It’s a New Year. Time for Some Marketing Maintenance.

The new year is always a good time to do your necessary maintenance. Our Tiffin Allegro diesel pusher motorhome just turned over 50,000 miles. It is going into the truck shop later this week to get an oil change and to check out the front end, air brake and suspension systems, and Allison transmission. It’s a complex machine and we need to get it ready for the year ahead!

Your AEC firm isn’t altogether different. It could probably use the same kinds of maintenance for its marketing. Here are a few of the things I would be looking at right now. You may have others to add to this list:

•  Website. How does it look? Does it need graphic overhaul? How is it organized? Does it function as it should? Are there any dead ends? Is the list of offices and addresses and phone numbers correct? Do you know where information requests filled out by site visitors are going and how they are being responded to?
•  Email list. How large is it? Are you making efforts to grow it? Do you use it often enough? Does everyone have access to it? Have you eliminated duplicates? The email list can be very valuable!
•  Email signature lines. Do they need revising? Is everyone’s title correct? Do they all have all contact info in them including cell numbers? Are they all formatted identically? They should be!
•  Online reviews. Are there any negative ones? Have they all be responded to? Do you need to ask for some newer reviews? Have you checked out what the Better Business Bureau has on your firm? Google reviews? Glassdoor reviews? These things need to be managed – not ignored.
•  Office building signage and condition. Are all the lights working? Is the company name expressed properly? Do you have signs everywhere they are allowed by local codes and office landlords? If not, fix the problem!
•  Company vehicles. Are they distinctive? Are they all some color other than white? Are they all matching in color and brand? Do they need to be wrapped? Being low key and inconspicuous is not the way to go when it comes to company vehicles!
•  Project signage. Are you using project signs consistently? Do you need new ones? Are they on every project? Are they large enough? Are they distinctive and attention-grabbing or white with black lettering? Project signage is free advertising. Use it.
•  Tradeshow schedules. Do you have a plan for the year to be at every show you think you should be at? Do you know who will go and have it on their calendars? Have you signed up for a booth yet? Does your booth need an overhaul? What are you doing to make your booth memorable and unique? Doing tradeshows properly needs some planning or you will be wasting your valuable time and money.
•  PR list. Do you have a good press list with at least 100 names – or better yet, 500-plus names – on it? Are you using it? Do you have a plan to send out press releases at least once a week? If not, why not?
•  Podcast. Do you have a podcast? Are you regularly recording it? Is it available wherever people go for their podcasts? Are you bringing on clients and potential clients that you want to do business with as your guests? Having people on your podcast is a great way to stroke their egos and make them like you. Look into what some of your aspirational peer firms are doing.

This list could most likely be doubled or tripled. The important thing is to take some action and tune up your marketing as we head into 2025! 

Mark Zweig is Zweig Group’s chairman and founder. Contact him at mzweig@zweiggroup.com. This article originally appeared in The Zweig Letter. Reprinted with permission.