As the year ends, it’s time for businesses to plan their marketing initiatives. Following is a checklist to help ensure your business is ready for the new year.

1) Look Back to Get Ahead

Review your progress during the past year for insight into which tactics to repeat or eliminate.  Ask yourself:

• What steps did you take to adjust to any obstacles?

• Where did you do well or miss the mark?

• What are the short and long-term effects of any challenges for your industry?

• Is there anything that needs to be done differently or adjusted moving forward?

2) Center Your Plan on Key Areas of Growth

Focus on areas with the most potential for growth, starting with these questions:

• Which parts of your business or campaigns generated the highest revenue?

• Do your customers have needs that haven’t been met?

• Are there changes in the marketplace that you need to adapt to?

• Have you conducted Search Engine Optimization (SEO)¹, social media and content audits to know where you stand?

3) Set S.M.A.R.T Goals

Set clear, reachable goals to measure your success using the S.M.A.R.T. method, which represents these five attributes:

• Specific: Help narrow your goals with the five “W” questions:

• • What do I want to accomplish?

  • Why is this goal important?

  • Who is involved?

  • Where is it located?

  • Which resources are needed?

• Measurable: Have something to measure against to monitor your progress toward achieving your objectives.

• Attainable: Keep your goals realistic, with the resources and budget necessary to reach your desired results.

• Relevant: Assure your plan supports accomplishing other business objectives.

• Timely: Keep to a schedule that is realistic and flexible, adjusting along the way as needed.

4) Strategize a Game Plan

Strategize a game plan for obtaining your goals with the following tactics:

• Search Engine Marketing (SEM)² and Optimization (SEO)

• Online Directories (ex. Google My Business, Yelp, etc.)

• Social Media

• Content Marketing

• Email Marketing

5) Analyze and Track Progress

Set up a way to quantify and track your progress, either by using a third-party or by implementing each of your channel’s reporting features.  Having good data keeps you accountable and provides a way to check your progress along the way.

By marking off each section on this list, you will be well on your way to implementing a robust digital marketing strategy.

SEO¹:  Optimizing your website for the purpose of getting free traffic from search engines.

²SEM:  Increasing visibility in search engines either by getting paid traffic through PPC (pay-per-click) advertising, when advertisers pay a cost per click, or through SEO.  — reliablesoft.net

Source:  Vivial.net

PwC’s Entertainment & Media Outlook Report contains projections for U.S. advertising growth through 2024.  Following are highlights for major media:

¹The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is the proportional growth rate from year to year for a business, used to calculate growth over a time period.

Source:  PwC’s Entertainment & Media Outlook, reported by Marketingcharts.com

“Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two… basic functions: marketing and innovation.  It is the whole business seen from the point of view of its final result… from the customer’s point of view.” — Peter Drucker, leading expert on management theory 

Successful businesses never stop marketing.  Marketing is the regular, sustained nourishment that gets your business where you want it and keeps it there. Following are four reasons why thriving businesses engage in vigorous, ongoing marketing efforts:

ONGOING MARKETING:

1. Protects your reputation:

• Your business is always improving, yet people’s perceptions tend to remain fixed and may be out of sync.
• It takes time to define/shape your reputation and you need to be doing it continuously, keeping customers up to date.

2. Shapes your customer base:

• As your business evolves, target different audiences: your focus may change only slightly or it may expand to a new customer base.
• Constantly evaluate your target and adjust your messaging, visuals, and strategy accordingly.

3. Gives you many options:

• Having “just enough” business isn’t enough; with active marketing, there should be more demand than you can meet.
• This allows you to properly select your customers, focusing on the most profitable ones, and have a waiting list ready for slower times.

4. Secures your business’s future:

• Marketing creates and strengthens business.
• Don’t leave your future up to chance — plant seeds now that will harvest next season.

Viability – lots of work, happy customers, a busy staff – is a key milestone in the life of a business.  This is the beginning, not the end, of your journey and marketing will be your constant companion every step of the way.

Source:  Posted by James Archer, crowdfavorite.com