CEO Confessions: “I don’t know”

“You are right,” Pete said. “Marketing is hurting us now. When times were good, we would chase marketing ideas that seemed good at the time. If one didn’t work, we would try a different approach.”

“Ah, You were doing random acts of marketing,” I responded.

Pete nodded. “Yup. Now, marketing has to deliver. Our sector is seeing a slowdown,” he admitted. “We are busy, but our backlog shrunk from 6 months to 1. We want a backlog of at least 3 months.”

“Why do you want that?” I asked.

“It helps our cash flow and project management,” Pete explained. “We can make sure we are staffed appropriately, and we can preorder materials.”

“So how can you get marketing to be a difference maker?” I asked.

“I don’t know.” He leaned forward. “But I’m ready to make it happen.”

This is the conversation I’ve had with CEOs time and time again.

When times were good, marketing was an email sent here, and a social media campaign sprinkled there.

When the numbers drop (and they always do), you try to prioritize marketing again.

But you’re not doing it strategically.

Going back to random acts of marketing isn’t setting you or your family-run business up for success.

But here’s the thing…

You already have the building block for a long-term marketing strategy.

It’s your expertise.

You use it to talk to clients every day—to answer their questions.

Now, you just have to get those answers out into your prospects’ world so they can find you.

Use your expertise to build an Answer Vault of 50+ expertise-filled blogs written to your prospects that will bring them knocking on your door.

Don’t get lost in random acts of marketing.

Fortify your marketing strategy with your Answer Vault.