In parts 1 and 2 of our DIY business audit series, I looked at how to tell how well your business is performing, by analysing client results and sales and finances.

In part three, it is time to place your business marketing tactics under the spotlight to see if you are doing it right, or if you need to tweak your approach.

• Success Check 1:
  • Do you know where your leads are coming from?
  • Top of the ‘wish list’ for most trainers is more leads.
  • The key to getting some quick wins is by understanding how many leads you have coming in and where they are coming from.
  • Going back through your last six months of clients and figuring out where they actually came from can help you discover a few things about your business.
  • You might realise you get:
    • A lot of referrals from one particular person;
    • Leads from a particular social media platform; or
    • A lot of walk-ins at a certain time.
  • Once you know where your leads are coming from, you can create a systematic and targeted marketing strategy, rather than just adopting a blanket strategy of solely advertising on Facebook, for example.
• Success Check 2:
  • Are your social posts generating conversations?
  • The number of followers on social media platforms used to be the big metric of success.
  • These days, it is more about how engaged your social community is and whether the content you post generates conversations.
  • A conversation is basically the same concept as a lead.
  • Traditionally, a lead is a person’s name and contact details, and with a social media conversation you have probably already got those details.
  • It follows that if a person is commenting on your posts and expressing interest in your services, you can turn it into a private conversation on messenger, and ideally convert them into a paying client.
• Success Check 3:
  • Does your marketing strategy speak to the pain points of your target market?
  • Your marketing strategy and the content you post on social media should be tuned into the pain points of your current and prospective clients; that is, whatever they are struggling with or wish to improve in their lives.
  • Clients should feel like you really ‘get’ them: what they are going through and what they need guidance on.
  • For example, if you are a male trainer targeting post-pregnancy females but you do not have kids yourself, it is going to be tough/problematic to figure out what their pain points are unless you have done a bit of research and listened to them carefully.
• Success Check 4:
  • Does your website achieve its purpose?
  • For most trainers, the key purpose of having a website is to get people to enquire with you.
  • If you have got lots of visitors coming to your site but no enquiries or action being taken then you might need to review:
    • Your homepage and whether it is user-friendly;
    • Whether it speaks to the pain points of your target market; and
    • Whether it has a compelling call to action.
  • If on the other hand your site has very little traffic, then you need to get it out there and advertise it in the relevant places.
  • Google analytics and heatmap tools like Crazy Egg, for example, are an invaluable way to track how visitors are interacting with your site, which can in turn give you clues for what to change or optimise.