are naturally a higher quality.

Of course, inbound marketing doesn’t come without its own challenges:

• Results can take a while to show. SEO experts will be the first to tell you that a strategic search strategy won’t show results overnight. Content marketing will help build organic SEO, but not in a week. With advertising, you can hit the switch and see it go, but what’s lacking is the gradual building of your digital footprint.
• You can’t control it. Because inbound marketing depends almost entirely on your customer (and we all know customers can be fickle, as much as we love them), it’s tough to control the outcome of certain efforts.
• It’s difficult to predict. Lack of control means a lack of ability to predict. Also, so much of inbound is still developing, that you have the ability to influence it more than you have the ability to predict it.

Inbound versus outbound: What’s right for you right now

So, the question remains -- what’s right for you right now? Let’s split you into two camps:

Short-term, immediate results: If you’re looking for instant results that may or may not show a return on investment, you might want to try out strategic outbound marketing tactics.

Long-term, consistent results: If you’re in it for the long run, already have a developed sales cycle, and are committed to educating your potential consumer, inbound marketing is more up your alley. It takes prolonged effort, but carving out an impactful digital footprint takes time.

At Out & About, we place the focus on inbound marketing because we’re out to help you build that long-lasting digital footprint. Can outbound be sprinkled in there? Of course, but a smart marketing strategy is focused on education driving awareness, resulting in higher quality leads.

Found vs. finding; hunted vs. hunting

We help small businesses think different when building solid campaigns that support ongoing growth. Making it about being found versus finding means taking the onus off your limited resources, and making the most of what you do have: strategy and smarts.

Inbound marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. Scary? Sure. But how do you complete a marathon? One step at a time. Those little steps add up quick when you’re building what will eventually become your overall digital footprint. Make it the footprint you can be proud of in the long term, as your business thrives from the right people being able to find you at the right time.

PS: Wondering what you should budget for strategic marketing? We tell all here.

Sales and marketing are two peas in a pod. The Sales & Marketing Leadership Alliance (SMLA) aims to put sales and marketing professionals side-by-side at the same table to learn how to grow their businesses. The mission is simple – to bring sales and marketing leaders together, to enhance their productivity, build stronger bonds, leverage best practices and ultimately increase sales and enhance brands.
The SMLA recently launched their new website designed by Out & About. This redesign prominently features partners and sponsors, streamlines website upkeep, and offers a brand new members-only area. Being enthusiastic members of the SMLA ourselves, we’re thrilled with the new features.
Want to learn more? Join us for an event in San Diego or Orange County!

We’re not marketers keen on spinning stories. Getting to the core of who our clients are is key to elevating their brand and building authentic relationships with their clients and customers. We developed the WorthPointe Wealth Management’s digital strategy in alignment with who they are as a company: knowledgeable, innovative, and accessible. In collaboration with WorthPointe’s incredible, multi-city team of CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERS™, we helped them tap into their deep well of financial expertise and deliver that knowledge to their clients via blogs, videos, social media, press features, e-books, and more. It turns out we’re not the only people jazzed about our digital marketing work for WorthPointe; we recently won a Gold AVA Digital Award! Visit worthpointeinvest.com to see our work in action.

We have an honest question for you, from our team to yours:

Why be the same, when you can be different?

Now, here’s what we know your business-focused mind might be thinking: There are industry best practices. Trends are trends for a reason. Tried-and-true brings predictable results.

You’re right. But here’s the thing: Being different -- what we like to think of as not being cookie cutter -- doesn’t have to mean ignoring best practices, shunning viable trends, or completely forgetting what’s worked in the past.

It does mean taking that delicious cookie dough you’ve created and developing your own molds: your own voice, your own process, and your own results.

It’s the cookie cutter conundrum: How do you respect the things you know to be true while setting your business apart from the crowd?

Why cookie cutter is dangerous in digital marketing

We’re not just coming at you from a crunchy-mama, “I-don’t-buy-mainstream-products” viewpoint. We’re coming at you from a “we-know-professional-services-and-you-better-believe-it’s-a-crowded-market” standpoint.

