I frequently come across frustrated business owners who are still of the  “build it and they will come” mentality. They don’t understand why they are not getting more web traffic, or why their marketing efforts are not having the desired results.

Any marketing strategy requires constant refinement to make sure it continues to serve your purpose. That also goes for the components of the strategy – making sure that your website, social media campaigns, ads, promotions etc are all optimized to serve your purpose is an ongoing consideration.

Here are some useful questions to apply to any marketing effort that can prod you into more effective action. If you feel that something isn’t working the way you had hoped, try going through these and seeing what you can do better. Make a conscious effort to step back and view your marketing from the objective eyes of an outsider – someone who knows little to nothing about your business.

• Who are you trying to target?
• Do not say “everyone”! Get specific.
• Is your marketing effort optimized to appeal to that target? For example, are you using the right language, content, tool?
• Is your message specific and clear?
• What are your audience’s interests and problems?
• Are you addressing these by providing relevant resources or solutions in your promotions and content?
• Are you executing and feeding the initiative by, for example, producing content and actively promoting it?
• Are you being passive or proactive? Do you expect your audience to come to you, or are you meeting them where they are? *Hint, you need to do the latter!
• Are you doing the work of marketing? Consistently?
• Really??
• If not, why not? Are there technical or mental barriers to moving forward?
• Are you tracking the results of your efforts?
• Do you know how to read and analyze the tracking data?
• Are you refining your efforts based on the results?
• Are you looking for new ways to appeal to your target?
• Are you consistently refining and tweaking your efforts?

Yes, it’s an ongoing process. If you’ve exhausted this list and are still frustrated you probably need to bring in some other brains. Brainstorm with friends, staff, co-workers or consultants to inject some fresh ideas into your efforts.

What other questions can you ask that can reveal areas of improvement in your marketing?

*Header image courtesy:http://www.flickr.com/photos/oberazzi/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0