Marketers are crucial instruments in getting more business and maintaining current customer relationships. But are you checking on them to find out about your company’s marketing position?

If not, ask your marketer these five questions to know how your company is fairing with its marketing efforts:

1. Can you explain your marketing strategies?

That’s right. Don’t just ask them what their strategies are. Ask them to explain them.

This means that you are going further from the point of knowing only what they are doing. You need to learn where the strategies are robust, where they are weak, where they can work well and where they can fail.

You need to know the ‘why’ of their strategies, not just the ‘what’.

Clarify every single point, and do not leave any stone unturned in learning just about everything.

2. Are you tracking the results of your strategies?

Now, this is very important. Planning strategies without tracking their corresponding results are meaningless.

You need to know how efficiently and systematically your marketers are recording the results of the marketing campaigns.

If your marketers are good and have effective strategies, you will find yourself with very systematic, sensible and promising data.

With digital marketing, tracking your efforts using analytics is now easier than ever. Don’t be afraid to jump in and learn how analytics measure and collect data to use to your advantage.

3. What are the strategies used by my competitors?

If you have a good marketing team, they will update you on what strategies are used by your competitors.

After all, how can you develop your strategies if you are not aware of the ones used by your competitors?

It’s good to know if they are doing something that works better than what works for you.

You need to be aware of their weaknesses. And you need to know how well they are doing when compared to you. This will tell you how effective your marketers are when compared to theirs.

4. Where are we vulnerable?

Find out where your company is at its weakest- especially in comparison to your competitors.

Double your efforts to strengthen those areas.

However, don’t make the mistake of reducing your efforts to your strengths. If you know you are strong on specific points, strengthen it further.

Do not forget that you have to take all your business factors forward. Do not let any area slacken down just because you put in more effort elsewhere.

5. Where am I going wrong?

Yes, you need to ask for feedback. A successful business should be open to feedback and criticism.

If you are unable to take feedback, then you are leading your company to ruin. You need to constantly find out how you can change yourself or your decisions so that your marketers can do better.

Remember, your marketers can base their ideas only on how you enable them to. If you are doing something that hinders their progress, be gracious enough to correct it- for your own good!