While it may be the last day of 2018, let’s face it, it’s never too late to perfect your marketing plan for the new year. Investing time, even down to the last hour of the year, to understand your marketing plan and campaigns and how you want them to be executed, and perform in 2018 will allow you to start 2019 on a positive note. And, hopefully, to hit the ground running for the first quarter.
- Budget, budget, budget. Unsurprisingly, one of the biggest obstacles that brands face is tackling and sticking to a marketing budget. To set a realistic budget, you’ll need to analyze what you spent across all marketing initiatives in 2018, what your return on investment (ROI) was via marketing metrics measured, and how you want to grow your ROI in 201 via marketing metrics. For example, did one of your paid digital advertising campaigns work? If not, take the time to analyze the campaign and discover why not, and how you can improve it for 2019. It is essential for you to understand where you want to take the brand and how you can get there before you begin to strategize.
- Have clear, realistic objectives. Your quarterly and yearly objectives are the goals of your marketing efforts that should be measurable and time-bound. Once you’ve identified these goals, create an overarching strategy to meet these goals — whether it is selling more product, raising brand awareness or increasing engagement — then identify the tactics needed to achieve these goals such as increased digital advertising, and organize them into micro-campaigns.
- Content (Online + Email). When we say content, we mean every piece of branded content you created — photography, videography, email marketing campaigns, website design, website copy, blog posts, etc. It is also important to review the content you created in 2018 to help shape your upcoming editorial calendars and campaigns. Make a list of the top 10 performing pieces of content and brainstorm more ideas around those to understand what made it successful and how you’ll continue that success in 2019. Allowing yourself to see where you’ve done well and where you can improve your content is essential to growth and success in the new year.
- Social media, it is essential. It was reported that there are 2.34 billion people using social media, worldwide. If you’re not representing your brand on social media or, if you’re not using it as a tool to engage, connect and grow your customer base/audience, then you’re missing out on reaching hundreds of thousands to millions of potential customers. Review your social media campaigns throughout the course of 2018 and don’t forget to analyze metrics from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and whatever other social platforms you’re utilizing. Make a plan around what performed well, content and campaign wise, and determine which platforms are working for you and which ones are not — and, what new platforms you could be on in 2019. Some tips for creating successful social media campaigns in 2019:
- Understand trends in your industry
- Watch your competitors
- Refocus on your brand
- Have clear objectives and goals
- Focus on impactful projects
- Get the support and budget you need
Don’t be afraid of change. You don’t have to follow the same plan and you don’t have to have a huge budget to make an impact. Take the time to understand where your brand is currently, what you did to get there, and how to improve marketing efforts in the new year. BMG Creative offers affordable, omnichannel marketing subscription packages that encompass all aspects needed for growth. Looking to kill it in the new year with new growth? Give us a call or send us an email, we’d love to chat about your 2019 marketing goals and how we can help you achieve them.