Who’s reading – when good enough…isn’t

By now, you’ve hopefully given some thought to who’s out there, how you’re reaching them and whether or not you’re actually succeeding. Now it’s time to use that insight to narrow down your possible actions.

If your informal research has shown you that your stakeholders – customers, prospects, suppliers, etc. – are generally happy with their relationship with you and your business, you may consider stopping right here. Why fix something that isn’t broken, right?

But happiness doesn’t mean all is right with the world. You could be leaving opportunity on the table if you accept the status quo as good enough. Business moves fast, and sort-of-satisfied stakeholders today could be vulnerable to competitors who use different tools to market themselves more aggressively. Online tools are evolving rapidly, which means yesterday’s approach, even if it’s kinda-sorta-OK in the eyes of the folks you do business with, may be in serious need of a rethink.

In other words, your bicycle may still be a viable form of transportation – but not when everyone else is switching to high-powered sports sedans and hitting the highway. The same kind of thinking applies when you’re mulling over whether, when and how to add online media to your business toolkit.

Go back to the four questions in the previous entry. Instead of asking them internally, now direct them toward your stakeholders. How did they respond?