Cookie cutter means doing what the guy or gal next to you is doing. Cookie cutter means subscribing to the “shoulds” -- you should still be using billboards; you should update your website every two years; you should spend $50k on developing a hip website.

Cookie cutter, above all, means being okay with having your voice get lost in the crowd, instead of taking the time to figure out what sets your business apart.

[Insert gasp here. It’s scary, right?]

That, fellow business owners, is what makes cookie cutter so dangerous when you’re operating in a saturated marketing where content and messaging is pumped out on the regular. If you’re doing everything the same, then it’s likely you’re saying everything the same. Tough sell, indeed.

What makes your business different?

Before diving full-hog into a project with a new client, we like to start by asking a few introspective questions. Here are two of our favorites:

What are your customers’ main pain points/problems -- and how does your service solve them?

and

What sets your business apart from the competition who’s providing similar solutions?

Of course, at first glance, these questions are easy. But when you really dig into them, they’re what gives the ultimate insight into how your business is different.

The magic, of course, comes in identifying what it is that’s working in your industry and amongst your competition, and then figuring out how you can capitalize on that while exercising your own ethos.

In the hot seat: Out & About Communications

We’re about to get vulnerable. You see, we’re a digital marketing agency -- which, to be frank, are about as common as taco stands here in San Diego. Needless to say, if we were okay with being cookie cutter, we most likely wouldn’t still be here.

Being a digital marketing agency might be a relatively “new” thing, considering the proliferation of digital strategy in only the last 10-20 years, but there are still quite a few industry best practices, “shoulds”, and tried-and-true trends hanging around. Here’s are just a few ways we’ve rectified our own cookie cutter conundrum while standing out from the crowd:

Best practice:

Entering clients into standard sales funnels and selling practiced packages.

Out & About mold:

We put together customized proposals based on our discussions to date -- not something we did for the last company we worked with. Is our intake process and onboarding streamlined? You better believe it. But it includes all the time each client requires to take to get to know them and their firm before we dive into our work together.

Industry trend:

Building a multi-faceted, in-house team that can address all specialties.

Out & About mold:

We pull in the right talent for your project -- but only on an as-needed basis. Need SEO insight? We can provide that. A project manager? Sure thing. A copywriter specializing in email marketing? We’ve got a few. We’ve followed the trend of multi-faceted teams, but we’ve made it our own by building a network of specialists honing their own skills, who are at the ready when -- and only when -- you need them. Meaning we aren’t passing our overhead onto you.

“Should”:

Determine the best tools + strategies and encourage clients to implement them.

Out & About mold:

Yes -- there are platforms and tools we recommend, and even those we prefer. But when it comes to what makes each and every client project tick, it’s about knowing what’s going to work best in their environment; not ours. Because of that, we not only customize the processes and operations for each project; we also select marketing tools that are a specific fit, whether that’s Google Docs or MS Office; InfusionSoft or MailChimp; Basecamp or MS Project.

In short:

We’ve differentiated our digital marketing services by seeing our clients as an extension of our business. We answer calls/emails. We invite our clients to events. We go out of our way to ensure each client experiences the red carpet treatment. Are we solving a lot of the same problems as our competition? Absolutely. But the way in which we do it is what makes us stand out from the crowd.

Now, it’s easy to talk about this from the 35,000-foot view. But of course, there have been some ups and downs where we’ve seen experiments that have turned out poorly, or endeavors that didn’t bring intended results. But when you hear things like this...

“Wow, you’re the first firm that gets what we want to do.”

"I feel like you're not just telling us what we should do, but you're helping take what we've built and elevate it to that next level."

“I've been through a lot of these marketing strategy meetings, and your session was one of the best. You actually got people talking, brainstorming ideas, and pulling out frustrations related to marketing."

...then you know you’ve officially broken the cookie cutter mold.

You can have your cookies and eat them, too

Knowing what makes your company different is what’s going to help your business stand you when it comes to your digital marketing. Look at the best practices, the trends, and the “shoulds” that are weighing you down, and ask what it is that you can do to set yourself apart.

Then? Do it.

P.S. - Want an even more in-depth look at how we work? Take a peek behind our curtain.

