5 New Year’s Marketing Goals and How to Achieve Them

Guide

In the new year, we all tend to make resolutions. A resolution suggests you’ve been doing something poorly, or there’s something in your life or business that needs fixing. Instead of going negative, we prefer to stay positive. So this year, we are making New Year’s Goals. Goals are strategic, actionable, and measurable. Below we’ve identified five common New Year’s Business Goals, and given you some tactics to get on the path to achieving those goals!

GOAL #1: I want to grow my email list!

growing email list A well-maintained email list can be marketing gold.

Just imagine having a room-/building-/stadium-full of people who are your fans, and they are ready and waiting to engage with you, learn from you, buy from you, or work with you!

That’s what a good email list is like.

They are your core customers.

So why wouldn’t you want to cultivate that possibility?

But not everyone belongs in your fan club.

And fans do not just become fans without a little love from you, the brand.

So in order to build an email list, you must do two very important things:

Identify, very specifically, who your target market is.
And then give them what they want.

If you know who your ideal customer is, then you should have a good idea of what makes them tick, and what lead generator will whet their appetite or more.

So spend some time digging deep into who your target market is.

Are they: Male/Female? Educated? Married/Single?

Where do they live? What do they do for a living?

How much do they make?

How old are they?

Do they have kids?

What do they like to do in their free time?

All this works, by the way, for business-to-business as well! Just replace the questions with business stats. What industry are they in? Where are they located? How large of a company? Who in the company do you need to speak to? What’s their revenue?

Next, you identify what you can give that ideal customer that would (a) encourage them to give you their email address and (b) STAY on your list!

It isn’t just what that first giveaway or promotion is.

Sure, an e-book, white paper, worksheet, sample, or contest entry may be enticing, but you don’t just want them to give you an email address and then unsubscribe (that will happen on occasion). What are you going to keep doing to keep them interested?

How often will you appear in their inbox?

Remember, growing a list now, but never reaching out to your customers means they will forget why they even signed up in the first place.

HOT TIP: If you don’t have a pop-up box somewhere on your website, you’re missing out. It’s rare that people just sign up for newsletters. This article by Crazy Egg references a study that showed that “Pop-ups drive 1375% more subscribers.” So, why aren’t you using one??

GOAL #2: I want to increase traffic to my website!

increase website traffic At a very basic level, there are only two ways you can expect to increase traffic to your website (or your brand in general):

Inbound Marketing

Outbound Marketing.

Inbound Marketing takes time, patience, work, and sometimes money.

Inbound marketing is the process of getting customers to engage with your brand.

Search engine optimization, social media, blogging, thought leadership, and networking are all forms of Inbound Marketing.

These things all take time to take hold. But the sooner you start the ball rolling, the sooner you will see results.

Outbound Marketing gives you speed, and requires cash.

Outbound Marketing is the process of getting in front your consumer where they are. Your brand is talking TO the customer, rather than engaging with them.

Google AdWords, Pay Per Click campaigns, Facebook Ads, online display ads, print ads, radio ads, television ads, and other traditional advertising are all forms of Outbound Marketing.

If you have the money to spend, outbound marketing (when done right) will give your website a speedy uptick in traffic.

HOT TIP: At the end of the day, if you aren’t working your website, your website isn’t going to work for you.

GOAL #3: I want to increase engagement on my Social Media!

You want to increase engagement on your social media platforms?

You know I’m going to say it. You can’t run from it.

Video.

There, I said it.

You have to be utilizing video if you want to increase your engagement.

And, as an added bonus: According to WordStream, “Marketers who use video grow revenue 49% faster than non-video users.”

2020 UPDATE: From Smart Insights: according to 88% of marketers, video marketing provides them with positive ROI.

That doesn’t mean every post has to be video. And it also doesn’t mean that every video has to be professionally produced.

But you do need to start somewhere.

Where do you start?

Practice. Practice. Practice.

Spend a minute or two each day in front of your smartphone, videoing yourself.

Video on social media doesn’t have to be long-form, and it shouldn’t be!

Get comfortable with it, and try to work your way up to posting a video a week.

