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All the account managers here at OverGo have been diligently working on 6 month plans for our clients.
We created Buyer Personas for each client and then planned out what kind of content, ads, keywords, etc. were needed to target each audience. Before, we were basically working quarterly, following the contract and deliverables that were outlined for each client. But things were popping up that we didn’t expect or getting postponed too much so we went ahead and planned everything out so we could avoid those situations.
So you’re probably wondering what’s involved in a 6 month plan and why I think it’s cool enough to write a whole blog post about it. Well, it’s one of the best things you can do for your business and that’s why I’m going to walk you step-by-step through creating a 6 month plan.
Step 1: Create a Buyer Persona
What’s a buyer persona you ask? A buyer persona is a document used to outline who is purchasing your product or service. Your entire 6 month plan revolves around this document so make sure you make it in depth and customized to the particular business. Some thinks to address in the buyer persona:
- Background, demographics, and identifiers
- Goals, challenges, and how you can help that person
- Real quotes from this audience and common objections
- Your marketing message and your elevator pitch for this audience
Click here for a free buyer persona template.
Step 2: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
What are KPIs? They are metrics used to evaluate a business’ success towards a goal. For example, I have a pest control client and I laid out certain KPIs that reflected where they are now and increased month by month to reach a certain goal. These KPIs consisted of Traffic, Leads, and Pest Appointments. However for some clients, we have KPI metrics that consist of marketing qualified leads, sales qualified leads, and customers. Decide what goals you want your business to reach, look at what your performance is now, and decide what you want it to be in 6 months.
Step 3: Inbound Strategy
This step is fairly detailed and customized depending on what your business is. We lay out our services month by month and what types of content and activities we want to do each month in order to reach the KPI goals we set. The categories are as follows:
- Blogging Focus
For this category we generally perform new keyword research to find keywords centered around the buyer persona. Once we have these keywords we create campaigns around them in our keyword tool and use these to blog. In order to come up with some great keyword research, a good idea is to think about questions your potential and current customers often ask you. These questions most likely involve some great keywords and could also make some awesome blog posts.
- Advanced Content & Related
This is the most helpful section in my opinion. With a lot of my clients, I get either overwhelmed or backed up with advanced content. An eBook could take too much time to produce or they could request 3 pieces of advanced content in one month. By laying it out month by month you can see the date you should start producing that content and when it needs to be done and promoted by. If your business is seasonal, this also helps you think about the best seasonal promotional pieces that would be beneficial.
- Organic Promotional Campaigns
This is pretty general as it consists of posting your content on all your social media sites. For every 6 month plan I’ve produced, this section generally stays the same depending on what socials they’re on. If you have a Pinterest, create a plan around it. If you would benefit from LinkedIn, get the heck on it and start some conversations!
- Paid Promotional Campaigns
Paid promotional campaigns could be anything from Adwords, YouTube video advertising, Facebook ads, LinkedIn ads… you get the point. Any type of advertising you have to pay for. We have been looking into online magazines and websites that offer banner ads. These are grrrrreat for reaching your target audience if they frequent certain websites or online magazines.
- Lead Funnel Conversion Opportunities
This section would be any lead nurturing or newsletter emails you need to create. Sometimes I’ve found myself launching an eBook or other advanced content and not creating the workflow until a few weeks later. That is a big no-no. By laying out the lead nurturing campaigns in your 6 month plan, you will never forget to create one again.
Step 4: Launch Your Plan
Now that you have your awesome plan all written out, launch it! Keep your eye on the prize and reach those goals that you laid out for yourself!
Photo Credit: practicalowl via Flickr
