Fresh

While sorting through the cupboards in my bathroom this past weekend I was puzzled to discover that I owned 23 bottles of lotion: some of these nearly empty, some barely touched, and others well past their expiration date. This got me thinking as to why I seem to forget about all the products I already have at my finger tips, and instead go out and buy the first new item I hear about promising firming, moisturizing, and/or bronzing benefits in a bottle. Like myself, I often witness clients honing in on new technology, overly excited to snatch it up and apply it to their own online marketing objectives, before first asking themselves the question “Do I really need this?”

While change is good, there is something to be said to having a purpose behind each change. We are consumers by nature and always want that new best thing, but why not first take a look at the tools you already have at your disposal and assess if you are indeed using them to their full potential.

Here are some questions to ask when considering whether or not to invest in the next latest and greatest marketing tactic. These might help you figure out if your money is best spent on what’s new or if it’d be better spent fine-tuning what you’re already utilizing.

• When was the last time you logged into your websites analytics account and closely reviewed the stats? Do you know what page has the greatest drop off? If you do, don’t you think making adjustments to this page would be good place to invest some funds instead of PPC ads that your uncle Jimmy told you about?
• What about your email marketing statistics? Do you look at your “read” and “click through” stats after each campaign and assess what worked and what didn’t, and then make adjustments accordingly?
• What about your email preference center? Do you ask your subscribers to choose the info they want to read and segment your lists and content accordingly? If not you should. After all, why invest in an email marketing tool that you are not utilizing to it’s full potential?
• What about your website’s blog? When was the last time you published a new post? If your content is not fresh the loyalty in your readership will decrease and you’ll let yet another viable tool go to waste.

What I’m saying is that before you rush out to skin a Twitter account and set up a Facebook page because everyone is doing it first take a look in your cupboard and spend some quality time assessing the tools you’ve already invested in. By doing so, you might find that you have outgrown some of them and are indeed in need of some changes (glitter in lotion was never a good idea). Or, you might rediscover what you liked so much about them in the first place and that they are truly working (hello anti-aging). For those of you who are already monitoring and tweaking your current marketing efforts, taking the initiative to skin a Twitter page or migrate to Facebook could be a solid next step; doing this prematurely might be a waste of your time and resources.

Above all, remember there should be a purpose behind every product or tool that you invest in, so if what you’re doing isn’t working for you toss it in the trash and make more time and room for those that do.