As the holiday season is undeniably a busy period for many businesses, it is still important to plan for the new year and create a marketing strategy to help your business stay on track. Preparing an annual marketing plan clearly outlining your business objectives and tactics for how you plan to achieve them will help your business stay ahead of the competition and create a fresh start to the year ahead. Here are some helpful tactics to consider to assist you in achieving your strategic marketing plan for the new year.
Measure your Results
To get an idea of how your business is performing in your marketing efforts, ensure to measure your results from this year before you create a marketing strategy for the year ahead. This may seem obvious but not measuring your marketing campaigns is a common mistake many small business owners make. Assessing the results of your marketing activities will help you to determine your priorities and establish the correct marketing tactics to achieve your business goals in your new marketing plan.
Develop a Realistic Budget
It is essential for small businesses to make smart investments in order to keep up with competitors and position themselves towards the precise target market. A key factor in determining which areas you should pay attention to is return on investment. Set aside a marketing budget for the most important areas of your business such as customer acquisition and customer retention. Be sure to also try out new marketing opportunities to see which tactics are most profitable and add these to your marketing plan.
Invest in Automated Scheduling
Scheduling software makes it easier for running social media accounts and blogs, particularity during the busy holiday season when it is still essential to keep your platforms up to date. Scheduling tools are efficient, save time and provide the potential for improved visibility in online searches of your business which will assist you in achieving your marketing goals in the future.
Mobile-Optimize your Website
Adapt to today’s fast-paced environment with your marketing efforts. As the majority of customers are using smartphones and tablets to search for information about local businesses and to shop for products and services, it is essential that your website adapts to this change in purchase behaviour. Develop an optimised mobile version of your desktop website so that your business is able to provide on-the-go information to its customers using mobile searches and in turn, achieve marketing goals.
We hope these useful tactics will have you on your way to effectively achieving your marketing strategy for the new year. If your business needs assistance with a strategic marketing and communications plan, Clarity Marketing and Communication can help. Give us a call on 1300 060 204 or submit an online enquiry.