New Year’s resolutions have become
the butt of many jokes. The resolutions
themselves are often common and cliché: lose weight, exercise, make healthier
decisions. So why do people still make
them? Because January 1 offers something
no other day of the year offers: the chance to start over.
Thankfully, do-overs aren’t limited
to personal endeavors. Most marketers
get a fresh start in January, too. No
matter what the numbers looked like last year, a new calendar year provides businesses
and organizations with a clean slate: new budgets, new goals, new chances to
succeed and grow.
But to make the most of the new
year, you have to understand the old one(s).
Which marketing efforts worked?
Which need to be reworked? Which
should be eliminated entirely from the 2015 marketing plan?
Although your marketing budget and
plan were probably “finalized” months ago, it’s never too late—or too early—to
reallocate, revise, or reschedule your original plans. Make sure your new year brings great new
results by reassessing the following:
House list. Did your
customer/donor/member base increase, stay the same, or decrease in 2014? How did last year’s total compare to previous
years? If your list isn’t growing, you
may need to re-evaluate your planned prospecting efforts for 2015. If your list is shrinking, you may need to
re-evaluate your house mailings and your core offers.
House response. Even
if the number of clients stayed the same or increased, make sure the total
sales or donations followed suit.
Maintaining a steady number of clients is great, but if those clients
are ordering less or contributing fewer dollars, your bottom line is heading south
and your marketing plans—even your product or service offers—may need to be
beefed up to maintain your expected income.
Timing. If
promotional response seems to be off, it may be a timing issue. Compare last year’s drop dates to key release
or industry dates and see if production and distribution delays—even slight
ones—may be responsible for the underperformance of a campaign. Timing could be a particularly key issue for
“standard,” reliable campaigns that fell short in 2014.
New endeavors. So you
decided to delve into a new trend or technology last year. How did it work out? Decide if further testing is justified or if
your marketing dollars would be best spent elsewhere this year.
Whether your new year’s goals are
strictly professional or personal, too, we wish you big response, big numbers,
and big successes.
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