came back worn out and having cut only a few trees. After the
third day the boss took his saw, puzzled that perhaps there
was an equipment failure, and cranked up the saw. At the roar
of the engine, the Aggie jumped back and hollered “What’s
that noise?!”
We can have the same struggles with digital tools, trying
to hand saw with a power tool, so to speak.
whelm hundreds of positives and thousands of dollars of advertising investments. There are simple ways to monitor and
respond to what is being said about you online and to build
your reputation.
And are you creating messages and using ads that leverage the power of the digital platforms, or just taking last year’s
print ads and calling it good enough? It’s not.
Building your digital tool box
There are more digital opportunities every day, far more
than this short space can offer. But some questions to ask
yourself:
How do potential new customers find you online? Search
is the glue that holds together most online transactions and if
you’re not planning for search optimization of your website,
your competitors are.
Are you targeting your online ads not just to the region or
city or street where your customers live, but also to what they
care about, where and when they’re online?
Are you using search marketing to convert those initial
web contacts into immediate orders and long-term clients?
Do you have a strategy to protect your reputation online?
Reputations and fortunes are won and lost in a tweet or post
today. One negative review or caustic comment can over-
Start with a plan
Whatever the platform or medium you choose to tell your
story, it must start with a plan.
1. What does success look like?
2. How do we measure success?
3. How do we translate success into specific actions that
deliver the goods (new conversations, conversions to
customers, additional sales)?
4. How does everything we do (words we say, messages
we post and ads we run) move us toward success?
5. How are we keeping score and adjusting to make the
most of the things that deliver results we want?
The good news is that today you can do more with less.
The bad news is that it won’t just happen—you have to
plan for and constantly adapt your digital strategy as conditions and opportunities change.
Consider building or retooling a team focused on digital.
There are also excellent digital companies in Alaska, from
specialists in your industry to traditional agencies and media
companies that can help.
It’s an absolute of marketing theory that those businesses
that are aggressive in a down cycle, that work hardest to gain
market share when there’s less to fight over, are the ones that
grow and build value not only immediately but 10-fold over
time. And getting aggressive in a down economy, like Alaska
is going to face for the next few years, need not mean spending more, but it absolutely demands spending smart.
Get smart. Get digital. And get more than your fair share.
It’s an absolute of marketing
theory that those businesses that
are aggressive in a down cycle, that
work hardest to gain market share
when there’s less to fight over, are
the ones that grow and build value
not only immediately but 10-fold
over time.
July 2016
10 STRIVE