Do You Need a Marketing Strategy Refresh? How to Reassess Your Marketing in the New Year
By Michael Campagna
Marketing is no longer just the tactics you use to grow your brand, but a holistic strategy that grows with your business. As such, January is a great time to reassess your priorities and reorient your marketing strategy for the year ahead. In this article, we’ll walk you through the process to keep your brand marketable, relevant, and competitive.
6 steps to revisiting your marketing strategy in the new year
1. Start the year by looking back
When the new year starts, many businesses make the mistake of forging ahead with new goals and not taking the time to reflect on the previous year’s initiatives. Pausing to reflect will allow your brand to accurately prioritize what's important.
This step may feel like a waste of time, but it will save you even more time in the long run. Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
- What did we do well that we want to continue doing?
- What didn’t work as well as we had hoped, but could be refined?
- What did not work well and should be discontinued?
Taking a brief pause can be one of the most effective ways of realigning, reassessing, and setting a new trajectory in the year ahead.
2. Assess customer needs
Companies that stick around the longest and have the most impact are the ones who know their customers the best. Your customers are constantly changing, and you need to make sure that you stay ahead of their ever-changing needs and wants, and that you don't fall into the trap of treating them the same way that you always have. Here are a few ways to ensure you have a complete understanding of them.
Update buyer personas. A buyer persona allows you to pinpoint the specific customers you serve, identifying their defining characteristics and qualities. For example, if your brand primarily serves women in their thirties and forties who love the outdoors, you might have a buyer persona called Nature Nancy.
Accurate buyer personas rely heavily on data so that you fully understand them. To make sure you have the most current understanding of Nature Nancy:
- Talk to your sales team. They are on the front lines and are most attuned to the customers you serve.
- Survey your customer base. What do customers say they want and need from you?
- Run reports through your CRM. It’s hard to argue with concrete demographic and psychographic data about your customers.
Updating your buyer personas every year will allow you to confidently invest in marketing efforts that accurately target those specific groups of people.
Observe competitors and industry trends. Beyond your customer base, your research should extend to the industry you operate in and your competitors. A few areas to concentrate on include:
- Technological changes. To stay relevant, you need to keep up with any changes in the technological landscape of your industry.
- Political, social, economic, and legal factors. Will your industry undergo any major changes in the year ahead? Being aware and ready for those changes will give you an advantage over companies that are slower to change.
- Changes in pricing throughout your industry. To stay competitive, you should constantly be monitoring how your competitors price their products. Remember, your customers are probably doing the same thing.
- Messaging utilized by your competitors. Have your competitors updated their messaging to better reach the customer base you are both trying to reach?
3. Refine your offer
The beginning of the year is a great time to roll out new products or announce product updates. Even if you aren’t making major changes to your product or service line, the way you present your products and services to your target audience can (and should) be continually refined.
An offer should be compelling, set you apart from your competitors, and convince your customers to make a purchase from your brand. But not all offers are the same; different customers may need different messaging to convince them to make a purchase. For example:
Customers who have already purchased from you. These are the people who already know and trust you, and most likely will make additional purchases from you. Is there a special offer you can extend to them?
Prospects who have heard from you but have not made a purchase. This is a great group to target with a new, special offer since they already know who you are and what you do. Also think about what may be holding them back from making a purchase, and make sure your offer overcomes any objections.
Individuals who have never heard of your brand. Figure out where to find these people and tailor a message that speaks directly to their specific needs. Also include why they should consider your product over a competitor’s and how your brand is the perfect solution to their unique problem.
4. Determine the channels you will prioritize
Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash
Once you understand who your customer is and have refined your offer, you need to determine the best way to present that offer. Figure out which types of marketing channels will benefit your brand the most and whether you wish to opt for a paid, owned, or earned media strategy.
Choose channels that will best:
- Reach your target audience
- Yield the highest return on your investment
- Help you meet your goals
Once you have chosen your channels (only choose a few at first), map out a specific execution plan and schedule for each one. An important consideration here is your budget.
5. Establish a marketing budget
The amount of money you spend on marketing depends on several variables, including the total projected revenue of your business and how aggressively you are looking to grow in the coming year. Assess your projected profit margins and settle on a budget that makes sense for both your short- and long-term goals. Categories to look at include:
- Marketing tools: Figure out of there is any new software you will need for your marketing initiatives and how much it would cost.
- Marketing employees and contractors: Think about the talent you will need to hire in order to execute your marketing strategies effectively.
- Ad spend: Consider the cost of advertising on different platforms and how much money you will need to invest.
Once you have thought through these categories, also think about how much of your budget you might want to allocate for promoting specific products or services. Maybe you’re rolling out a new line of products or wish to concentrate on promoting a more lucrative service—whatever the case may be, you should have a general idea of how much you would like to spend during the year.
A marketing budget is the best way to create guardrails for your team so that you never spend more than you can afford. Once your budget is created, make sure that you constantly track your spending during the year.
6. Set goals to stay on track
Along with your marketing budget, clear goals and the processes for tracking the success of those goals should be established. The goals you set should be SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.
To track your goals:
Choose the right KPIs. Key performance indicators (KPIs) include metrics like customer acquisition rate, customer lifetime value, conversion rate, and any other factors that ties back to your bottom line. Settle on KPIs that align with your overall business goals. For example, if you are tracking conversion rates on a particular advertisement, you should know how many conversions from that particular channel you will need to to reach your goal. Numbers alone mean nothing if they don’t translate to your brand’s overarching objectives.
Establish benchmarks. Odds are, you will set some lofty goals for the year ahead. For that reason, it’s important to break those goals down into manageable benchmarks to achieve during the year. Where do you hope to be by the end of the first quarter? What about halfway through the year? Staying on top of those annual goals will help ensure your brand stays on track.
Why revisiting your marketing strategy matters
Far more than just a new year’s resolution, evaluating your marketing strategy at the start of the calendar year is a highly effective way to keep your business growth on track. Industry trends, customer expectations, and marketing methods are constantly evolving and the most innovative brands are willing to evolve with them. Not only will establishing an annual marketing ritual set your business up for success, it will prepare your team for the year ahead as well.
Chances are, your team has some valuable insights into the strategies and tactics that will move your brand forward. But if you continue the same trajectory from the prior year, you leave little room for collaboration or new ideas to emerge. Exponential growth is impossible without taking stock of your resources and aligning your team around a shared set of goals.
This year, prioritize these six steps and set your brand up for long-term success.
FAQS on revisiting your marketing strategy
How often should a marketing strategy be revisited?
A small business marketing strategy should be revisited annually to ensure that your goals are still the same and that your business is moving in the right direction to achieve those goals.
How do you refresh a marketing strategy?
Looking at trends within your industry and the changing needs of your customer base will allow your brand to refresh its marketing strategy. By staying on top of these changes, your business will stand out from the competition.
Why are benchmarks important in marketing?
Benchmarks allow your brand to track progress toward a marketing goal. Without them, you will have no idea how much progress you are making, or even if you are making progress at all.
About the Author
Post by: Michael Campagna
Michael Campagna is the founder of The Marketable Brand and Marketable Connections. Through his original Marketable Brand Framework, he teaches small business leaders how to create and execute long-term marketing plans.
Company: The Marketable Brand
Website: www.themarketablebrand.com
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