Now that the New Year has arrived, it is a good time to start fresh and strive to do even better in 2018!
Just like each of us, your business can also have New Year’s Resolutions! Maybe you want to exercise more, eat healthier or be more organised. Well, what about your business? If you want it to be healthy much like your body, then here are some ideas for you:
1, Consistent & Regular Marketing
You’ve decided jogging will help you stay fit. But you also need to be consistent for the exercise to benefit your health. Similarly, if you’re only promoting your business every now and then, it’s not going to have the same effect. Look at the marketing you did last year, what worked and what didn’t? Does something need to change? Find out what promotions work well and do them regularly, it can be easy to forget that you need to attract new customers when the daily business operations get in the way. Be consistent and plan ahead.
2, Planning and Delegation
Which brings us to this next point. In order to be consistent you need to have a plan in place. This is a great time to create your Marketing Plan if you haven’t already done so. Have monthly, weekly, and even down to daily tasks so you can stay on track. If you find that you’re short on time, don’t try to do everything yourself! Delegate and let others help you! It might be worthwhile to enlist a Marketing agency to help with your planning and managing.
3, Who is your Product?
This might sound rather strange, but the people, the “WHO” should come before the product itself. This includes both your Customers and Staff. With so much competition around, simply having a product is not enough. People desire more in the form of experience, personable customer service, and the ‘story’ behind your product. Does your product tell a story? How can you relate that to people? Can your staff sell the story and engage your customers in the experience?
4, Keep up with new tech and learn new things!
With changes happening in marketing so quickly, it’s easy to fall behind. Specifically, online and digital marketing is evolving at a fast pace. Don’t be afraid to try new ways to reach your target market. Keep up with new developments in social media marketing, watch what other businesses are using and implement new strategies. Again, you might find a Marketing agency can help you with this if you don’t have the resources to do so in-house.
5, Community and Networking
Being part of the community is a great way to raise brand awareness. If you are local business, look for charitable causes you can contribute to and be part of, whether it be a homeless shelter, food bank, or local sports club, there are many opportunities for your business to be exposed in a positive and rewarding way. Similarly, join a business networking group to broaden your contacts, it could be industry related or geographical. You will find that these groups can help you build strategic alliances and be inspired with new ideas for your business.
6, Goal Setting & be open for change
When you have thought about what worked and what didn’t last year, it’s now time to move forward and make it happen BUT be realistic in how you will get there. Your Marketing Plan should set a direction which you can achieve with specific marketing and promotional activities. For example, how do you achieve a X% increase in sales using Facebook advertising? What is your budget?
Finally, be open for change –test and measure the results of your promotions, be ready to make adjustments and changes; maybe you need to try a different audience setting. Again, learn new things and try! Test and measure the outcomes for 6 months and see how you go. Don’t get stuck on doing the same things if it’s not moving towards your goals.
So, what are your New Year’s Resolutions? Need a hand in giving your new year’s resolutions a kick start?
Concept Designs & Marketing can help! We can assist you in creating a Marketing Plan so you can stay on track and be consistent, and all our packages, whether websites, SEO or Social Media Marketing, can all be tailored to your budget and goals.
Get in touch with our team today and let’s make 2018 a great year for your business!
