January is upon us once again and for many of us that means a fairly savage detox after all the champagne of New Year’s Eve and the over indulgence of the Christmas period – the arrival of Dry January. Whether or not you’re taking part in the annual denial of booze this year, it’s worth taking a look at other areas where it might also be worth having a detox. If you’ve fallen into bad digital marketing habits and negative online behaviours then why not try going cold turkey on a few of the worst. Here are some suggestions.
1. Don’t ignore anyone. If you have an online or social media presence and you’re not responding to people who are trying to make contact with you then make this one of your bad behaviours to do away with this January. You will do far more damage to your brand and reputation by having an unresponsive Twitter account or not replying to enquiry emails than not having an online presence at all so get on the case and start being responsive.
2. Stop blindly rushing forward. Ok so it’s fair to say that the arrival of digital marketing and social media – and the pace at which all of it progresses and changes – is probably rather difficult to keep up with. However, that’s no excuse for blindly throwing effort into various areas and hoping that something useful emerges. In order to get into good digital marketing habits you need to start with a strategy – what are your intentions for your online content/statuses/publishing and how are you going to get there?
3. Don’t forget to track your progress. In order to successfully make the best use of all the latest digital marketing techniques you need to make sure that you understand the impact that each of them is having on your business. Define the ways in which you’re going to measure success and regularly monitor your progress so that you have a good idea of what works and what you don’t need to touch again with a barge pole.
4. Stop fibbing. In an industry like law you would expect precisely no one to be telling porky pies but unfortunately the competitive nature of marketing these days leads many of us to be a little economical with the truth. This is increasingly harder to get away with thanks to the access the general public has to information so don’t inflate your achievements and successes, report them honestly and with good intentions. If you don’t have enough to show for the past 12 months then set some clear goals and targets and generate something to crow about – very few people will fall for puff pieces these days, it simply comes across as disingenuous.
5. Don’t be insular. Law is an industry that has begun to pick up the digital marketing baton and run with it but it is by no means the sector that is right at the cutting edge. Don’t be afraid to look outside what your immediate peers are doing for inspiration – who is leading the way in social media profile, where are the best online efficiencies coming from and where is digital marketing getting the best results?
If you want advice on your digital strategy please drop us a line camila.reed@mdc.accura-tech.com or 020 7438 1575
