Across almost all industries, marketing budgets are being tightened while expectations for profit growth continue to rise. Marketing teams are running leaner than ever. What once used to take a team of five or six to complete is now being done by a team of two or three – sometimes less.
The rise of inbound marketing has added additional challenges to already overworked marketing teams. And without the right habits, your marketing team’s productivity can go right out the window. Leaving tasks incomplete and your bottom line suffering.
Check out these 9 habits used by other successful inbound marketing teams that produce results and have increased productivity.
1. Establish clear-cut goals
Inbound marketing has hundreds of moving parts. SEO, blogs, lead nurturing, content creation, the list goes on and on. Because of these various moving parts, if you don’t have a clear-cut goal, it is easy to get caught in the weeds and never really accomplishing anything.
At Alaniz Marketing, we use the SMART goal method for setting our quarterly and annual goals. The method keeps us on track and helps us get results. SMART is an acronym for:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Relevant
- Timely
Once you set your goal it is important to remember that these goals must be effectively communicated to your entire team.
2. Create processes
Does your organization have comprehensive, written down processes? If your answer is no, you’re not alone. Even the most structured organizations often lack thorough processes. But what most organizations don’t realize is that a lack of processes can cost you time and money. How, do you ask?
When processes aren’t followed corners are often cut or employees end up adding their own take on how things are supposed to be done. This often means that quality is compromised and your brand may not be represented in the best light.
Problems can also occur when key employees leave and take valuable knowledge with them or when a new employee is hired and must be trained. Without comprehensive processes, precious time is wasted trying to recover the knowledge lost and during training. Processes allow knowledge to be passed on making your organization more efficient.
3. Know your buyer personas inside and out
When your marketing and sales teams understand your buyer personas, they will do a more effective job of appealing to their specific wants and needs. You’ll also know which leads your marketing and sales team should be spending the most time on attracting. This creates more efficiency within your company overall because there is less wasted time dealing with leads that will never purchase or acquiring customers that don’t stick around.
4. Have an outstanding network
The most effective businesses aren’t always the ones who can do it all themselves – this is especially true for small to medium organizations. Instead, effective businesses have a list of resources that they can call upon when they don’t have the time or skill set necessary to handle a specific task.
This list may include:
- bloggers,
- graphic artists,
- or even web designers.
5. Know the software you use inside and out
Effective inbound marketing runs on marketing automation software. That means that your marketing team must understand how all the bells and whistles work on that software. And if they don’t have time to learn they should be looking to hire an outsourced marketing agency who does.
6. Always be willing to learn
Inbound marketing is still extremely new having been around for less than ten years. And like all things that are new, that means continuous, fast-paced growth. This growth means that new trends and best practices are always changing. The most successful organizations stay on top of these trends and implement the ones that will enhance their company.
7. Embrace testing
Testing goes hand and hand with learning. The more you learn – whether it’s about the type of subject line your customer’s prefer, CTA color they are more likely to click on, or even the forms that are submitted the most often – the more efficient and effective your marketing becomes.
8. Learn from challenges and build upon opportunities
Here’s the truth. Your inbound marketing campaigns are not always going to be successful. Even organizations that have been out there for years have a ‘dud’ every once in a while. But the difference between success and failure is to learn from the challenges and (try) not repeat them. On the other hand, when a campaign skyrockets it’s important to take a good look at that opportunity and see how you can duplicate it.
9. Stay flexible
While all of the above tips will lead to efficiency there will be times that even the best-laid plans may need to change. Marketers who can accept that change and switch gears as necessary are more effective than those who refuse to stray from a path that just isn’t working.
When it comes to inbound marketing, time is absolutely money, but with the right effective habits your company will not only save time but increase revenue. Want additional tips? Subscribe to our blog and get a weekly email of our best tips.
