I don’t know about you, but I definitely have Spring Fever! The weather has finally turned and is quite warm, the golf courses are open, the flowers are starting to grow, and the last thing I want to do is think about marketing (only joking!) Now is a great time to “spring clean” your marketing plan and get out in front of your target audience.

Assess Q1 Results

The best way to start your spring cleaning is to evaluate your first quarter’s results. Take the time to ask yourself the following questions:

• Did you land the clients you wanted?
• Did you receive inbound leads?
• How much have you spent on marketing?
• Do you know which programs have pulled the best for your business?

Before you can spring clean your marketing plan to increase results for 2005, you need to understand what is working and what is not. Evaluate everything, not just the programs you are paying for, because even if you aren’t spending money, you are probably spending time.

Start collecting information from every source your have. Remember to:

• Ask every inbound lead how they heard about you, including on your web site contact form. Make it a habit. List all of the marketing activities that could drive traffic to your web site in a drop down list. You only need to ask – most people are happy to tell you.
• Track how people find your web site and what keywords they are using. There are tools available that can help you get this information easily and cost-effectively. One that I use is StatCounter. It’s free but gives me visitor paths, keywords, new visitors and returning visitors – plenty of data for most small businesses. The free service limits the amount of data it keeps on your project. However, for $9.00 per month, you can get a lot more data on your visitors.

If you haven’t collected this information before, make sure you start. As you will probably guess, evaluating your marketing plan quarterly is not just a spring thing!

Refresh your Brand

When was the last time you updated your brand identity? If your business was fruitful in Q1, you might want to determine if you can afford to hire a firm to update your look. Updating your brand doesn’t necessarily mean changing it. A professional design firm can give your business a fresh new look and enable you to get attention from people who may be taking your brand for granted. Take an objective look at how your brand is projecting your image. Ask colleagues what they think it says to them.

The following images are the before and after of a brand refresh for one of our clients. Note that the brand was not drastically changed and still projects a new, fresh, professional image they desire. With a change of font and a bit of design, this new logo will get them noticed.

Before	After
Original Client Logo	New Logo for Client

Evaluate your Marketing Materials

When was the last time you updated your web site content, refreshed your brochures or determined if your messages are still reaching your audience? Content is king is not just a cliché. It is the most powerful and inexpensive marketing activity you can undertake, especially if your business is service-oriented. Fresh, relevant content on your web site will get people to take the time to get to know you.

If you are running Internet marketing programs and you don’t update your web site content, you may be wasting your money. If your results were not what you expected in Q1, you may be lacking the one critical component that your marketing needs for that boost of inbound leads. Plan a new marketing activity that includes generating content – an eNewsletter or writing articles to be placed in industry journals – and see the effects of content on your business.

Rethink your Marketing Mix

Was your marketing mix in Q1 made up of the type of activities that work for your business? Your choices include Internet marketing, public relations, advertising, events, direct marketing, word of mouth, and partnerships. Are you actively promoting your business through a combination of these types of activities? Are they getting results?

If your results were on-target and you are happy with where your business is right now, then keep doing what you are doing. If one program is getting you better results than another, would it make more sense to put more marketing dollars into that one and boost its impact on your business and possibly shut down the other? Juggling your marketing budget a bit can sometimes lead to far better results than simply spending more.

Should you consider adding a new program to the mix to boost your inbound leads? One thing to remember about getting inbound calls – they are ready to buy your products or services since they contacted you. Closing those sales should be much easier than prospects you find through other means. If there is a way to generate these through a marketing program, then you should consider adding it to the mix.

Energize and Get Marketing!

Spring helps pull people out of the winter blues. When people are feeling good, they are more likely to look for something new and exciting for themselves or their business. Splash cold water on your face now and enthusiastically market your business. You’ll be glad you did when the hazy, lazy, crazy days of summer are upon us.