Marketing New Year's Resolutions

New Year’s Resolutions can be a little tricky, it’s easy to lose momentum and fall short of some of our more lofty targets. The key to success is to set SMART goals and celebrate your progress as you go. Think of it as a marathon, not a sprint.

Here are 10 New Year’s Resolutions, you can apply to improve your Marketing returns in 2024!

1. Improve your brand’s presence on social media: Set goals to increase your number of followers, or drive engagement with posts to improve your reach. Plan and schedule regular posts (X# per week) with relevant and engaging content to attract and retain your audience.
2. Personalize your marketing: Tailor your messages and campaigns to specific target audiences. Segmenting by audience values and personas helps create more relevant and effective marketing content. Consumers are more likely to click an ad if it “speaks” to them.
3. Analyze and Enhance your customer experience: Focus on improving customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention. Consider implementing automation like chatbots, for immediate responses to online queries, and streamlining the path to purchase. What questions do customers consistently have?
4. Utilize data analytics: #1, make sure you have GA4 on your website, but consider investing in data analytics tools and techniques to gain insights into customer behaviour, preferences, and purchasing patterns. Use these analytics to make informed marketing decisions and optimize campaigns for better results.
5. Embrace new marketing technologies: Stay up to date with the latest marketing technologies. Trends like AI, virtual reality, or augmented reality experiences can attract new customers from previously untapped audiences. Some tools may be a better fit than others, but it’s worth experimenting with new platforms and tools to engage with customers and increase your potential returns.
6. Collaborate with influencers: Identify relevant, and importantly, local influencers or partners who can help expand your brand's reach and credibility. Collaborate with influencers to create sponsored content through shared channels, guest blogging opportunities, or influencer takeovers on social media.
7. Take content marketing to the next level: Consistently produce high-quality and engaging content to attract and retain customers. Focus on writing valuable blog posts, or creating videos, podcasts, and other forms of content that align with customer interests and needs. If you’re concerned about stretching your resources, start with creating content that is “evergreen”, regardless of the season.
8. Optimize SEO strategy: Regularly review and update your SEO strategies; aim to audit your site at least twice a year. Conduct keyword research, optimize website content, and build quality backlinks to increase visibility and drive more traffic to your website. 
9. Conduct regular market research: Keep your eye on trends, your competitors, and customer preferences through surveys (either through on-site tools or social media), focus groups, or online research. Use this information to refine marketing strategies and better understand customer needs. Were there any barriers or pain points through the path to purchase?
10. Measure and track marketing ROI: If you haven’t already, ensure you have established clear and specific goals for marketing campaigns and regularly evaluate performance. Identify your key performance indicators (KPIs) like conversion rates, click-through rates, or customer acquisition costs to measure the effectiveness of marketing efforts. And be flexible enough to adjust your strategies and tactics to maximize ROI.

Happy New Year!