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2016 is fast approaching and it’s time to reflect, re-evaluate. Along with your usual marketing planning, it’s time to adopt something new and fresh. But how do you do it, so you don’t stop in February? Work on just one fresh idea every month. No need to over-analyze your “reflection time.”
Now, we have 5 ideas to get you started:
1. Proactive is better than reactive
With more marketing tools resurfacing every day, it’s harder and harder for marketing managers to stay focused on what’s important, on what would make the most difference to your marketing through the year. The challenge is to both, stay fresh and innovative, as well as not to waste your time on things that don’t matter. We say, narrow your focus, and make a rule of trying one new thing every month. You can explore either new social platform, or look into a new CRM platform. (WARNING) First identify the areas you want to see improvements in, and then see what solutions are available. Don’t try to fix something that is not broken.
2. Think sales first, marketing second
This is an obvious one, but gets overlooked sometimes. Have you ever felt like you got “caught up in marketing”? With the usual KPIs of brand visibility and brand reach, it’s easy to lose focus of sales. By reviewing your KPIs often and verifying how they affect sales, you will make your day-to-day life much easier and your performance reviews more fulfilling.
3. Use your customers to benchmark your brand’s growth
Growth in sales can directly be related to the growth of your brand. The more people know of (and love) your brand, the more they will be inclined to buy from you. Now, how do you actually “measure” your brand’s growth/strength?
- Net promoter score. Run this survey on a regular basis (at least once a year) to see where your customers are and how they see your brand. You should see a direct correlation between sales and your brand’s score.
- Social Media. Are you customers engaged on social media? Do they willingly share their opinion or participate in a conversation online? A conversation with you, not about you, that is. The easier it is to get your customers engaged, the stronger your brand is. Simply put it – if people like your brand, they will want to (literally) follow you.
4. Re-consider your stakeholders
Now, with that – who is the main stakeholder in your organization? Your customers of course. Managing customer’s expectations and keeping them happy is number one marketing tool. Note: first managing their expectations, and then making them happy. Especially if your business is a service business. It’s all about expectations.
5. Re-think email marketing
Email marketing has been put on the back burner by many marketers in the last few years, and that’s understandable. Social media is quicker, paid advertising is more targeted and sales oriented. What about email marketing? The main benefit of reconsidering adding email marketing back to the roaster is the quality of communication. Customers are extremely protective of their inboxes and the amount of incoming information they are receiving on a daily basis. Email marketing is being reserved for and is considered a bit more special than the constant flow of information on Twitter or Facebook. By making your emails extra special (indeed), and incredibly meaningful (and useful/practical) – you get yourself a more attentive audience, that will actually listen to what you have to say.
What do you think? Would you add anything else to the list? What’s on your agenda for 2016? Do share with us on Facebook – we would love to hear from you.
As usual, let us know if you have any marketing questions hovering over your head this Holiday Season. Give us a shout or stop by our marketing agency in Vancouver – we always have chocolate!