It’s that time of year again – time to hit the gym, lose the donuts, trim the budget, or maybe clean out the garage. Most of us are pretty well versed in making personal resolutions – but what about marketing resolutions? With platforms, software, and strategies changing and evolving at the speed of light, it’s important to set goals to stay up to date and in the know. Here are 7 practical, and most importantly actionable resolutions to make this year the most profitable, cutting edge, and efficient year yet.
- Review and rate all of your previous year’s marketing initiatives.
Marketing is far from an exact science. In fact, there are so many nuances that it’s almost impossible to develop “recipes for success.” That said, what’s much more important than being wrong about something – is being wrong and not knowing it. The only way to improve your marketing plan is to review it, rate it, and make better choices for the next year based on your results. It’s hard to make time for tasks that feel as abstract as reviewing last year’s performance – but if you haven’t already, set yourself a deadline and grind it out. It might be the most profitable thing you do all year.
- Trim the fat.
It’s easy to keep things like print placements or software subscriptions in the marketing plan just because they’ve always been there, but it’s not a great strategy. Just because you’ve done something for years – or your competitors are doing it – doesn’t mean you should keep pushing forward if it’s not performing. Evaluate each tactic against your marketing objectives and campaign KPIs to determine what is not producing. Cut out the tactics that just aren’t working in order to make room for new tactics and testing. While you’re at it, look at those tactics that are producing results, but maybe not at the rate you would hope they do. Look for areas to optimize and align your existing tactics as well.
- Re-skin your social media profiles.
Ideally you’re already doing this every month, or every quarter – but if not, it’s time to re-skin your social media profiles. Set aside an hour or two to comb through each profile and update any out-of-date information, branding, or messaging. Upload new profile and cover images, and be sure to note if sizes or specs have changed that are causing existing images to display poorly. This is also a good time to ensure that all of your social media profiles and posts are optimized for mobile – especially considering the fact that more than 80% of time spent on social media is now on a mobile device.
- Schedule one hour per week to read marketing blogs.
The world of marketing – and especially digital marketing – is changing at the speed of light, or at least at the speed of dual core processors. Granted, that doesn’t mean you have to hop on every new trend that makes its way across social media, but you do want to at least be aware of what’s changing so you can evaluate these new opportunities for your brand. It’s easier than you think to stay in the know. Start right now by scheduling an hour a week to peruse popular marketing blogs and news sites. Marketing Charts, Think with Google, Moz, and Marketing Profs are great places to start. You’ll be amazed at what you can learn in 60 minutes.
- Sign up for at least one conference or training.
Reading blogs is a great way to stay in the know, but nothing inspires quite like mingling with industry thought leaders for 2-3 days straight. In this business it’s easy to become complacent. Re-energize yourself and test your hand at a new skill by attending at least one conference or training this year. It’s an opportunity for networking, great for learning, and even better for inspiring change on the home front. When it comes to conference selection, look for events hosted by organizations rather than software companies (although some company-hosted conferences are great), and seek out sessions that are focused on actionable learning rather than product promotion or sales.
- Create at least two customer personas.
If there’s one thing you can do this year that will help promote efficiency in your marketing, it’s segmenting your audience. Instead of trying to make general marketing materials appeal to everyone, create at least two buyer personas within your target audience and customize marketing collateral to appeal to each group. If you’re ready to take it to the next step, try running A/B tests or conducting research to determine whether the segmented marketing is performing better than a more generalized approach.
- Setup a reporting and analysis cadence that works for you.
The new year serves as a time where most marketers evaluate and tweak their marketing plans for the year, but why wait for the new year to make changes? We recommend setting up a recurring time each month (or even weekly, depending on the tactic) to evaluate your marketing campaigns against your objectives and KPIs. Use this time to track your progress towards your goals and brainstorm ways to improve each aspect of your plan. A marketing plan serves as a roadmap for the year, but it doesn’t mean that pieces of it can’t change throughout the year, so proactively save time and budget to make changes as needed.
Your new years marketing resolutions should balance being both aspirational and realistic to ensure they are challenging you to improve your efforts while still setting you up for success. Start by committing to adopt 2-3 new resolutions and then adding more as they become second nature. Marketing is continuously changing, so aim to maintain the momentum you gain at the start of each year throughout the year to continuously increase your campaign efficiency and stay on the cutting edge in the changing landscape.
About Ethos
Ethos is a multiplatform branding agency that develops and executes integrated marketing campaigns across multiple channels for companies inside and outside of Maine.
At Ethos, we believe that the most effective way to set a company’s marketing course is by finding its core truth – its ethos. We know that once we discover and communicate that core truth, we can truly make a difference for each client’s unique marketing and business objectives.
With Ethos, you get more than a Maine marketing agency. You get a long-term partner whose goals are your goals.
Learn more about the Ethos approach and the work we’ve done for our clients. Want to have a conversation about your brand’s core truth? Contact us!
