Updated: 02/27/2020
Marketing strategies must be flexible to respond to trends, changes, experimentation, and business needs. The same strategy that worked wonders last year may not sustain a business through the coming year. Take the time to gather the business marketing team and review the current strategy. Make note of what worked and what was not as successful as anticipated. The goals are to keep content marketing relevant and appeal to the appropriate audiences.
Analyze Data
Look at the overall data for the past year to discover which campaigns resulted in the largest increases in revenues and new customers. It is important to find the messages that best reflected the business and the channels that reached the customers who spent the most money. It is not essential to reach every audience, but it is essential to reach the right audiences. It may be time Narrow focus and concentrate the New Year marketing strategy on the most responsive audiences.
Getting Help
To get a revised strategy off the ground consulting with marketing professionals, such as the Local Impact, can provide direction. If a business wants to explore new audiences in West Virginia, for example, it will need consultants who know that area market, can conduct focus groups or surveys, and develop some content to generate new leads. Be prepared to allow time and budget for experimentation. It may take a failure or two to get the right combination that will turn consistent profits.
Monitor Carefully
Making adjustments to marketing requires close monitoring to determine what components are successful and which ones can be discontinued. Results will not happen overnight but a general idea of how audiences are responding to content, and delivery channels is helpful when making decisions going forward. This is a task that can be done by consultants at first and taken over by the marketing team after a bit of training.
Benefits of Using Consultants
Consultants are easier to fit into the marketing budget because there is a beginning and an end to services. Even if consultants return two or three times during the year for follow-up, costs are not ongoing. These services add to the training, knowledge, and experiences of the team to make it stronger and able to solve similar issues in the future. It is an investment in the business rather than an invoice to pay every month for outside resources.