Is it time to take a good, hard look at your company's marketing strategy? Creating a 2018 marketing plan will help set you on the right course to making goals a reality. Without a plan in place, it can become increasingly difficult to secure a budget for outsourcing talent and executing projects. Here are a few tips on getting organized for a successful new year.
Identify your most important initiatives
What is your goal for this year? Is it to close more deals? Build brand awareness? Is it time to redo your website and make it more responsive? Are you happy with your SEO standing? you want to set clear goals, so you can track and measure the success of your outreach campaigns. Create objectives based on those goals.
Hubspot tip: Stay motivated by starting your 2018 marketing plan with quick wins first, that way you can gear up fast to take on more challenging projects in the following quarters.
Nix the projects that won’t help you hit your 2018 goals
Things have probably changed over the past year and now is the time to ask your team two simple but important questions. What’s working and what’s not working? Take a good hard look and evaluate if your overall business strategy to determine if the projects you completed in 2017 helped your company stay relevant and competitive. Then, decide what has to change. During this planning time is a good time to consider branching out and doing something new, such as taking advantage of Hubspot marketing tools and email automation.
Track the right metrics throughout the year
Metrics are key to determining success and marketing ROI. Start the year off right by identifying how you are going to measure your efforts. Keep in mind that each marketing channel will have unique metrics, such as web traffic growth, click through rates, reach and so on. With social media, you will probably be focused on reach, engagement and clicks. When it comes to SEO, you will be evaluating organic traffic, clicks and cost per visitor. Always keep your eye on the prize: your end of the year goals.
Align your team through a common mission
As a company grows, its objectives and goals may change. Therefore, vision statements should be revised as needed to reflect the changing business culture as goals are met. Starting the year off with a mission a common mission will give your team members a solid foundation and keep them on track.
What about budget?
How much should your marketing budget be for 2018? The answer, of course, is it depends. What you spend and where you spend it will depend on what you’re trying to accomplish. This is especially true when it comes to paid advertising like search and display ads, social media ads, and so on. Try this advertising ROI calculator from Hubspot to get an idea for budget planning.
Have questions about building your 2018 marketing plan? We’re here to help. Just ask On-Target!
