Take the valuable test Complete these 13 simple questions to pinpoint how valuable your marketing is today. We’ll give you recommendations to focus your content marketing efforts and improve results, and guide you to the parts of the book that you’ll find most helpful. 1. Our marketing activity generates good leads that drive profitable sales.* a) Yes. It’s all tickety boo, thanks. b) Sometimes, but we’d like more leads. c) No, it’s a real struggle. 2. We actively market our business online and get results.* a) Yes. We have a website that works for us and we spread our content across the web. 50 per cent of new business enquiries or more comes via the web. b) To an extent. We have a website but we don’t do much else online. And we’d like better results. c) No, we don’t market our business online properly. Actually, it’s embarrassing. 3. Potential customers welcome our marketing.* a) Yes. Our marketing is all about creating and sharing helpful, relevant and meaningful information and our customers tell us they appreciate it. b) Some of it they appreciate. A lot they ignore. c) No. The door gets slammed shut most of the time. Although it’s hard to tell through the deafening silence. 4. We publish fresh content regularly.* a) Yes – twice a month or more. b) It’s a bit spasmodic to be honest. c) No, our content hardly ever changes. 5. We have a working business blog.* a) Yup. We post a new article regularly and generate good leads from our blogging efforts. b) To an extent. We do have a blog. We post from time to time but don’t really get much engagement or leads. c) No. 6. We engage in social media for business.* a) Yes. We have a growing list of followers and lots of our stuff gets shared. It builds relationships and generates useful contacts, referrals and sales opportunities. b) A bit. We dabble. But it’s not really getting us anywhere. c) No. 7. We make sure search engines can find our content.* a) Yes. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an important part of our strategy – we’re ranking well and getting found. We index our content carefully. b) A bit. We don’t fully understand SEO yet. c) No. Our content is invisible. 8. We have built an engaged list of contacts and keep in touch with a useful newsletter.* a) Yes. We send out regular, valuable content to our subscribers. We have an active and growing community, happy to receive our stuff. b) Kind of. We send out company news regularly. c) No. 9. We share deeper content on our website, e.g. useful guides, white papers, presentations, videos or e-books.* a) Yes. We’ve invested in some really high-quality, heavy-hitting content that’s easy to find on our website. b) We could do. We have some good resources lying around the office but we haven’t yet put many of them up on our website. c) No. 10. Our marketing efforts are targeted at a specific niche (or niches).* a) Yes. We know exactly what type of clients or customer we’d like to attract and we produce relevant information they connect with and value. b) To an extent, but it’s a bit hit and hope. c) No. Our marketing is pretty generalist and scattergun. We think we might miss out on opportunities if we make it too specific. 11. We take a strategic approach to our content.* a) Yes. We have documented our content strategy and refer to it regularly. b) We kind of know what we’re aiming it but we’ve yet to think it through properly. c) No. 12. The whole business is involved in content marketing* a) Yes. From the sales team to the boss and the support staff, we’re all in on the act. b) There’s a content team, but not everyone gets it. c) Are you joking? 13. We are proud of our website and marketing.* a) Yes. The messages we put out reflect who we are as a business and tell our story well. b) Hmmm, some bits but not all. Some of it’s a bit cringey. c) No. It just doesn’t feel like us. To be honest, we feel let down by our website, and a bit embarrassed! Δ (Visited 606 times, 1 visits today)
