Planning for next year can sometimes be an overwhelming task, especially when you have time-sensitive priorities or just need an end of year break! Forward focused planning on quarterly goals is a great start. If you have an annual sales plan in place, connect with your marketing team for what insights they might have on reaching those goals. Being intentional with your planning now will save you stress and time in the long run! Here are four steps to help you when preparing your marketing strategy for 2022!

Invest in the Right Marketing Strageties 

Look behind to look ahead. It’s key to review past work in order to understand your sales, return on investment and to make changes for the coming year. It can be a challenge to move forward until you make an honest assessment of where your company has been. Take some time to look over the results of previous campaigns and evaluate them. What went well and where are the areas that need improvement? Talk to your customers and staff to obtain feedback as well, they are a valuable resource that can help determine the success of your business in the future. 

Be a Goal Getter

Once you’ve reflected on 2021, you’ll want to establish some measurable goals regarding what you want to achieve for this year. What are your top three to five priorities and what are the indicators of success that you’re able to measure? Make sure that your goals are specific and actionable. For example: what are sales goals for the upcoming year or quarter? What is it that you’re hoping to achieve for the coming year? Are there any important product launches, and if so, what demographic is your client hoping to reach? Facilitate communication between your sales and marketing team to brainstorm on these goals for the next fiscal year. 

Increasing Your Return on Investment

Conversaations and assessment regarding budgets are a regular part of business. Use these tips when allocating your spending:

-         Make sure to define all potential sales channels (software, new personnel, advertising and marketing, content creation, events and promotions, etc)

-         Focus on the channels that align with your goals.

-         Be mindful of hidden costs (like business insurance)

-         Don’t be afraid to change course when necessary. If something isn’t working the way you want or need it to stop paying for it!

Find Your Target

Marketing efforts mean nothing without a target market and now is the perfect time to research if your previous target audience is still the same. It may be worthwhile to send out surveys or set up a focus group to see wha has changed. Talk to your customers! Engage with them on social media, set up Instagram polls, send out a tweet asking consumers for their opinion, or use the comment section on your website to converse with clients.

While it’s not possible to predict everything you might encounter in 2022, you can better prepare yourself by maintaining a flexible business model. Find a way to streamline services and introduce modern technologies so you can adapt to sudden change! This will allow you to  create value with your brand and returning customers or clients for years to come. 

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