What do you video?

Brief How-to’s
What you’re doing right now
An event you are attending
Tips and tidbits in your field
News and announcements
Something amazing happening outside your window
A shout out to a client/employee/partner
Giveaways and promotions
And that’s just a short list….

Then what?

Post your video on your social platforms. Add it to your YouTube channel. Promote it. Include it in your email newsletters. And watch the engagement increase.

Then make sure you have a variety of other types of posts until your next video: Photos, Blog posts, Article shares, Infographics, Memes, Product or Portfolio posts, promotions, announcements, events, surveys, and more.

HOT TIP: If you are signed up with a company that blasts canned posts to your feed, cancel that now. There’s no use in posting to social media if the content isn’t coming, in some part, from you. Consumers see right through that, and stop paying attention to your feed and your brand.

GOAL #4: I want to be found.

getting found online Creating an inbound marketing funnel that helps you get found is the dream of any entrepreneur or small business.

That funnel takes a lot of work and cultivating. It doesn’t happen overnight (unless you have the budget to make it happen overnight!!).

Using some of the suggestions above (building an email list, increasing traffic to your website, and upping your social media engagement) are just a few ways you can increase the likelihood of being found.

But what good is getting found if that doesn’t translate into conversions?

That’s the holy grail.

Conversion.

That’s what your goal should be.

The first step to converting is making it EASY for customers to choose to convert.

You need well-designed and strategically worded call-to-action (CTA) buttons on your website.

Go to your website now. Do you have any CTAs?

CTAs are buttons that tell the user what to do next.

They should be clear and actionable.

“Learn More About Our Product”

“Sign Up For Our Newsletter”

“Buy Now”

“Start My FREE Trial”

“Get Your FREE Quote”

“Work With Us”

You get the idea.

They should look clickable, be bold, stand out.

Ideally, you have a CTA on most pages of your site.

The first place you want to make sure you have CTAs? Your homepage.

Your homepage is the most likely entry point for a consumer. Grab them there.

OK, got the CTA covered?

Here’s a few more ways to optimize your conversion rate:

Create and use targeted landing pages
Solicit testimonials and use them on your website and in your marketing
Create FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)
Audit your site for good user experience
Keep it SIMPLE (fewer options/clicks = better conversion rate)
Optimize your site’s speed
Be seen and heard (getting found and converting won’t happen if you aren’t out there). Network, advertise, socialize, and be a bullhorn for your business.

HOT TIP: When trying to convert, set up conversion goals in Google Analytics. You’ll have a built-in tracking device that tells you what your conversion rate is!

GOAL #5: I want to boost my sales!

increase sales The bottom line of any marketing goal is, of course, to increase your bottom line.

There are so many solutions and strategies that you could employ to boost your sales.

So let’s focus on my personal favorite.

When was the last time you got really clear on what the benefit of your product or service is?

Why does your ideal customer NEED to make them want to work with you or buy from you?

There’s a big difference between your features and your benefits.

It’s usually an easy ask to list out your business or product features. Benefits can be tougher.

A simple example:

Let’s say you are selling thermal coffee mugs.

Features of the coffee mug could be that the mug is insulated and has a spill-proof lid.

Benefits of the mug might be that your coffee stays hot and IN the mug (not on you!).

Another example: at Katy Dwyer Design, we do Brand Strategy, Graphic Design, and Digital Creative. Those are our services, or our features.

But what problem do we solve? What benefit do we provide?

We make brands more powerful, profitable, and loveable.

If your goal is to increase sales, it isn’t going to happen without strategy.

So then what can you do with this information?

Run a new campaign. Target a new market. Create a new offering or product. Write a new blog post. Create a new landing page. Hone your sales pitch or elevator speech.

Getting more clarity on the problems you solve for your customers is a giant stepping stone to increasing sales (and maybe even streamlining your sales process)!

HOT TIP: Once you’ve identified your your benefits, use them to build a campaign using this marketing plan worksheet!

What are your New Year’s Marketing Goals? Write to us with your goals and questions and we will be sure to get back to you with our thoughts!