Is What You're Doing Working?

At the end of December we talked about making a New Year's Resolution for your business.  In that post we talked about utilizing the New Year and your personal resolutions to help fascilitate good business practices for your company.  

Now that we're approaching the end of January, let's check in with regard to your projects.  

1.  What business goals did you set forth as part of your New Year's resolution? 

2.  Have you acted upon any of those resolutions?  If so, how?

3.  What tangible response are you starting to see?   

Let's put this concept into a tangible example.  I know one of our housekeeping goals was to be more active with regard to content.  While we have the regular blog and social media integration, we discussed adding an audio/video component.  Specifically, we wanted to implement a regular podcast to discuss news and tips within the industry.  While we have not formally launched that project - yet - I can assure you that we are working on making it happen.  We've planned out concepts and strategies, as well as format and content.  Beginning in February, we will be hitting the studio to record and produce an audio/video podcast which will be part of our general site and social media content.  Business goal set forth? [Check.]  Actions taken on business resolution?  [Check.]

It's when we get to the tangible responses that things start to get a little sticky.  We generally tell our clients to wait a project out for six (6) weeks before confirming the success (or failure) of a plan.  Let's continue with the example of the podcast idea.  Client A started a podcast during Week 1.  The content was great.  The information they were putting out was great.  Their social media reach?  Not so much.  Their website views?  Even less.  If they look at stats during Week 2, there isn't going to be a huge shift from Week 1 - primarily because we are building that network.  By the time Week 3 rolls around, we're seeing a slight increase in podcast downloads, but it may not be blockbuster.  Fast forward a few weeks to Week 6.  By Week 6 I have a window of trends to analyze.  I can tell you more about your demographic based on listener statistics.  I can tell you that you increased your listenership by x amount of people and y percent.   

The question becomes how you quantify the success.  What may be viewed as success for one project, may signal stagnation for another.  This is why it is important to sit down with your initial task list and confirm what parts of your plan have been successful and which may not have been.  If you find something isn't working at the end of Week 6, reassess it.  Is it something you need to cut out entirely?  Is it something you can rework to a different format?  Utilize the statistics you garner to better serve your demographic and focus on what is working for your particular message.   

Sidekick Media Services offers a variety of services - from web design, to social media, to audio production, to full-service video production and live streaming. We'd be happy to consult with you about your project!