Now that you’ve had a wonderful holiday, taken some time off from work, communed with your family, and celebrated a bit, I hope, it’s time to head back to work and keep some of those New Year’s resolutions. Now, I’m not talking about those personal resolutions, like losing weight, quitting smoking, or starting an exercise program. Though, those are admirable resolutions to make. I’m talking about making a commitment to your marketing programs this year. Every year when I work with my clients I find that they have good intentions to write and implement a marketing plan and to stick to it. But, something always comes between them and their commitment to achieve their goals and objectives. So, I’m asking you to commit to making steady strides towards meeting or exceeding your marketing goals and expectations. If you can’t keep all 12 resolutions that I share here, then at least try to keep a handful. So, here are your 12 resolutions for a successful 2012.
Resolution No. 1: Formalize your marketing plan. Now I know what you are thinking. But, it just takes too much time and research to put my marketing plan on paper. I know some of you (and you know who you are) will just meet for cocktails once a year and write your marketing tactics on a napkin. That’s okay, but if you really want to be an industry leader, it’s far more beneficial for you to analyze your products, markets, and distribution channels to come up with a cohesive marketing plan. You should do this at least annually. And before you prepare next year’s plan, may I suggest that you also evaluate last year’s plan insofar as its success in meeting your goals.
Resolution No. 2: Set some marketing goals, sales revenue targets, and overall company goals for 2012. Don’t have any marketing goals, sales revenue targets, or company goals? Well, that’s a good place to start. What is your company all about? Do you have a mission statement or company philosophy? Where do you want your company to be in one year? Five years? Ten years? Do you want to be No. 1 in your market or industry? If so, what will you need to do to get there?
Resolution No. 3: Step out of your comfort zone and try some new marketing tactics like social media. So many companies are still wary of social media such as Twitter and Facebook. But many companies have used these services successfully to create a positive image of their company. Don’t be afraid to try new things. You don’t have to commit an inordinate amount of budget, staff or time to these endeavors. But, you should start communicating with your customers and prospects on a regular basis. Social media, blogs, and networking are a great way to push traffic to your Website.
Resolution No. 4: Put a good public relations policy in place. Public relations is one of the most cost-effective ways to promote your company, but many companies tend to forget this tactic all together. With the onslaught of social media sites, it’s more imperative than ever for you to monitor the Internet for information being said about your company. And, it behooves you to push positive messages to your publics, especially if you are a publicly traded company. Online public relations is a great way to get your message out to hundreds of thousands of key prospects on sites such as Google News and Yahoo! News as well as other people’s blogs.
Resolution No. 5: In addition to public relations, try starting a blog. It’s a great way to provide interesting articles, information about your products, and to get your customers to interact with you. When your visitors leave comments on your blog, they can offer suggestions for the improvement of a product line or may just want to have a conversation with you. Blogging is also a good way to impart information in small sound bites. Each blog post should be an individual article about a certain topic. Or try developing a series of short articles on a hot topic. If you don’t have your own blog, at least commit yourself to following other blogs in your industry and be an active commentator. Leave your Website URL as part of your commentary. You’ll create back links that will help drive traffic to your Website.
Resolution No. 6: Commit to writing several feature articles this year. You probably don’t like to write, so you can easily hire a copywriter or a technical writer to help you write those technical or application articles. Better yet, get one of your customers to write an article about your product or application. That’s even better than a testimonial. Most industry trade journal editors are hungry for application articles. Try some of the online ezine Websites, as well. Of course, find an ezine related to your industry or product offerings. Commit to writing at least one article per quarter. This will keep your company’s name top of mind as well as help to drive traffic to your Website. You’ll also establish yourself as an expert in your field.
See next week’s article for the remaining 6 marketing resolutions.
