Before You Pay Me for Digital Marketing

First, I want to see what you're already paying for, what you're actually using and where you may already have opportunities to save or grow. 

When a business owner comes to me for help with digital marketing, it's usually because they want more.

• More people finding them on Google
• More website traffic
• More calls, appointments or leads
• More customers
• More repeat business

But before I start recommending more marketing, I want to know what the business already has. Because I've worked with plenty of businesses that are already paying for tools, features and technology that could help them do more, but they're barely using them.

Sometimes nobody even knows what's included.

Start With What You're Already Paying For

Let's say I'm working with a restaurant that uses Toast.

Toast is a POS, or point of sale system. It's the technology a restaurant uses to take payments and manage sales, but systems like Toast, Clover and Square can also include things like customer information, loyalty, email, text messaging and other marketing features.

Before I recommend another email marketing platform, SMS service, loyalty program or customer retention tool, I want to see what's already available inside Toast.

What are you paying for?
Look at your monthly bill and see exactly which products, services and add ons you're being charged for. 

What features come with your current setup?
Your POS or software may already include email, text messaging, loyalty, customer tracking or other tools you don't realize you have.

What have you turned on?
Having a feature included doesn't mean it's actually running or being used.

What hasn't been set up?
There may be useful features sitting inside your account that nobody ever finished setting up.

Are you collecting customer email addresses and phone numbers?
If customers are willing to share their information, are you actually saving it somewhere you can use it?

Are you using that information?
Collecting customer information doesn't do much if you're never emailing, texting or following up with those customers.

Are there automated campaigns available?
Some systems can automatically follow up with customers, remind them to come back or send messages based on what they do.

Is loyalty set up?
Can customers earn points, rewards or other benefits that give them a reason to return?

Are there features showing up on the bill every month that nobody is using?
If you're paying extra for something month after month and nobody uses it, we need to decide if it's worth keeping.

The same thing applies outside of restaurants.

• A medical practice may already have patient communication and marketing features inside its scheduling or practice management software.
• An HVAC company, electrician or plumber may have a CRM with email, text messaging, estimates, follow ups and customer information that isn't being fully used.
• A salon may have booking software capable of sending reminders, promotions and rebooking messages.

Before we buy something else, let's see what you already bought.

Then I Look at the Rest of the Marketing

Technology is only part of the inventory. I also want to know what's already happening across the business. That can include your:

• Website
• Google Business Profile
• Google Analytics
• Google Search Console
• Email marketing
• Text messaging
• Social media
• Online advertising
• CRM
• Booking or appointment software
• POS system
• Loyalty program
• Customer database
• Referral program
• Flyers
• Direct mail
• Partnerships
• Other software and subscriptions

I'm not looking at these things just to make a list. I'm trying to figure out what's working, what isn't, what isn't being used at all, and what we can get more from before adding something else.

Sometimes the First Opportunity Is Saving Money

I'm also paying more attention to what the business is spending. If you've been using the same POS or payment processor for five years, when was the last time you checked what you're actually paying?

Your business may be processing considerably more money today than it was when you originally signed up.

• Do you know your current processing fees?
• Do you know what percentage of your card sales those fees actually represent?
• Do you know what that adds up to over a year?

That's one reason I've started looking at processing statements as part of this bigger picture.

I created a free Payment Processing Cost Calculator to make this easier. 

Pull out a recent processing statement and find two numbers: your total card sales for the month and the total processing fees you paid.

Enter those numbers into the calculator and it will show you:

• Your effective processing rate: the percentage of your card sales that actually went toward processing fees.
• Your estimated annual cost: approximately how much you could be paying in processing fees over 12 months if your monthly numbers stay about the same.

For example, if you processed $50,000 in card sales and paid $1,750 in processing fees, your effective rate would be 3.5%. If those numbers stayed similar each month, that's about $21,000 a year in processing fees.

You don't have to know anything about payment processing to use it. You just need those two numbers from your statement.

And if you want someone to look more closely at what you're paying, I can have your statement reviewed to see if there's an opportunity to lower your costs.

I'd rather look for money we may be able to save before asking you to find more money to spend with me.

Your Offline Marketing Counts Too

Digital marketing doesn't happen in a vacuum. If you're mailing postcards, handing out flyers, sponsoring local events, putting offers on receipts, using table tents in a restaurant or participating in community events, I want to know about that too.

Maybe it's working. Maybe it isn't. Or maybe we're doing something offline that could work considerably better if we connected it to what we're doing online.

• A flyer could send someone to a specific landing page instead of the homepage.
• A receipt could invite customers to join a loyalty program.
• A direct mail campaign could use a unique offer or URL so we can see if people respond.
• An event could be used to collect email addresses or phone numbers with permission to follow up.

I'm not automatically interested in getting rid of offline marketing. I want to know what role it's playing and if we're getting anything from it.

Sometimes You Already Have What You Need 

After looking at everything, I may recommend something new. Maybe you really do need another platform, another marketing channel or a different way to reach customers.

But I'm not going to start there.

Sometimes the opportunity is already sitting inside something you're paying for. Maybe your POS has email or text features nobody set up. Maybe your CRM is full of customers nobody follows up with. Maybe your booking software can automatically remind customers to return. Or maybe you're paying every month for something you don't need.

Before you spend more on marketing, let's find out what you're already paying for, what you're actually using and what you could be getting more from.

Want Help Applying This to Your Business?  

Mastering P.O.P. is $249/month for ongoing, hands on digital marketing and SEO support.

We work on your actual business together, from your website and SEO to content, email marketing, lead generation, AI, automations, and conversions.

You'll have 365 day access to me through our private community, where you can ask questions, get feedback, and get help while you're actually doing the work. We also meet live on Zoom each week to review, troubleshoot, and work through your marketing together.

Think about what one new customer is worth to your business. If one customer is worth $249 or more, the bigger expense may be the leads and sales you're already losing because your marketing isn't working the way it should.

You don't need another course. You need someone helping you apply the right marketing to your business.

$249/month. Cancel anytime.