By Andy Grant
Copyright (c) 2010
http://Projector123.com

Unless this is your busiest time of year, this is an ideal time to take an objective look at your marketing materials and ad campaigns and determine whether or not it's time for an update.

Ideally, marketing materials are designed to help you close more sales, attract more clients, and save time by explaining your products or services. Unfortunately, many companies neglect their marketing materials and send their sales force out with outdated, incorrect, or ineffective materials. Here are some key points to consider.

1. Current data
   
   First, take stock of what you're currently using for marketing materials, how many copies you have on-hand, what it's currently being used for, and at what frequency. Go through the materials to determine how much of the information is accurate and up-to-date.
   
   
2. Cost of an update
   
   One of the factors you'll surely want to consider throughout this evaluation process is how much it will cost you to update your materials. Online marketing is the easiest to change in an instant, and often changes are inexpensive. Conversely, print materials are often expensive (and can take awhile) to replace. However, for many businesses, both formats are essential.
   
   
3. Website updates
   
   If you can't afford (or don't truly need) to have a webmaster on staff, it may still make sense to have an experienced webmaster on retainer, who performs updates as needed. Alternatively, you may have a savvy staff member or other company employee who could (with a little training) make these changes as the need arises. Information changes (contact info, pricing, additions or deletions to services or products, staff bios, operating hours, press updates, etc.) to your company website should be made immediately, not "saved up" and made all at once. Often times, having someone in-house who can make these immediate changes is easier and more cost-effective than having to go outside of the company.
   
   
4. Social media presence
   
   If you don't already have an established social media presence, what on earth are you waiting for? Whether your demographic includes GenY or Baby Boomers, social media is growing by an alarming rate, and if you don't have a social media strategy, you are most definitely leaving cash on the table. Likewise, if you launched a Facebook page and opened a Twitter account, but your audience (friends / follower) numbers aren't steadily rising into the thousands, your campaign is not as effective as it could be.
   
   
5. Obsolescence?
   
   Some companies continue to produce marketing materials that aren't truly making any kind of impact, whether for closing sales or increasing publicity or spreading the word. Take a good look at all your marketing materials to see if any of them are truly obsolete. For example, if your staff no longer makes sales calls, then you can stop ordering print brochures, unless you plan to use them as a direct mail piece. If you discover that any of your methods or materials have become obsolete, cease using it and look for ways you can enhance whatever is working.
   
   
6. Efficacy of materials
   
   Are you currently performing any kind of tracking to discover what materials are working (specifically, converting to sales or new clients) and which aren't? In many cases, this can be as simple as asking a new client "how did you find out about us?" If the majority of your business is conducted online, there are many tracking methods that can be employed to track which sales are coming through which venues. By tracking your marketing methods, you can easily see which are working (and therefore, may warrant an even greater investment) and which are not (and may be retired or discarded). Ongoing communication with sales staff may also be useful in ascertaining which methods are working and which are not.
   
   
7. Input from staff
   
   Speaking of the sales staff, be sure to communicate with your sales staff before discarding any seemingly ineffective materials (or before creating new materials). The staff has a unique viewpoint (and a vested interest) in participating in adjusting or creating new sales materials. Additionally, non-sales professionals can offer valuable feedback as well.
   

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Related Information:

NBA Benefit Provider - Mediabids.com

NBA Resource Article - The 10 Cornerstone Principles of Marketing

NBA Resource Article - Top 10 Marketing Tips For Your Small Business Website

Reprint of this article does not constitute an endorsement by the National Business Association; the article is for informational purposes for our members and viewers of our Web site.