Don’t Throw the Baby Out with the Bathwater!
Our firms always have to struggle to keep up with all the new technologies, modern marketing channels and routes to market, and the ever-growing alternatives to our professional services. It’s a necessity of the modern world.
However, we also have to keep asking ourselves “are we doing what we should be doing, in the best way possible?”
So many of us long for the good old days where all personal relationships were the ‘be all and end all.’ But have things changed that much or are these new technologies and techniques merely trying to emulate personal relationships?
The fact is that personal relationships do matter, and we should use technologies at our disposal to improve how we grow and manage them.
With all of that in mind, let’s take a look at some old and new marketing and business development techniques and how we can embrace them to grow our businesses.
Embrace social media in your marketing strategy
Many industries are still not willing to accept social media. We completely understand why most of these businesses are not ready to use it as, on the one hand, social media can limit or adversely impact your professionalism. On the other hand, social media is an excellent way for companies to showcase their personality and their services to those that markets that matter.
We are here to tell you that you don’t need to think of all social media in this manner, especially when it comes to LinkedIn. The platform design is for professionals; your firm can use it to create posts, videos, infographics, and a lot more that will more than adequately professionally present your expertise.
You can even go further with other platforms, as most are increasingly becoming used by professionals across industries.
Embrace all useful forms of promotion
Connecting with the right client is crucial for success, and the best way to do so it where most clients are. If that’s online, great. If it’s not online, that’s great too. The trick is to understand where your market spends time and then profile yourself in that space. By using the right platform – digital, personal, speaking platforms – you can access and reach potential clients.
The key word in our heading is ‘useful’. Know your business and what people would want from it, and learn how to target them effectively. Some will be found with the old ways and some with the new.
Networking is still highly important
New technologies have not replaced traditional networking but they have improved your networking efforts. You can easily web search their business before you meet, and review their profile and connect on LinkedIn. You can walk into a meeting knowing more information than ever.
Your good old business cards are still handy, and you can improve them by using eco-friendly recycled paper. What I always find useful is to give out two cards – one for them and one for a friend. That’s one, simple, and effective way of combining the new and the old to your advantage.
In the end, that’s all that you need to do to go with the times, embrace them, use them, but keep the old as long as it can be of use. That’s the best way of becoming a respected industry expert and a thought leader.