We won an award! Out & About was selected by The Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts to receive a 2016 Davey Award for the website we designed and built for Tobias Financial Advisors. There were nearly 4,000 entries from the best small firms in the world and we are incredibly honored to have won a silver award in the financial services category. The Davey Awards are given specifically to small agencies, the “Davids” in the world of large “Goliath” companies. As a small business serving other small businesses, this award means a whole lot to us. To find about more the Davey Awards click here. You can explore our winning website by clicking on the image below or by visiting http://tobiasfinancial.com.

Storytelling has very much become a buzzword in the digital marketing world these days. But instead of shunning it for that reason, we pay attention to it for that reason -- after all, the market is driven on trends. Though, to be honest? This storytelling thing isn’t going anywhere. It’s been around since you were a kid, and since your parents were kids, and since their parents were kids…you get it.

Of course, the importance of storytelling as we talk about it here wouldn’t be found in an illustrated children’s book, nor is it likely to be told at your next campfire.

The story we’re referring to is your brand story. The one that is told about your business and the problems you solve that directly fits into the lives of your customers. The one they can immediately relate to and see themselves as a character in. The one that connects you to your target market and helps amplify your brand until it’s a household name. (So perhaps a campfire telling isn’t so out of reach.)

We don’t need to tell you this, though -- because you’ve already figured your business’ story out. You’re battling the second half of brand story conundrum: getting your entire team on the same page when it comes to sharing that story with the world.

5 steps for getting your team on the same page in telling your brand story

The true power of a story is in its retelling. That’s where it gains traction, travels from person to person and crowd to crowd, and earns its keep in our memories.

Which makes it incredibly important that we maintain its integrity as we tell it, time and again. That might be easy if it were just you, fellow business owner, as the narrator. But when you’ve got a team of people on the front lines communicating your story regularly, it’s not so easy to keep it consistent.

So before Ben in marketing starts telling one story and Tabitha in client services starts telling another, here’s what you need to do:

1. Conduct a high-level strategy meeting. Bring department heads, VPs, and team leaders to the table to talk strategy. This is where you want to get solid on what your story is, in the first place. Of course, this can’t be completely done in a board room. While you don’t want too many cooks in the kitchen, you’ll want the input of both customers and client-facing employees when it comes to your messaging.

Once that feedback has been gathered, the purpose of your high-level meeting is to figure out how to incorporate it into your existing brand story, and then how to disseminate that across the organization.

2. Tell your story out loud and give it a direction. Once you’ve compiled all feedback, verbally hash your brand story out. Give it a voice and tell it to the room. Then, write the story down and build a plan for where and how it’ll be used, from your marketing materials to your about page and your sales calls to your FAQs.

3. Give each person their own soapbox. Once the core story is formed and told several times both within that initial meeting and to the organization as a whole, help employees shape the story within the context of their role.

For example, your team in business development might position the brand story in a way that attracts new funding, while the sales team might use it to court customers. Give each person their own sandbox, but help them build the castle. It’ll encourage the use of the same story across the board.

4. Encourage practice, practice, and more practice. At this point, the goal is to make telling your brand story second nature to each and every person in the organization.

Host a happy hour where everyone has to move about the room, taking turns telling the story. Encourage teammates to use the story in different ways, and gamify the process by assigning rewards each time they do. Most importantly, provide materials relating to your brand story to talk through and refer back to as time goes on.

5. Systematize your sales cycle. Finally, we reach the final step in most brand exercises like this: streamlining. The goal here: systematize the sales cycle so that you can strongly incorporate your story within it and make the most of your business development efforts.

This might look like a one-pager within your onboarding packet that tells your story, or it might be a narrated video on your homepage. Build it firmly into the cycle so that it’s a natural portion of it.

Getting everyone on the same page

Your story isn’t just a fluffy element of your brand that proves to be a fun, yet futile exercise. When done right, your brand story becomes the embodiment of your mission and the single best way to connect with prospects and turn clients into raving fans.

And a story becomes infinitely powerful once adopted and shared by many.

Your brand story deserves that dedication within your organization so that prospects and clients give it the same respect when they undoubtedly share it around their next campfire, right after the first kumbaya.

