As the end of the year approaches, most of us reflect on the year we’ve had, and begin to set our personal resolutions for the New Year. But what about your professional resolutions? If you’re a business owner or entrepreneur, you should be inclined to set professional goals and “Business Resolutions” to help grow and improve your company in the new year.
Amplified’s 2018 Resolutions
Earlier this fall, in preparation for the start of our new fiscal year, our team got together to celebrate our successes of the year, identify what we did well, where we fell, and set our goals for the New Year. Our team has grown tremendously over the past year! We went around the table, each stating our own professional goals for ourselves, and then shared our team goals.
Some of our resolutions include:
- Better collaboration across our internal teams
- Greater use of collaboration & campaign management technologies
- More in-depth and transparent reporting for our Clients
- Ongoing learning & training sessions for our Partners
- Deeper data driven decision making for both optimization and campaign recommendations
What about you? What are your resolutions for your business? If you haven’t made them yet, here are 5 worthy goals to set your company up for success in 2018.
A Positive Online Reputation
Improving your company’s online presence can be a daunting task. But if it has been more than a year since you’ve updated your website, taken a look at your reviews, or thought about your marketing strategy, it’s time to add this to your new year’s resolutions. As challenging as it may sound, keeping up with your company’s online presence is of the utmost importance these days – and can impact the way people choose to – or not to – do business with you in the future. With over 80% of people researching a company online before making a decision to do business with them, you can’t stand to chance it any more. Re-evaluate your presence by previewing your website and content on all device types, review your google analytics for traffic and bounces, check your directory listing profiles, read and respond to your online reviews, review your social presence from the eyes of a consumer, and check your email strategy and send timing based upon your reporting metrics.
Market Better Through Content
You’ve probably been hearing this for years, “Content marketing is the way of the future”. There’s some truth to this. As consumers learn to tune out ad messages, companies are finding creative ways to market themselves through content that tells a story and through the use of brand influencers. Everyone loves a great story, why not let your best customers be part of yours? If you’re already managing your social media effectively, consider how you might take it up a notch. (If not, see resolution 1!) Add a blog to your site, and write at least 2 blog posts per month. Then find your best customers and ask them to share their experiences with your brand, or create a unique experience that people can only get through your company’s website – talk about it in your blog and across your social channels. Or, let your customers participate in naming something new for your brand. Maybe you’ve got a new product you’re ready to kick off but haven’t thought of a name just yet. Your audience will both appreciate and enjoy it!
Focus on Mobile
It’s no secret that mobile use is on the rise. Consumers are using mobile devices more and more to research brands, visit their favorite websites, purchase items, and read and reply to emails. Local mobile searches surpassed searches on desktop by over 30 billion this year alone. Just imagine what 2018 holds for mobile growth. So, if you’re still under the impression that your strategy for your website, email marketing, search, and display campaigns are going to be OK in 2018 focusing on desktop, it’s time to rethink your mobile presence and plan for mobile FIRST.
Update Your Customer / Audience Data
What good are these resolutions if you don’t know who you should actually be reaching with your marketing campaigns? The New Year is a great time to re-evaluate your audience targeting, and make sure you’ve properly defined who your best customer is. Conducting thorough research on your customers will help you better understand your audience. Use data already available to you, such as your website analytics, Facebook Audience Insights, PPC campaign data, and surveys from your existing customer base. What gender and ages are they? What else are they into? This data can be used to update your digital marketing strategy with new and improved targeting technologies. For example, if you find that your customers are also interested in DIY Home Decor, consider site-specific targeting to reach audiences who are also using DIY Home Decor websites. Fancy wine? Reach people who visit local wineries on their mobile devices. Maybe they are cord-cutters who ditched their cable and satelite providers – consider Connected TV. The bottom line is that by re-evaluating your customers, you’ll be able to plan a more effective marketing strategy that speaks specifically to your best potential audience.
Get Help
As a business owner, you may be trying to do much yourself. Examine your operations for tasks such as managing your social media, or putting together your marketing calendar that take up too much of your time, and hire a consultant who specializes in that space. Freeing up your own time will allow you to better plan for the year and ensure you meet your goals and resolutions!
