December is the perfect time of year to reflect on marketing
Right now, your thoughts may already have turned to next year and what your marketing strategy will be. Disruption of pandemic-sized proportions aside, it’s likely your business will already know what it wants to achieve in 2021. But how does marketing fit in?
Whatever your company’s targets or aspirations for next year, your marketing planning should strike a balance between short, medium and long term goals.
How has your business performed in 2020?
Reflecting on the marketing goals you set at the start of 2020 is so important. Despite such an unsettled year, have you achieved what you set out to do? If not, what stopped you? Was it limited budget or resource? This can help you make a plan for the coming year, and inform your decisions regarding time, budget and resource.
What are the company goals for next year?
Start by defining the goals. These can then be split into three categories: short, medium and long term. A good mixture here will help to make your campaigns more varied and should lead to an even spread of good results throughout the year, rather than front-ending your year with short term results or waiting months to see the long-term results pay off.
Which marketing tools should you use?
You need to use a mix of different marketing tools. SEO is the tool you need if you want to increase traffic to your website. However, it takes time and investment to climb the rankings. Setting SEO improvements as a medium to long term marketing goal therefore is the right way to go. Google Ads can be a more short term solution. By paying per click you can buy your way to the top of the search engine. At WEBPRO we can advise on the right mix, balancing budget and results, then manage the whole process for you.
How will you track your progress towards your goals?
Make sure you are clear on how each goal can be measured accurately. Look at what worked in 2020 and where the biggest successes were: this will help you understand if your 2021 goals are achievable. For example, if you want to increase engagement on your social channels as a medium term goal, then put a number against that. Social media experts, like our WEBPRO team, can advise on achievable numbers, how to grow each channel and, more importantly, use them to deliver leads.
Build your plan… and share it!
Setting reasonable targets weekly, monthly and quarterly allows you to keep on top of your progress towards your goals and measure success. Breaking down short, medium and long term goals into clear KPIs is great content for board meetings and presentations to show the impact of marketing, and gets everyone on board with the plan.
Then you have to start planning the work. This is where the hard work really starts…but you’re not alone!
At WEBPRO we’re experts in helping businesses achieve their marketing goals. From content creation to social media management, give us your short, medium and long term marketing goals and we’ll do the hard work for you.
Get in touch today, our marketing experts are ready to start working towards your goals!
PS: Plan short, medium and long term goals for 2021 – then use an experienced marketing team to help you achieve them.