PS: One of our favorite brand storytellers is Dove. The company’s story as the home of “real beauty” has been magnificently translated into social media campaigns, video marketing, and much, much more.

We're about to kick-off Q4. For some, this is the biggest sales cycle of

It starts by identifying your most important lead-generating tactic and putting all else aside. Here’s how to go about it:

1 - Highlight your highest lead-generating tactic. Perhaps it’s your email marketing. Or the webinars you host. Maybe it’s direct mail campaigns. It’s different for every small business.

2 - Build a process to make the tactic repeatable. Break the task down into steps and package it up into a repeatable process so you can put it on autopilot.

3 - Know how you’re going to measure it. Create a quick scorecard with key performance indicators that you can “grade” these efforts on.

4 - Get after it. Implement, track it, and refine it, now through December 31st.

Marketing ideas aren’t the issue -- it’s the implementation. Focus more on the doing in this last third of the year, and you’re much more likely to see results. (The rest can wait for that 2017 plan that’s undoubtedly already taking shape in the back of your mind.)

The digital world moves fast. Just as soon as you’ve mastered one social network, a new algorithm rocks it. You finally feel you have a handle on email marketing, and a new “best practice” comes along. Your team is set up using a pretty fantastic digital project management platform, and suddenly you’re hearing nonstop chatter about the new one that’s 10x better.

Where does it end? Certainly not with your website. In fact, website shame is the leading cause of business angst. (Okay, we made that up...but we believe it to be largely true.)

When it comes to your website, the constant pull to change, update, or fully redesign comes along what seems like all too often -- but sometimes, that pull is backed by sound reason.

After all, your website has an important job to do as your round-the-clock salesperson. So next time you have an inkling that your website might need a refresh, do this first: Confirm the inkling. Then, get started. Here’s how.

More than just shiny object syndrome -- how to know when it’s really time to redesign your website

In order to confirm the inkling that it’s time for a redesign, run your current website through the following filters:

1-  Is it efficiently converting and capturing leads? The check: Does it have ample lead capture forms throughout the site, and are they working to convert visitors?

2- Is it continuing to serve your ideal customer? The check: Can your ideal customer land on your website and easily take the next best step that you’ve laid out for them? Has the objective changed over time, and has your website changed with it?

3- Is it modern and functional? The check: Is navigation up-to-date and intuitive? Is the site aesthetically appealing, with bells and whistles that work?

The goal here is to confirm whether your site needs a content update -- a refresh of copy, a few new pages, a clean up of what’s there, even a refresh of your branding -- or if a full redesign is needed. If there are isolated pages not working, or simple additions that need to be made, a full redesign may not be necessary.

That said, if your site truly isn’t efficiently capturing leads, is no longer serving your ideal customer, and isn’t functioning properly, then it’s time to embark upon a redesign.

Where to begin with a website redesign

“Redesign our website” is a massive to-do list item that’s sure to be procrastinated on. Cross that off right now, and break it down into smaller steps -- here are two that you’ll want to start with:

1- Your website team -- the key players in making a redesign happen, including an industry strategist, project manager, graphic designer, senior and junior web developer, SEO specialist, copywriter and others -- will be able to guide a strategic conversation, asking all the right questions to help inform the design, content, and website functionality.Internally, you’ll want to have a conversation that focuses on writing out two things: where you are now, and where you’re going. How are your business objectives changing? What do you want to be known for?In this phase, your website team might also begin wireframing pages to get a visual idea of how your redesigned site will be mapped out.

2- Complete a content audit. Once you know where you’re going, audit your content. Does it match the strategy discussed?  A content audit requires taking a firm look at what exists on your site right now -- every page, subpage, and blog post. Does the voice and language match your company tone? Does it accurately reflect what you do and where you’re going in the market?Set up a Google Sheet that maps out each piece of content, its purpose, and whether it should stay or go. Consider deleting any content that doesn’t support your future goals, as it might be digital clutter that’s distracting your visitors. (Even if it’s got good SEO juice if it’s attracting the wrong people, it’s a false impression of website performance.)

Why start here? Knowing your goals -- and doing a full content audit with them in mind -- is key to developing a realistic timeframe for redesign completion, as you get a better handle on what content exists, what needs to be updated, and what needs to be newly created.

