While it’s tempting to go all out with your marketing strategy while the year is shiny and new, it’s better for your brand – and your team’s sanity – to take measured steps outside your comfort zone.
Welcome to the world of experimentation! We’ve been expecting you. So much so that we’ve got an entire year’s worth of marketing goals set out to help you calculate your next move.
January: Strategize a year’s worth of sales NOW
Avoid the stress of “Oh no, we should offer a Valentine’s Day special!” Order all of your graphic work, copywriting, print materials, samples, and packaging now to avoid stress, or worse, missing opportunity.
February: Make customer voice your #1
Marketing is shifting from telling the customer what they want to thinking like the customer. If you were shopping for your service, what are you looking for in a website? In customer care? What do you want to hear?
March: Be real about social media
Look at your current social media playground and concentrate on the area(s) that your customers respond to best. Acknowledge that social media takes time, and dedicate at minimum one person to that role – and only that role. If you don't have time, outsource your social media management.
April: Build quality content
You’ve heard it over and over again, but we’re not going to stop telling you; invest in quality content for your everything: your website, your flyers, your pamphlets, your blog posts, your out-of-office email message. Hire professional writers, editors and communicators and watch your brand’s value and customer service appreciation flourish.
May: Get the team together and brainstorm
You have a crack team of industry wizards. They know your business, your brand, and your clients better than anyone, but teams don’t often have reason to get input about their job from another perspective. Get everyone together, blow off regular work for a day and get all sides of the story to boost your marketing prowess.
June: Build a swag collection
You know one of the greatest attractions to the smartphone? It’s textile. You have the universe literally in the palm of your hand. Kinesthetic learning is hot. Devise a strategy to incorporate printed materials and branded merchandise into your budget.
July: Take a (calculated) risk
You’re rocking Facebook, and you have solid reviews on G+. Conquer another platform or tool. Do you have a team member who has an eye for photography? Give Instagram a shot. Not sure what the point of Twitter is? Now’s the time to learn. Don’t get left behind in the marketing supernova.
August: Shake hands and kiss babies
Get your authority accredited and your brand noticed by acting as a guest speaker at networking events, booking a table at a trade show and interacting with community events. Don’t take us literally on the kissing babies thing though, ok?
September: Soothe the sore spots
Whether it’s handling customer complaints through social media, updating your website, or following-up on leads, identify where you’re struggling and make a change. Eliminate that stress and the chain reaction it’s sending through your processes.
October: Embrace video marketing
YouTube is still a leading search engine. Whether you’re filming customer testimonials, product demonstrations, or a commercial, 2016 is the time to step in front of the camera. It’s easy, we can help!
November: Make new friends and join forces
Connecting rather than competing with another company is a mutually-beneficial marketing strategy. Think bundles and referral traffic. Do you sell flowers? Hook up with the local chocolatier to offer flower-and-chocolate packages so clients choose both instead of one.
December: Harness the power of big data
You get reports on everything. Look for trends and correlations that you didn’t think were related – they are. Find weaknesses. Rejoice in success. Learn about big data. Sit down and look at the entire picture so that you can tackle 2017 with renewed vigour.
What else is happening in the digital marketing world?
I'm ready for incredible marketing!
