As the year winds down to an end, now is the time to consider strategies to strengthen your marketing for the new year. As sales numbers are being pulled and profit increases/losses are compared, you can begin to get an idea of how your advertising efforts performed within the last year.
Did your profit increase or have significant decreases? Did the products or services you advertised perform well or poorly? If you find that you are trending in the more negative space, perhaps it is time to strengthen your marketing efforts. Here are five simple ways you can begin to formulate a more successful marketing strategy for the new year:
#1 Review Your Customer Profile
Are you targeting the right audience for your business? Perform a quick review of your top customers – is this the audience you’ve been targeting with your marketing efforts? While many people may feel that broad brand awareness is the best approach (and it does have its perks), there are many scenarios in which you should focus in your advertising onto a specific demographic. In fact, small businesses can effectively compete with larger companies by targeting a niche market. By focusing on an audience with demonstrated interest in your industry, you are more likely to be engaging with a group of people that will convert.
#2 Review Last Year’s Mistakes
Let’s face is – nobody is perfect. Reviewing the strategies that fell flat in the previous year can be a great motivator in trying out new marketing methods. Gather your team together to discuss the details of your failed efforts. What parts of them were good? What could be improved? As much as everyone hates to make mistakes – they are a great learning tool! Not all failures are complete washes. Perhaps they can point you toward the best methods to utilize moving forward.
#3 Update Your Messages
Ensure that all your marketing reflects the same brand messaging. This includes your website, social media posts, and digital campaigns, as well as traditional campaigns. Content development is an extremely important part of the marketing process. Great content can drive business, create high-quality marketing initiatives, and provide long-term value to your customers (source).
#4 Assess Your Metrics
Now is the perfect time to review all the reports you dutifully pulled throughout the year. Just like you reviewed your mistakes, it’s a great time to also assess the things that worked well! How can you optimize those efforts even further? Many companies measure marketing success off leads. However, there are a wide variety of indicators that you should be utilizing to help track successful campaigns. Time spent on your website, amount of shared content, ROI (return on investment), and conversion rates are all extremely important metrics to consider when gauging the success of a campaign.
#5 Create a Calendar
Being organized is one of the most basic components of strategic advertising. There are a wide variety of moving parts within a campaign. Creating a calendar to organize your team and hold accountability is a great way to increase the success rate of a campaign. Flow charts and outlines can help organize campaigns into simple and easy-to-follow steps. Once your calendar is created, it can be much easier to plan out your campaign monthly, weekly, or even daily. It is important to engage in ongoing dialogue and regularly manage in-progress campaigns.
Start the New Year with Media Venue
If you are ready to strengthen your marketing strategy, Media Venue is here to help. We can help you assess your goals and implement the right avenues to optimize your marketing budget. We apply our vast knowledge and years of experience to develop a media plan that will deliver success. Contact us today to get started!
