Not everyone can wield a shield or employ a golden lasso, but each superhero’s tools are unique to their strengths.  Once MPWRSource creates the Action Plan, the squad will be able to advise what tools and technology will be needed to carry out your Action Plan.

Before choosing the right technology, like software, you need to know your market, determine your target market, and choose the right channels and strategies for marketing your business.  Additionally, you need a formal system for determining where your leads and customers come from, so you know what is working, and you need to set a marketing budget.  Ultimately, your business needs to establish key performance indicators (KPIs) before making a choice in technology or software, which should be outlined in your Growth Plan.

Remember that technology does not fix your business, and it certainly does not fix your marketing woes.  However, technology can provide tools that will help you implement your marketing strategy or plan.

Spiderman, even without the suit, is Spiderman.  And Tony Stark?  Well, he says it best, “You can take away my house, all my tricks and toys. But one thing you can’t take away? I am Iron Man.”

Before purchasing technology consider the following:

What are your business’s long-term goals? Before purchasing technology, you need to keep in mind your future goals. Just because you don’t need certain technologies today, does not mean that you won’t need them tomorrow. It is easier and usually more cost effective to find a single platform or technology that has all the features you need for today…and tomorrow.  One must be prepared for your company’s evolution.

Compose a list of things you need versus want, the “nice to have.” For example, you may find that you need marketing automation to track and personalize your leads, but you think it might be nice to have a chat bot available to speak to leads on your website. Evaluate where you are right now in your business to determine if a chat bot makes sense for your business right now. However, even if it doesn’t make sense today, you may want to make sure it can be implemented relatively easily in the future.

Do you have the money to spend on technology right now? If not, when will you?  Not everyone is Batman whose real superpower is that he is really rich. That said, don’t just go for the cheapest technology because if it does not offer everything you need in a few months or a year, it becomes expensive to transition to a different technology. Also, remember that there is cost to set-up, integrate, and learn new technological tools. Make sure you include those pieces in your budget.

How will the technology help you implement your marketing plan? Technology should not dictate your growth plan. Technology should only help you implement your Growth Plan.

If you are evaluating technology to help you implement your Growth Strategy and Plan, what is the ROI? Remember technology should be an investment that will ultimately help your business gain ROI. If you do not implement technology with the idea that it needs to generate a ROI, it could deplete your resources.

Remember before considering any new technology you must assess your growth strategy, plan, processes, and people. Technology needs to fit your organization, offer ROI, and assist you in the overall implementation of your growth strategies and objectives. Don’t buy technology to “make it fit.”  Or you will find yourself being like Mr. Incredible, trying to stuff himself into his old supersuit.  And the only reasonable response to that is “Who are you? What do you want? My God, you’ve gotten fat.”

An extraordinary technological tool for many of these processes is the marketing, sales, and service software HubSpot.  An industry leader in Inbound Marketing, complete with a free CRM, HubSpot allows all your business’s processes to be aligned in one place.  Founded in 2005, HubSpot did not just create a new methodology, inbound marketing, they created a philosophy.  Inbound marketing is more than just a way to carry people through the sales funnel.  At the very core of the inbound marketing philosophy is community, and community is all about helping those around us.  As Tom McCall stated, “Heroes are not statues framed against a red sky.  They are people who say:  This is my community, and it is my responsibility to make it better.”  Technology will inevitably change over the years, but a sense of community will live forever.