From Taking Stock to Taking Action: How to Make Marketing Work Better Next Year

If marketing has felt a little reactive this year, you’re probably not alone.

Perhaps you’ve found yourself rushing to put together a social media post, updating your website when something needed fixing, or trying to squeeze in a blog because it’s been a while since the last one. There’s always something that needs doing, but not always enough time to think about whether it’s the right thing.

In October, we looked at what the past year can teach us about our marketing. What worked, what didn’t, and where there might be room for improvement.

But looking back is only useful if it helps us make better decisions about what happens next.

As we head towards a new year, now is a good time to think about what you want your marketing to achieve and, just as importantly, how you’re going to make it happen.

Start with a few clear priorities

It’s tempting to start planning by making a list of all the things you’d like to do. More social media, regular blogs, a newsletter, better website content, perhaps some PR or a new campaign.

The problem is that it’s easy to end up with a long list of activities without a clear idea of what they’re supposed to achieve.

Instead, start with your business priorities.

Are you looking to attract more enquiries, increase awareness of a particular service, reach a different audience or generate more repeat business? Perhaps you want to improve your online visibility or do a better job of keeping in touch with existing customers.

You don’t need to tackle everything at once. A small number of well-defined priorities will give your marketing much more direction.

Decide what deserves your time

Once you know what you want to achieve, you can start thinking about which marketing activities are most likely to help you get there.

This is also a good opportunity to be honest about what’s working and what isn’t.

If you’ve been spending time on a particular social media platform without seeing much engagement or real interest, is it worth continuing? If your website is attracting visitors but not generating enquiries, perhaps improving key pages should take priority over publishing more content.

And if something has been working well, make sure you give it the attention it deserves.

Planning isn’t necessarily about doing more. Sometimes it’s about doing less, but doing it more consistently and with a clearer purpose.

Make your plans realistic

One of the reasons marketing becomes reactive is that it often gets squeezed around everything else.

You know you should be posting regularly, keeping your website updated and communicating with customers, but when the day-to-day demands of running a business take over, marketing slips down the list.

A realistic plan needs to take account of the time, people and budget available.

Think about what you can comfortably manage. That might mean one useful blog a month rather than one every week, a manageable social media schedule, or setting aside a couple of hours each month to review and prepare content.

It’s also worth looking at the year ahead. Are there seasonal opportunities, important business dates, events or product launches you already know about? Getting these into the diary now means you can prepare in advance rather than rushing at the last minute.

Give yourself some breathing space

A plan should provide direction, not become another source of pressure.

Things change. Priorities shift, unexpected opportunities arise and sometimes the activity you thought would work doesn’t deliver the results you hoped for.

Build in some flexibility and make time to review your progress. A quick check-in every month or quarter can help you see whether your marketing is moving in the right direction and whether anything needs adjusting.

Make next year more purposeful

You don’t need a complicated marketing strategy or a detailed twelve-month calendar to make a difference. Start with what you’ve learned this year, decide what matters most to your business and identify a handful of practical actions that will help you move forward. Even a simple plan can make marketing feel more manageable, help you use your time effectively and give your efforts greater focus.

And if you’re not quite sure where to start, sometimes talking things through with someone who can offer a fresh perspective is a useful first step.

At Alison Page Marketing, we help small businesses make sense of their marketing, identify opportunities and work out what to focus on next. If you’d like to make next year a little less reactive, we’d be happy to have a conversation. Telephone: 07963 002065 or email: hello@alisonpagemarketing.co.uk.