I was talking to a business owner the other day and I think I may have a good chance to create something new and to help them grow their business through a variety of channels.
For all my life and during my working years, I have been mostly in one (or very few) job environments at the same time, and I was doing a variety of things - to keep the business growing. The businesses I know do not have separate departments for marketing, for content, for sales... They are usually an one-person-does-it-all style
Anyways, for this one, I will create a plan and post it here as set of guidelines - If you have any comments or questions please let me know. I plan to standardize that, after I see the effects and any more questions that come up - so that I can present and potentially offer it online.
Here is a general overview of the process I am thinking of using
AUDIT ↓ Understand where you are
ANALYZE ↓ Market • Competitors • Customers • Data
STRATEGIZE ↓ Priorities • Positioning • Website • Content • Ads
BUILD/OPTIMIZE ↓ Website • Content • Tracking • Campaigns
LAUNCH & TEST ↓ Test
CAPTURE LEADS ↓ Make sure enquiries don't get lost
MEASURE ↓ Traffic • Leads • Sales • Cost • Conversion
OPTIMIZE ↓ Improve what works
REVIEW AGAIN ↓ Monthly maintenance or a 6-month health check
.1. Start with auditing, understanding, recording and before any changes
Before making recommendations, we first look at what already exists and how it performs.
Initial review may include:
Website structure, content, user experience Existing SEO and Google visibility Social media presence and activity Google Business Profile / local presence Existing content and blog activity Current lead-generation methods (potential discussions with team members in sales or other dpts) Competitors and their online presence Available analytics and historical performance data
What is very important is not to change things if they do not need to change. We need to understand what is there, what is working, what can be optimized for the best outcome.
.2. Turn findings into decisions
The above audit should lead to a practical set of priorities.
If something is working well, we can keep it and improve what needs to be optimized. Test ideas and get real world data, in order to see what will work for the best.
.3. Understand the market & competitors
Look beyond the business itself and research what is around i.e. competitors
In detail:
Are there direct competitors? Businesses targeting the same audience Their websites and offers Their positioning and messaging Social media activity Content topics Advertising approaches Customer reviews and recurring complaints What competitors appear to be doing well, and where opportunities may exist
It will be good to check the competitors reviews and see if they have complaints and also what is written about the specific topic in social media
The objective isn't to copy competitors, but to understand the market well enough to find opportunities to make an impact.
.4. Defining the ideal customer persona
Before creating campaigns, content or a new website, we need to know who we are trying to reach.
Create one or more customer personas based on available information:
Who are they, where are they from? What are they looking for? What problem are they trying to solve? What motivates them to buy? What questions or concerns do they have? Where do they search? Which social platforms do they use? What might stop them from buying? What makes them choose one business over another?
It could also be useful to define the “not our customer”, people who are unlikely to be profitable or suitable for the business.
It is not always possible to reach everyone and not everyone is an ideal customer.
###. 5. Optimize the digital presence
Website
Potential improvements include:
Clearer positioning and messaging Stronger calls-to-action Lead/enquiry forms Service/product pages Trust elements, reviews and testimonials Analytics and conversion tracking Blog/content structure Landing pages for specific campaigns
The goal isn't “a nicer website.” but a clearer one with a clear message that makes it easier for the visitor to understand.
Social media
Review:
Profile optimization Branding and consistency Content themes Posting frequency Calls-to-action Engagement
.6. Build a content system
Instead of creating random posts, create content around the customer's questions, problems and buying journey.
Awareness
Educational posts Industry information Common problems Tips and guides
Consideration
Comparisons FAQs Case studies Demonstrations Testimonials
Offers Services Benefits Reviews Strong calls-to-action
Content can then be reused across:
Website Blog Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Short-form video Email/newsletters Advertising
.7. Create a lead-handling process
Getting a lead is half the job, it is important to have an internal process for what happens after someone contacts the business.
For example:
Ad / Search / Social → Website → Enquiry → Lead recorded → Response → Qualification → Follow-up → Proposal/Booking → Sale → Review/Repeat business
Depending on the business, this could include:
CRM or lead database Automatic confirmation email Response-time targets Lead qualification questions Follow-up schedule Sales pipeline Lost-lead tracking Customer follow-up Review requests
Sometimes improving the handling of existing leads can be as valuable as generating more of them.
.8. Keep the data
From the beginning, establish a simple baseline.
Record things such as:
Website visitors Traffic sources Enquiries Qualified leads Conversion rate Sales Average order/value Social engagement Content performance Advertising spend Cost per lead Cost per acquisition Return on advertising spend, where applicable
.9. Monthly review & optimization
Once everything is running, review performance regularly.
A monthly review could cover:
Website
Traffic Top pages Leads Conversion rate Search visibility
Social
Reach Engagement Follower growth Best-performing content Website traffic
Advertising
Spend Impressions/reach Clicks Cost per click Leads Cost per lead Conversions/sales
Business
Number of leads Qualified leads Sales Revenue generated Lead-to-customer conversion Common customer questions/objections
Then ask:
What worked? What didn't? What should we change? What should we test next?
What I plan to do is create this as a plan for the specific business, estimate workload and then put a specific price.
If you have or work on a business, do you know if there are already specific processes for promotion / online visibility / sales?
The image is created by AI as well as some parts of the guidelines (after my own input)
