Busy lives inevitably lead to a handful of projects that never make it to the top of the to-do list. Until now. Current Covid-19 restrictions have created a rare lull in live veterinary events and conferences; they’re all on pause until June 2021. The temptation to hibernate is real, but it won’t help you reach your marketing goals. Instead, dream big and use the downtime to start something with long-lasting benefits. Here are 10 veterinary marketing projects worth considering.
1. Start a Blog
Why
This project packs a ton of benefits. Blogs are great for SEO and they give you a home base for your content, including your thought leadership and other big ideas. Here we go deeper into the benefits.
Quick Start
If you don’t yet have access to a blog, ask your web developer to implement one, so you can start self-publishing. Map out a 12-month content calendar. Take into consideration the various tags and categories ahead of time to ensure your posts maintain good SEO standards and keep browsing easy.
Long-Term Benefits
Blogs drive web traffic and increase lead conversions. When done well (ie providing consistent quality content), a blog becomes a destination on your website.
2. Create Customer Onboarding Automations
Why
Improve the consistency and quality of your customer onboarding experience with automated sequences. These sequences require development but reap long-term, time-saving benefits.
Quick Start
Identify your customers’ onboarding needs. Craft an email sequence answering those needs and build it in an automation system. Create an automated trigger that enrolls new customers into your sequence. Take a pro-active approach: Consider creating a follow-up task for sales that triggers at the end of the sequence.
Long-Term Benefits
Onboarding automation improves customer satisfaction, accelerates implementation of your product, and reduces customer service calls for commonly asked questions.
3. Conduct CRM Sales Training
Why
Your team is working more from home and less in the field; improve their CRM performance to help them better prospect in the short term.
Quick Start
Identify the quick wins that can help them get more qualified demonstrations now, and the long-term behaviors that can provide the field-level intel needed later. Conduct and record a series of short 15-minute training videos. Make them accessible to current employees and use them for future onboarding needs.
Long-Term Benefits
CRM sales training Improves your employee onboarding content. It also allows for buy-in and commitment from the field reps during a time when your CRM can help them improve long-term compliance.
4. Evaluate or Implement a Keyword Strategy
Why
Make it easier for prospects to find you online.
Quick Start
Identify the keywords that your prospects are searching for. Narrow the list down to the 4-6 keywords and add them to your website content. This includes blog posts, product copy, social posts, YouTube videos, news, etc.
Long-Term Benefits
A keyword strategy can guide your future content creation initiatives. It will also help you be found by searching prospects. Get intentional about the words you’re using in your digital content and start to grow your online reputation.
5. Audit Your Content (Website & Sales Support)
Why
Sales support materials are often the last to receive a refresh. If your collateral has grown stale or uninspiring over time, now’s the moment to breathe new life into your sales materials.
Quick Start
Collect all of your sales support content and give it a deep-dive review. Pull old outdated material, decide what is still needed, and what can be updated.
Long-Term Benefits
Your sales team will be invigorated by the attention and the reinvigorated messaging will help the team close more competitive deals.
6. Plan Your Year, Again and Again
Why
If you’re too busy to get organized, how will you ever begin? Plan time to plan.
Quick Start
Create an annual strategic calendar. From there, determine the tactics required to accomplish your strategic goals. Blueprint the detailed tasks required to accomplish each tactical initiative and assign them to the appropriate resources.
Long-Term Benefits
Creating a process to organize your year will help you be more productive and intentional about your time and tactics. Both you and your team will appreciate the opportunity to work ahead.
7. Implement an Evergreen Lead Nurturing Sequences
Why
We all want to work smarter, not harder. To that end, automated nurturing is a no-brainer.
Quick Start
First, map your customer journey. Next, build nurturing content, automate your sequences, and establish a process for handing off sales-ready leads.
Long-Term Benefits
Automating this process consistently feeds your sales pipeline and removes potential missed leads.
8. Identify KPIs and Create Metric Tracking Systems
Why
On-going key performance indicators are the best way to make real-time strategic business decisions.
Quick Start
Identify the helpful data points on a week-by-week basis. Create a weekly report, either in a dashboard or that is sent via email. Block off weekly time on your calendar to review these metrics. Here’s a starting point for advertising KPIs.
Long-Term Benefits
Becoming a more informed and strategic marketer by understanding your KPIs and more skilled at predicting the behavior of your target audience based upon your understanding of their past actions.
9. Get Organized, and Create a System to Stay that Way
Why
A year without shows is more than enough time plenty to forget how we used to “do it all.” Get organized now and hit the ground running in June.
Quick Start
Work ahead! And block off some time to complete tasks. It can’t all be Zoom meetings.
Long-Term Benefits
Good organizational habits now will help you when the show circuit heats up in the summer.
10. Evaluate Historic Data
Why
Get a handle on your history and you’ll be better prepared for the present and the future.
Quick Start
Dig into the data. Evaluate past campaign performance, the source of your leads, the source of your best leads, opportunities to improve performance, trend changes over the last year, etc.
Long-Term Benefits
Create a habit of evaluating this information on a monthly basis. Establish a data baseline now that you can re-visit to determine current trends.