Next up: Content creation and design

You’ll notice the word content coming up quite a bit: That’s because, in nearly all circumstances, content themes drive design. A good designer won’t be able to work their magic if they don’t have at least an idea of the content they’ll be designing around.

In editing current content and creating new content, pay attention to voice: The tone and position your content takes. After all, there are more than a handful of other businesses out there offering similar products or services to yours, no doubt, but your voice and positioning is what will set you apart in your marketing.

You’ll want your content themes to be at least 90% final prior to any design or development taking place, not just so that designers understand the scope and can design around it, but also because it saves a significant amount of time (and is more cost-effective) to make copy edits, headline changes, and content tweaks prior to the development process ever beginning.

Once you nail your content themes and navigation, your website team should be able to start on at least the basic design. If needed, they can drip in dummy text where your content isn’t 100%.

This design phase is where the feeling that the copy and content inspires is amplified by the visual look. Imagine your website as a physical storefront -- how do you want your visitors to feel upon arriving? Your copy will couple with design to inspire that feeling digitally.

Critically important here (and through most of the redesign steps, as you’ll notice) is feedback. Be upfront about your likes/dislikes regarding the design -- the seemingly little things (your sidebar, choice of photos, typefaces) add up, so getting them each right is imperative.

Giving it life: The development

The design will likely take a few weeks, including the iterations based on your feedback. Once it’s in good shape, it’s time to bring your website to life online.

Your site progress will largely be out of your hands at this time as your website team builds out the design elements online, adding each piece of content and coding the unique features (forms, application customization, and more). As mentioned before, you’ll want to be available to provide critical feedback along the way.

In this phase, your website will go through several development revisions. You’ll first see the home page built out. Once the home page is finalized, work can begin on the internal pages. In Out & About’s website redesign process, we usually go through several rounds of reviews, testing, and moving elements around until it’s just right.

Some of the testing your website team will be doing as they build the bones of your site includes:

• Browser testing: Does the website function equally amongst Safari, Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer?
• Responsiveness: Does the website automatically adjust to different display sizes, based on mobile, tablet, laptop, and desktop access?
• Stress testing: Can the new site handle spikes in traffic (for when that post you write goes viral), or a steady increase in visitorship over time?

Patience is key here. A tip for staying patient: While your website team is putting their skills to work, you can be behind-the-scenes generating pre-launch buzz for your newly-designed website.

Why the soft launch of a website redesign is a good idea

With pre-launch buzz generated, it’s tempting to want to shout it from the rooftops when your site is “ready” to fully launch.

Here’s our best advice, though: Start with the soft launch. A soft launch is when your website goes from a development website to your actual domain, without a lot of fanfare. For example, your website could be built on test.com and go live on mycompany.com. Hold off on announcing that launch to everyone and their mother. Instead, first announce your soft launch to a small group of trusted clients or colleagues. Have them poke around the site. Ask them to test forms. Encourage feedback.

It’s during this phase that you’re likely to notice or be made aware of, a few things that’ll need updates. Your website team should be on hand to make those immediately.

The soft launch need not last long -- a few days; maybe a week. Once things are ironed out, it’s time to make that baby known to the world.

After the redesign: ongoing website security + maintenance

The good news: Your site is live. The “less-good” news: It’s never truly complete. Websites, like cars, need constant attention and nurturing to keep functioning properly.

In some cases (like when you go through a website redesign with Out & About), your website team will be on hand to train you on how to make updates, do the complex updates that are outside of your skillset, run backups, and run security scans of your site. If this isn’t something your website team offers, you’ll want to seek it out elsewhere.

You don’t drive without insurance (right?) -- don’t let your website run without it, either.

The timeline for your website redesign

The process we’ve detailed above is incredibly simplified. When done right, a website redesign is not a cookie cutter approach, and though it will follow a very similar process, each step along the way will take more time than you likely anticipate, and nuances will spring up.

Expect your website redesign to take from a few weeks up to 4-5 months -- and know that that’s okay. In the end, it’s always worth it when your website begins functioning as the lead-converting, revenue-generating workhorse it’s meant to be.

PS -- Here’s what to expect to pay for a website that works.

