Are you about to embark on a new marketing campaign that will cost you a lot in money or time? Take a step back! It’s time to assess what’s already working for you.

There are marketing firms that will help you conduct an assessment. But you can get a quick sense by analyzing your most recent new client wins. After all, as Shakespeare said, “What’s past is prologue.” In this case, it means you can learn from your history.

Create a table of new clients

To illustrate what I mean, I created a table analyzing some of the new writing clients that I picked up in 2012. I looked at the following criteria:

1. Client type
2. Initial contact
3. Whether they subscribe to my e-newsletter, which has been a key element of my marketing strategy
4. Social media connections
5. Time from initial contact to hire

Here’s a screenshot of my table:

 What worked for me

So what was most important for me in gaining new clients? On the basis of this table, plus some notes that I haven’t shared, I decided on the following:

1. Word of mouth from people who know me well–In two (possibly three) of these cases my colleagues played a key role.
2. LinkedIn visibility complemented by my blog/newsletter to keep me in front of prospects until they’re ready to move–The role of social media would be greater if I analyzed how I’ve found students for my blogging class.
3. Clearly defining my target market on my website–I nearly missed my shot at one of these clients because it wasn’t clear that I worked with vendors to the asset management industry. I’ve since modified my website copy to make that more evident.

What about YOU?

Have you tried analyzing your recent new clients to identify trends? What has helped or hurt your new business development?