The end of 2022 is almost upon us, making now a great time to evaluate this past year’s marketing strategies, and set yourself up for success in 2023.
Make a list of the marketing tactics that had the best results and helped you meet your business goals for this year. These are the things you want to build upon for next year.
Here are some marketing tools that many small businesses utilize to expand their brand awareness and build name recognition with their target audience:
- Social media
- Content marketing including blogs, articles, podcasts, videos
- Updated website content or new website
- Email marketing
- SEO – making sure your content is all optimized with key words and descriptions
Below are a few more suggestions to ensure your marketing gets off to a great start in the new year.
Recenter Your Brand
In terms of corporate branding, a year is a long time. Marketing trends cycle quickly, and this makes it difficult to remain focused on your value proposition while trying to stay on top of what’s “in.” At the end of the year, take time to assess your corporate branding, and ensure your marketing materials actually reflect your brand. Refocus your marketing strategy on your brand’s core values, or tailor your approach to reflect your updated objectives.
Hone in on Marketing Goals
After you’ve assessed your marketing objectives, plan your marketing goals for the upcoming year. Prioritize the most important dates or seasons for your industry or profession. Solidify promotional, sales, and customer acquisition goals for these markers and create actionable plans for each. You should also settle on your marketing budget to ensure your action plans align with your allocated funds.
Review Your Digital Strategies
Look back at all the marketing and digital content strategies you used in the past year. On which social channel did your target audience spend the most time? What content received the most interaction? Were there certain products or services your customers gravitated towards more than others? By taking an inventory of your most successful tactics across all online channels, you can further refine your marketing strategy in the new year to best reach your audience and sales goals.
Review Digital Marketing Assets
In order to maximize outreach in the new year, it’s important that all your assets across the web are updated and will effectively draw people to your business. Here are a few tips:
- Review your website and be sure it’s up to date and optimized for mobile devices
- Update your social media and other online profiles to ensure your descriptions and content are concise and reflective of current brand goals
- Update email and/or mailing lists
Stay Up to Date
There are two key points in staying up to date with your marketing in the new year. First, get acquainted with the most popular trends and marketing strategies within your industry; don’t hesitate to check out your competitors! See what others are doing and what appears to be getting the most traction. Next, ask yourself if your brand, products and services are aligned with the needs of your target market. You may need to adjust your strategy, create new products or services, and drive sales through your marketing activities.
Wrapping Up
By refining your methods, understanding your audience, and honing your objectives, you will set yourself up for effective and successful marketing in the year ahead! Have concerns or need more guidance with your company’s marketing strategy and/or implementation of your social media and content marketing? Ilene Greene and Ted Polmar and the team at MarketShare Communications are here to help. Reach out to us at 973-299-8001 or email info@marketsharecomm.com. Let’s make 2023 the best year ever!
