1. "I Resolve to Update My Digital Marketing as Needed."
When you first created your company website, you probably heaved a sigh of relief that the work was done. Unfortunately, the work is never really done. Businesses change, brands and industries evolve, and target audiences seek their products and services in new ways.
One prime example is the explosion of mobile search as a key shopping tool. When people are looking for help with something in their area, they search for those things by location on their smartphones. This means two things for your digital marketing: (1) Your web content needs to be optimized for your location, and (2) you need a responsive or mobile website that will look good and function well on smartphones and tablets. Commit to making those changes now.
2. "I Resolve to Keep an Editorial Calendar for Marketing Content."
How many times did you miss a blogging or other social media posting deadline in 2019? When you're bogged down with tons of other worries and tasks, falling behind on marketing content creation may seem inevitable -- but it doesn't have to be.
Creating an editorial calendar, with specific type of posts scheduled at recurring intervals over the course of the year, can help you stay on top of that content creation so that you're never caught with your marketing pants down. Still stumped as to how you're going to get all that content made? Contact some freelance copywriters, graphic designers or videographers. Explain your goals, send them your calendar, and let them do the rest.
3. "I Resolve to Create (or Tweak) My Buyer Persona."
How accurate is the buyer persona you're using in your marketing strategy? Did you even have a buyer persona in 2019? This "imaginary customer" is central to your efforts to attract and persuade your target market. You build your buyer persona on all the data you can get your hands on about this target market -- from location, annual salary and other demographics to poll responses that reveal your customers' challenges, needs and preferences.
Even if you created a detailed buyer persona in years past, that buyer persona may not be paying off for you now as well as it once did. Maybe it's time to update your numbers, adjust your demographics, and feed some fresh customer input into your creation.
4. "I Resolve to Focus on Marketing Strategies Instead of Just Tactics."
Some business owners will look back at their lack of marketing success in 2019 and protest, "But we made so many [fill in the blank: brochures, blog posts, website updates, YouTube videos, brochures, direct mail pieces....]." The thing is, working hard isn't always the same thing as working smart. If you were throwing out marketing pieces and content updates here and there, without any attempt to pull them into the Big Picture, then you're guilty of relying on tactics instead of strategies. You need both, of course. A marketing strategy without tactics won't do anything for you; neither will individual marketing tactics that don't support an overall strategy. Resolve to fix this disconnect in 2020.
Whatever New Year's marketing resolutions you decide to make, don't just make them -- stick to them. Best wishes for a prosperous year!
