“Marketing’s job is never done. It’s about perpetual motion. We must continue to innovate every day.” — Beth Comstock, Former CMO & Vice Chair, GE
Have you ever heard someone lament, “But I don’t have time to market my business?” Maybe that someone is you. You’re so immersed in running the business that the thought of taking time away from the day-to-day operations is overwhelming.
Knowing where to begin can be intimidating. The first step toward any marketing effort is to have a plan. The plan is the greatest asset, an actual tool in the marketing toolbox.
“The best way to waste your time and money is to dive into marketing without making a plan first,” shares Christina Belenky, Senior Marketing Manager at Advance Partners. “The key to success is to define your marketing strategy first – aka, what you want your marketing to accomplish, and how you plan to accomplish it.”
Entrepreneur, writer, and marketer, Alyssa Gregory, insists a marketing plan is essential for every small business. She’s compiled ten questions to answer in the pursuit of a powerful marketing plan. Questions that address marketing strategy, mission statement, target market, and competitive analysis, for starters. Check out her specific questions that will make you delve deep into what you want to accomplish and why, what is your target market, and who the competition is.
Belenky suggests a brainstorming session away from the office where the team can toss around ideas. She provides some industry-specific questions to zero in on the answers that will guide your staffing firm toward implementing an effective marketing plan.
- How do our staffing services differ from our competitors?
- How do people hear about us now?
- Who is our ideal customer? Ideal temporary worker?
- Where do these candidates live?
- Where do they spend time online?
- What are our competitors doing?
Are you listed online . . . everywhere?
It may sound cliché, but have you Googled your staffing firm? To ensure your business shows up when someone looks for it, take advantage of search engine directories.
The folks at Womply recommend, “More than ever, free business listing sites like Yelp, Facebook, and Google My Business are how customers find your company. The web has become a goldmine of free advertising and exposure for small business owners thanks to these dozens of business listing sites.”
Add as much info as possible to each claimed profile, to make your listing inviting. Then don’t forget to monitor for reviews routinely and prioritize replying to each one.
Enlarge your online footprint by utilizing every free online community, directory, and business listing site. Check out Womply’s compilation of 25 free business listings.
Utilizing social media
With over 3 billion active users across social media daily, can you afford not to build a platform and promote your brand? The answer to that is no.
One of the keys to using social platforms effectively lies in garnering the attention of those 3 billion users. “It’s up to us as marketers and business owners to be strategic to slice through that noise and catch some attention surgically,” instructs James Osborne.
How do you build a following? The content your profiles share should align in a broad scope with your industry or have a more specific slant to your firm’s specific mission and purpose, to attract the attention of the right audience. Original content is best, but above all, what you post must be viewed as having value as either relevant, timely, engaging, informative, or, preferably, all the above. The goal is to entice viewers to follow you and share your valuable content with others. Defining your target audience will help you choose effective content. Are you hoping to target candidates, clients, or both?
After grabbing their attendance, it’s crucial to launch social media’s super-power: engagement. Once considered the secret to success with social media marketing, engagement can no longer be labeled a secret. Still, knowing and doing are two distinctly different things.
“When a client writes a review on your company’s Facebook page, respond to it,” instructs Josh Tolan, Founder, and CEO of Spark Hire. “For example, if a client praises your professionalism and candidate placement accuracy, comment back in a timely manner. You could say something as simple as, ‘Thank you for being a loyal client. We appreciate your business and look forward to working with you again!”
“If the review is a complaint, respond quickly and ask them to contact you directly so you can address the problem. This publicly shows you care and want to resolve the issue but keeps the nitty-gritty details of their complaint off your Facebook wall. If you address complaints right away and make a public attempt to rectify the situation, those individuals often come back and update their review.”
When it comes to comprehensive marketing solutions for the staffing industry, look no further than the experienced, dedicated team at ASJ Partners. From website design and development to content and email marketing, from SEO remarketing to ChatBot to corporate identity and design, we are the experts at accelerating revenues for Staffing and Recruiting Firms through unique, customized, and highly targeted marketing programs. Our team looks forward to the opportunity to assist you with a marketing strategy that will help you Win More. Sell More. Grow More and Be Found More.
