To get the greatest success in growing a business these days is to be fully aware of all the means of marketing that we have at our fingertips. There are social media platforms and the good old fashioned marketing manager and advertising agency. Who can forget the wonderful Daran from the oh so american comedy series Bewitched? He was the lovely witch Samantha’s advertising husband – what he couldn’t do with a stroke of his drawing ink is nobody’s business. He seemed able to just sit at his drawing easel and a cup of coffee and piece of apple pie later, up popped the best and most relevant adverts for the strangest selection of clients that Larry – Daran’s boss – could every possess. However, he probably did his due diligence – writing out little post-it notes and stuck them on his work board. He always knew how to get and stay, one step ahead.

The first thing before any employment of third party schemes is to create a marketing plan – this is critical for any business, whatever size or product for that matter. Whether you’re a privateer, freelancing your way to new clients, or a grown old in the mould advertising genius, a marketing plan is needed. This should be a strategic outline of your activity in the world of advertising laid out for the next quarter or full year. Plotting and tracking the endeavours, marking successes from the previous campaigns and criticaly, noting what was not successful. Knowing the weakness in any project is the only way to ensure that the successful elements are carried forward. Keeping an eye on the plan and checking in at the cruicial ‘check up’ stages will tell you whether your conversion rate from posts, ads, advertorials etc have hit the mark is essential to be able to plan for the next quarter and full on year.