Marketing The Spork – Our Marketing Successes and Failures in 2009

Inspired by Daily Blog Tips author Daniel Scocco and his “2009 in Review group writing project“, I’ve decided to recap 2009’s failures and successes of marketing our own little company.

Here’s a breakdown of what we’ve accomplished in trying to raise the profile of Spork Marketing:

1. Redesigning our Website in February 09′. I won’t show you the old site, but the new version we launched 10 months ago is MUCH nicer. I’ve had several clients tell me as much. We’ve been updating it slowly since February, attempting to make navigation simpler. As always, it’s a work in progress…but we took a big step forward, so I’ll give us a “B” on this one.

2. SEO – Building Links. We’ve been too busy to spend a lot of time promoting SporkMarketing.com, but our minimal link building efforts in 2009 have been decent. We’ve managed to end the year with nearly 6,000 backlinks (according to Yahoo), and we’ve seen our organic search engine traffic double over the last 6 months. Sadly, I know we can do a lot better…so I’m giving myself a “C” here.

3. Video marketing. For a company that offers video marketing services, we’ve done NOTHING. I’m giving myself a big fat “F” here.

4. Article marketing and PR. We’ve had a couple of press releases go out this year for modest effect, and we’ve syndicated a few articles. Some of our highlights include:

• We launched Running Stills in April (press release), and we were mentioned on StartupNation.com and Noobpreneur.com (thanks Betsy!).
• I wrote a few articles about Yelp.com that were syndicated on popular article sites like eZineArticles.com and eHow.
• I contributed quite a few articles to popular automotive industry magazines, including Dealer Marketing Magazine, AutoSuccess, Car Dealer Insider, Used Car Dealer Magazine, and most recently Ward’s Dealer Business.
• I was also interviewed by AutoSuccess for a podcast.

It’s been a busy year in terms of articles and PR – definitely “A” level work if I do say so myself (special thanks to Maureen for doing most of it!).

5. Advertising. We do very little advertising, relying almost exclusively on word-of-mouth and referrals. However, our PPC advertising has been reasonably successful. I’d give us a “B.”

6. Blogging. The Spork Marketing blog doesn’t get as much love as it used to, but some of our more popular posts have done well. In particular, our comparison of Jungle Disk and MozyPro has been popular, as has our comparison of Vertical Response to Constant Contact. “C” level work for sure.

7. Social Marketing. We’ve focused mostly on Twitter this year. I’m sad to say that I could be doing a much better job, but considering how little time I spend on my Twitter account I’m happy with my 200 or so followers. Still, I could be doing more. I’d give myself a “C” on this one too.

Recap – You’ve probably noticed that I’m not too satisfied with our marketing efforts for 2009. Since I’m in charge of nearly all the marketing for the company, I take full responsibility. This is my failing as a business owner – I haven’t done enough marketing for my own marketing company.

Aside from the multiple article placements, there’s a lot we can do better. Marketing, as always, is a living, breathing thing. Here’s to hoping that I’m happier with our efforts in 2010.