The whirlwind of Christmas is officially over, and typical of this time of year, the talk of New Year resolutions is everywhere.
Have you stuck to your New Years resolution? Or didn’t you make any?
Hopefully, regardless of resolution, you will have already started planning for the year ahead. You may have seen before Christmas, the team here at Bare Bones Marketing had our very own strategy meeting at the fantastic Crewe Hall. After all, everyone needs to consider their strategy and marketing, even a marketing agency!
Whilst you may not have made (or kept) to your New Year’s resolutions, when it comes to your business, you will have in mind where you would like to be this time next year.
Here are our top tips for marketing your business in 2014
1. Marketing is for life not just for Christmas!
Marketing shouldn’t be adopted in January and forgotten about for the rest of year. Your business needs regular marketing activity, so if you haven’t made your New Years resolutions yet, make it to set aside time each week or month, where you focus upon what marketing support your business needs.
2. Annual Review
Did you set goals for 2013? And did you achieve them? You should review the year, and note down what went well and what didn’t. If an aspect didn’t go so well, ask yourself why. If a new product or service wasn’t as popular as you had hoped, are you sure enough people knew about it? Remember not to neglect the positives, you can get caught up with improving the negatives that the things you do well can suffer too.
3. Set out clear goals
Set yourself clear goals based on your review. Using SMART goals, (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound), you can set yourself targets through out the year. These could be big or small for example “I will have 3 new clients by February”. It will give you something to focus on and measure in time.
4. Social Media Match
Social media is a part of every day life for some businesses, but being on social media covers a whole range of platforms and you could be on the wrong one for your business. If your target audience are professionals, they are more likely to be on LinkedIn than Facebook. So consider who you’re aiming at and think about which social media they are most likely to use and interact on.
5. Stay up to date
Whichever social media you use, make sure they are updated regularly along with your blog if you have one. You should be updating the latest news about your business to stay fresh and relevant. Preparing your content and scheduling it in advance with a tool such as Hootsuite, can suit you better if you have a hectic working week.
If you need any additional help with marketing your business in 2014, get in touch with the team at Bare Bones Marketing. We can offer you a consultation to see how we can help with your marketing, whether it is on a one off basis such as a new website or some PR, or regular monthly support.