Where Are You Now?
Whether you’re a business owner or a business professional, and regardless of whether your business is large or small, one thing is certain: if you don’t reach out and connect with your customers, you’re competition will.
A written marketing plan defines how you’ll reach your audience and the steps you’ll take for implementation. It allocates your time and resources efficiently and effectively. And over time, it creates a series of improvements as your business grows.
Knowing what’s working and what’s not and how to get the best return on your marketing dollar is just good business. And with today’s technology it’s easier than ever to measure results. So you’ll know early on which marketing campaigns are profitable and which to ditch.
We trust that going through this checklist will help you assess where you are now and where you want to go. You may even get new ideas or remember some marketing tasks you overlooked or have questions about.
At the end of the checklist, don’t forget to include your biggest challenges and frustrations with marketing.
General Questions
1. I have an existing marketing plan in place for my business. Yes No
2. I have at least one person responsible for managing marketing. Yes No
3. Our staff is familiar with how we market our company’s products and services. Yes No
Market Research
4. I know who my target market is and I have a full written description of this market. Yes No
5. I’ve narrowed down who in my target market is my most likely customer (age, sex, income level, location) Yes No
6. I’ve estimated the number of customers in my target market who could potentially buy from me. Yes No
7. I know who my closest 3 competitors are, what services they offer and what their prices are. Yes No
8. I’ve done a price comparison between my business and my closest competitors and have made notes on why someone would choose us over them and why someone might choose them over us. Yes No
9. I am aware of what income my business is capable of producing at the level it is currently at right now. Yes No
10. I subscribe to a newsletter or trade journal for my industry so that I stay current on what is happening within the industry. Yes No
Marketing Methods
Website –
11. We have one and the address is:
12. We have more than one website and the other addresses are:
13. I have a keyword list for my business and check it regularly to keep it updated. Yes No
14. The information on our site is current and updated regularly. Yes No
15. Our website is easy to navigate and visitors can find the most important information from the home page. Yes No
16. Our website collects visitor information through a newsletter or special sign up offer. Yes No
17. We have an automatic email message (autoresponder) that is sent out when someone subscribes. Yes No
18. Our phone number and address is listed on the home page and is easy to find. Yes No
19. We have a contact page on our site with a map or written directions (if appropriate) Yes No
20. We use a tracking number on our website to determine what calls are coming from it. Yes No
The website answers the following questions:
21. An “About Us” page or something that tells the company’s history. Yes No
22. Services and Products we offer are easy to see on the home page. Yes No
23. Different pages on the site give more information about the products and services we offer. Yes No
24. Enough information to answer a customer’s questions, perhaps a frequently asked questions section. Yes No
25. The site has several informational articles on our area of expertise. Yes No
26. Client testimonials are posted that include a picture and name. Yes No
27. The site has clear, attractive photos of our products. Yes No
28. The site has a price list, prices with the products or menu *restaurant. Yes No
29. Photos of our personnel. Yes No
Email –
30. We have a system in place to collect email addresses for clients and potential clients. Yes No
31. We use a “spam protection” email marketing service like Constant Contact or iContact. Yes No
32. We produce regular email newsletters for our customers and clients. Yes No
33. We keep track of the responses to our email mailings to our email list (opens, clicking on links, unsubscribe rates) Yes No
34. We occasionally send out special mailings such as one-time offers or alerts. Yes No
35. We have email sequences that we use for events such as welcoming a new customer, a list of tips and hints, etc. Yes No
Online Advertising Methods –
What online advertising methods does your business currently employ?
36. Pay Per Click such as Google Adwords. Yes No
37. Search Engine Optimization – a variety of links, keywords and tags that are optimized to help customers find us using our most important offerings. Yes No
Blogs –
38. We have a blog on our website or our website is a blog. Yes No
39. We have a separate blog such as Blogger or WordPress. Yes No
Social Media Marketing –
40. Facebook Like Page (Fan Page) Yes No
41. Twitter account Yes No
42. LinkedIn account Yes No
43. GoogleBuzz account Yes No
44. MySpace Yes No
45. YouTube Channel Yes No
46. Flickr account Yes No
47. Our business is using these social marketing tools competently. Yes No
48. Our business needs help learning how to use these social marketing tools. Yes No
Local Search –
Check off which Search Engines you’ve set up and claimed your local search listings on.
49. Google Yes No
50. Yahoo Yes No
51. Bing Yes No
Mobile Search –
Check off what you have set up.
52. Site optimized for mobile users. Yes No
53. Mobile landing page Yes No
54. Mobile Ads Yes No
55. QR Codes Yes No
56. SMS Yes No
Directories –
Are you using online directories to market your business?
57. Online Yellow Pages Yes No
58. Yelp Yes No
59. Other
Other
Other
Facebook Ads –
60. Are you using Facebook ads? Yes No
Banner Advertising on other sites?
61. Banner Network or Direct Cross Promotion Banners? Yes No
Other Promotions –
What other advertising methods do you use?
62. Referral program for existing customers. Yes No
63. Affiliate program for related business referrals. Yes No
64. Direct mail. Yes No
65. Radio ads. Yes No
66. TV ads. Yes No
67. Val Pak (or coupon deck) Yes No
68. Newspapers Yes No
69. Craig’s List Yes No
70. Angie’s List Yes No
Street Visibility and Signage -
71. (If physical location is important) Our business has a sign that is easily visible from the street. Yes No
Press Releases –
72. Our business uses press releases to make announcements. Yes No
Media Kits –
73. Our business has an online, email ready and printed media kit for media inquiries we might receive. Yes No
Budget
74. I have an annual marketing budget. Yes No
75. Our marketing budget is based on a percentage of our gross revenue. Yes No
76. Average monthly spending for current marketing and advertising.
Tracking
How do you measure the effectiveness of your marketing methods?
77. I keep track of how a caller or new customer heard about us by asking them and writing it down. Yes No
78. I keep a spreadsheet tally of where calls and customers come from. Yes No
79. Our staff is trained to ask where a customer found out about us, including how they got to our website. Yes No
80. We have a system to separately track how our different marketing methods are working for getting new customers. Yes No
What are your biggest marketing challenges and concerns?
