BLOG

Six ways to move your marketing forward

Six ways to move your marketing forward
Lorna Bladen
Lorna BladenOfficial

Posted: Mon 29th Aug 2022

As we approach September, this is an opportune time to reflect on your key marketing wins of the year and the further progress you would like to make for the remainder of 2022.

In order to do that effectively (and enjoyably), explore a list of recommendations in order to make this final sprint a marketing success.

1. Do what moves the needle

Take a look back on the year and list winning campaigns or channels where you have generated the most traffic and sales. By doing this exercise, you will start to identify areas of your marketing mix to shake up or double down on for the next coming months.

If you find this exercise a struggle, perhaps you haven’t been regularly reviewing your metrics throughout the year. If that is the case, it’s really time to change that and create a simple KPI dashboard (a spreadsheet will do) so you know whether you’re moving in the right direction.

Example KPIs to measure on a regular basis:

  1. Social media - follower growth and reach

  2. Media - Press cuttings

  3. Website visits - Visits via unique and return users, visits via each of the major channels

  4. Data capture - ie event registrations, ebook downloads, newsletter subscribers

  5. Conversions - a percentage to benchmark how each of your key landing pages are performing, ie newsletter capture or checkout page

  6. Sales - number of sales, the value of sales, lifetime value of a customer

  7. Budgeting - customer acquisition cost (CAC), return on investment (ROI)

Take stock and be proud of your progress and use that to fuel a winning plan for the rest of the year!

2. Introduce seasonal campaigns that spark delight

As we enter the run-up to Christmas, list out key dates in the calendar that you can leverage within your content mix.

Perhaps spook and amuse your audience for #Halloween on 31 October or share your personal start-up story for #SmallBusinessSaturday on November 27.

Resource: Hubspot updates this handy article with the top social media holidays.

Get planning sooner rather than later to ensure these campaigns will stand out and deliver the best return on your time. Remember, the landscape is noisier than ever right now, so keep it relevant to achieve reach.

3. Prioritise continuous learning

September has an infectious ‘back-to-school' spirit, but learning little and often throughout the year is where you can accumulate marginal gains to yield even greater results.

Are there any books you have left on your bookshelf or articles bookmarked that are left unread? Now is the time to get back into a learning mindset!

Here are three marketing books that I’ve read this year:

  1. Measure What Matters by John Doerr

  2. Sustainable Marketing by Michelle Carvill, Gemma Butler and Geraint Evans

  3. Founder brand by Dave Gerhardt

marketing book recommendations

4. Learn something new about your audience

It’s so easy to constantly be 'in the doing' that you forget to have meaningful conversations with your prospects or customers.

I recently listened to a Better Done than Perfect podcast with email strategist and conversion copywriter, Liz Painter. It is full of valuable takeaways but the main point that stuck with me was to open up a dialogue with your audience to understand insights such as:

  1. What language do they use, so you can reflect that tone of voice back to them

  2. Learn why did they come to your business in the first instance, ie was there a problem they were seeking to solve?

Listen to the episode in full below:

5. Know your numbers

Running a business within a cost of living crisis may make it more essential than ever to consolidate your outgoings.

Are there marketing software or tools that you are simply not using? Or when was the last time you checked your Facebook ads to see if they are optimised for a return?

Review what's giving you a return on investment. Your money and time may be better spent elsewhere.

6. Learn how to set goals that work for you

Questioning how are you going to achieve all this, you ask? Break out the five recommendations above into small bite-size chunks.

If you need a little help along the way, Steven Bartlett was the star guest of the most popular Enterprise Nation webinar this year and it was all about goal setting.

I loved his suggestion of setting tight two-week deadlines for projects to increase the chances of success.

You can listen for yourself below or read Stevens' entrepreneurial lessons here.


Thank you for getting this far. I wish you satisfaction and success with your marketing!

I would love to hear how you get on. Connect with me on Enterprise Nation.

Lorna Bladen
Lorna BladenOfficial
Head of Marketing at Enterprise Nation. I specialise in growth marketing, including customer engagement. My specialist skills cover email and content marketing, social media strategy - and strategies to build collaborative partnerships.

You might also like…

Get business support right to your inbox

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive business tips, learn about new funding programmes, join upcoming events, take e-learning courses, and more.