Let’s talk marketing strategy. (We do that a lot around here.)

We’ve got one guess at what’s going through your head right now at the mention of marketing: Your blog posts. Your email marketing. Your quarterly direct mail pieces.

You’re on the right track -- but what you’re thinking of are marketing tactics. Which is where a lot of small businesses get caught up.

Marketing: It all starts with strategy

The difference between strategy and tactics is an important one. The strategy is the big-picture plan, the blueprint that guides what your business is and where it’s going. Only once that’s in place can you plan the tactics -- the individual tasks -- that will help you accomplish the goals set forth in your strategy.

This is incredibly difficult for small business owners, and for good reason: Focusing on the big-picture strategy means having to back out of the nitty-gritty of the day-to-day, which can feel like it means bringing business to a halt.

Not so -- in fact, taking pauses to back up and think the big picture is key to making sure that your day-to-day doings still make sense, and that they’re pushing your business forward instead of keeping it static. All too often, it’s ineffectual marketing -- that’s not informed by strategy -- that can give off false impressions, no matter how stellar your services actually are.

Marketing, as a key part of moving your business forward, deserves a strategy that makes it the effective business function it’s meant to be.

Marketing, as a key part of moving your business forward, deserves a strategy that makes it the effective business function it’s meant to be.

We’ve talked about where to start in building a strong marketing strategy before. (Haven’t read that post yet? Start there.)

Because it’s only after your purpose has been stated, your goals have been drafted, your client avatars have been built, your position has been defined, and your brand story has been written, that you can then turn your attention to the actual implementation.

Marketing tactics (and finding the ones that work for your business)

Up to this point, we’ve been talking strictly strategy. (It’s that important.) Now, it’s time to jump off our strategy soapbox and turn to the supporting role: marketing tactics.

These are the actual vehicles and campaigns that make sense in your day-to-day to support your overall strategy. Think tactics such as:

• Blogging
• Email marketing
• Guest posting
• Google AdWords
• Social media
• Trade shows
• Direct mail -- brochures, postcards, etc.

The list goes on. (And of course, each tactic is supported by your stand-out website.)

The key here is to find a strategic blend between the ongoing tactics -- blogging, social media, PR -- and one-off campaigns -- direct mail, print advertising, social media advertising -- that will drive concentrated attention and revenue.

No two marketing strategies are the same, just like no two sets of tactics are the same. Here’s a handy process for figuring out the tactics that are converting for you -- and what’s important to drop versus continue doing.

Streamlining the tactics: The controls that keep your marketing going

Type A personalities: rejoice. The most effective marketing strategies are incredibly organized. A few controls can and should be put in place to guide the tactics you choose to incorporate in your marketing strategy, making it a well-oiled machine. Having these in place will be key to keeping your marketing consistent over time:

• Marketing calendar: Consider this your master marketing dashboard. The calendar is the keeper of your overall marketing strategy, tracking your short- and long-term goals, your purpose, and your progress.
• Editorial calendar: This is your communication dashboard. This calendar is focused on the content and communications you’re creating: your PR outreach, your blog and video content, your whitepapers/ebooks, and more.
• Style guide: Like a lookbook, your style guide is your visual blueprint that ensures the look and feel of your brand is consistent across platforms. A comprehensive style guide will include your logo, logo variations, color palette with codes, typefaces, brand graphics, and more.
• Voice guide: How can you ensure that all your employees, partners, and hired teams communicate your brand in the same way? Develop a voice guide that includes your tone, your main messaging, key language, personality traits, and positioning against competitors.

These guides and documents can be developed with the aid of a marketing strategist and should be based off of your purpose, goals, target market, positioning, and brand story. (There’s a reason we went through those first, of course!)

Small business marketing that works

So many small businesses have trouble defining their marketing function, for this reason: They’re using marketing tactics without a firm strategy. Context is key to getting the most from your marketing tactics, and your strategy provides that context.

Once a foundation is built, you’ll be amazed at what you can do with the plethora of marketing tactics out there, and exactly how well they can work when they’re given the support to do so.

PS - Marketing isn’t a one-(wo)man job. Here’s when + how to outsource it so that it gets done, and done right.