Well friends, the 1st Quarter of 2017 has come… And GONE!
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeow! Where oh where DOES the time GO???
Dunno about you, but I CANNOT keep up anymore. Days, weeks, months, years…they all just disappears…in a flash.
Anyway, quarterly divisions, no matter how quickly they seem to slip by, offer a great opportunity to review your marketing progress and adjust your approach (if need be) for the current year’s remaining months.
To help you measure your progress and make any necessary adjustments, here are four key questions I ask myself + my clients at each quarterly evaluation…

Are Your Developing the Marketing Habit?

I changed my tune a bit this year and acknowledged the value of Benchmarks (which is really just the latest new-fangled buzzword for “goals”) in both growing your business and measuring marketing results.
But as important as Benchmarks might be, when it comes to effective marketing, nothing beats developing the Marketing Habit!
So, how’s your habit coming? Did you outline important marketing projects at the year’s outset? Did you categorize and prioritize those projects? And most importantly, did you set a daily (or at least weekly) calendar appointment (with yourself) strictly dedicated to creating, implementing and reviewing your marketing initiatives?
If the answer it “No” to any of these questions, you’ve got some work to do ramping up your Marketing Habit…

Are You on Track to Meet Your Benchmarks?

In the past, I’ve always eschewed arbitrary goal-setting in favor of developing a lasting Marketing Habit.
But I have to admit, Benchmarks are valuable growth and development tools for any business, mine, and yours, included ;—) At the very least, Benchmarks offer you a mechanism by which to measure and evaluation your marketing efforts.
Did you set Benchmarks for your biz this year? If so, have you already reached some of your Benchmarks? Or are you on track to reach your Benchmarks?
If not, why? What needs to happen to make your intended goals a reality?
Or is it that you aimed too high? Do need to reevaluate and set your sights on more modest Benchmarks?
Important questions in the quest to measure your biz’s growth + development!

What’s Working?

When it comes to your marketing, what campaigns, promotions are general approaches are working? And how well are they working?
Are they working soooooooooooooooooo well you should focus more effort in these areas? And consider rolling back other marketing means and methods?

What’s Not Working?

On the opposite side of the marketing coin, what campaigns, promotions and general approaches are NOT working? And why not?
Are they working sooooooooooooooooo poorly that it’s worth abandoning these efforts? And either focusing on other avenues or completely retooling your approach?

Keep At It!

Whether you’re up, down or in a holding pattern, the key is DON’T GET DISCOURAGED. Marketing campaigns and promotions succeed, fail, and grow stagnate – it’s the nature of the beast. But whatever you do, don’t let that beast bite you back…
When You’re Up…
If a campaign or promotion is successful, it can be tempting to slack off. Or get complacent and stop growing or evolving. And evolution is CRITICAL to your long-term marketing success.
When You’re Down…
Similarly, if a campaign or promotion is totally TANKING, it can be uber-tempting to throw up your hands in disgust, kick your dog (kj!), and scream at full lung capacity “MARKETING SUCKS!” And sure, failing campaigns do SUCK. But it’s not that “marketing doesn’t work,” it’s your approach that doesn’t work. Which means it’s time to REEVALUATE your marketing efforts.
And The Status Quo…
At times, stagnate campaigns and promotions can be as frustrating as failing efforts. No matter how much time and energy you pour in, you just keep seeing the same, mediocre results. But here again, stagnation in no way indicates “marketing doesn’t work,” it means there’s a problem with your approach. So once again, it’s time to REEVALUATE your marketing efforts.

As The 1st Quarter Draws to a Close, What Are Your Marketing Struggles?

Is developing the Marketing Habit still eluding you? Haven’t set Benchmarks yet? Off-target for actually reaching the Benchmarks you established back in? Whatever’s got your undies in a twist, stop by my Google+ page and share. Let’s see if we can work it out!