As the end of the year approaches, now is a good time to reflect on this crazy year and look ahead to next year. That includes your marketing plan! While this year was a bit unusual, you should still be able to glean some information on which marketing tactics worked for you, which tactics didn’t, and look at possible new tactics to try next year. Like it or not, it’s time to update your small business marketing strategy. Below are a few easy steps to undertake this endeavor. Let’s get going!
Significant changes to any of the above can change your marketing approach, so be sure you’re still clear on all of these. If you have experienced change, be sure to thread that into your marketing strategy when you revise it. Keep reading to see how.
Take a moment now and review all the different marketing efforts you did over the year, putting them in buckets to take a deeper dive in a moment. These buckets could be:
Obviously, there are many more buckets than this, but this is a good start to take a deeper dive (obviously, if any of your marketing tactics isn’t on this list, add them!). Next, make a note of what worked and what didn’t. Why? Because if a marketing tactic worked well, you might want to double down or invest even more funs next year. If a marketing tactic failed, you might want to either set it aside completely or get a small business marketing professional to come in and help fine-tune your efforts. What exactly does it mean to say a tactic “worked”? It means the tactic generated more leads, more followers, more trials, more sales…. there are different ways to decide if something was successful, but the bottom line is, did those marketing efforts move the needle? Did it bring you closer to generating more revenue? If it generated revenue, how much, and how did it compare to what you spent?
Armed with what worked and what didn’t work this past year, and reviewing where your company is regarding products, services, competitors, and brand, how well does your current marketing strategy hold up? For example, if you’ve introduced new products or services, how are you marketing them? Should the same tactics be used, or do you need a different approach? A new competitor in the market? How well you stack up and where they are marketing will drive a portion of your strategy. Changed your pricing model? How has that impacted your messaging? Go through your marketing strategy with a deeper understanding of who you are, how your marketing did last year, and how you can improve for next year.
Now is a good time to take a step back, update your small business marketing strategy for the year, and prepare for the year ahead. If you have a strategy, use the information above to revise and fine-tune it for the new year. If you’ve never had a marketing strategy, commit to one for the new year! Use one of the many marketing templates online or have a marketing consultant create a small business marketing plan for you. Whatever you decide to do, position your company for success next year with a solid, well-designed marketing strategy.
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