Have you planned your New Year Marketing Campaign?

As we approach the end of the year have you thought about your marketing plans for January 2013?

The New Year is a critical time for marketing activity with people returning after the Christmas break filled with lots of New Year’s Resolve!

And now – November – is the time to be planning your January marketing initiatives. Not just to your new business opportunities, but also to your existing customers and clients. Don’t forget, January will also be a busy time for your competitors who will be working hard to make inroads into your clients and customers.

For many of our clients we provide the role of an outsourced marketing team. A team that delivers a broad range of skills from planning and writing marketing campaigns, designing, implementing and distributing them, and then measuring and reporting on the results. Here are some of the things we’re doing with our clients to ensure their New Year Marketing Campaigns run smoothly and generate results.

1. Planning an Integrated Marketing Campaign

The best marketing plan in the world will fail without some proper planning and objectives. Time spent defining the message, understanding how to reach and engage with the target audience and how to measure the success of the marketing campaign will reap results. Our integrated marketing plans help our clients reach as many people as possible across a range of channels including their websites, email marketing and social media channels – often supported by print, advertising and telephone if required.

2. Designing a great marketing campaign

Great design helps! Cool creative is important – but so is the marketing message, the offer and the call to action. We go to great lengths to create the right balance of style and content, both of which help to generate enquiries and deliver results. Another important consideration is consistency across different marketing channels to ensure a common message and tone of voice.

3. Getting the message out there

At the heart of most marketing campaigns is the website. We’re working with clients to define and generate content on their websites including news, case studies, testimonials and product information. We’re also reaching out with email marketing (have you thought about buying in new email marketing lists to supplement your existing data?) as well as social media channels including Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Don’t forget, email and social media broadcasts can be scheduled and automatically delivered over the Festive Season while you’re enjoying your Christmas at home!

4. Measuring the success of your marketing campaign

Without some benchmarks for success, you won’t know whether your campaign is working. Using various criteria we can measure all aspects of your marketing campaign, from open rates on email broadcasts, goals reached on your website and how your social media is engaging with your audience. Measuring success not only justifies your marketing activity, it will also help to improve your ongoing marketing campaigns.

5. Do it again!

Don’t limit your marketing campaign to January. Keep in touch with your audience with regular email broadcasts, website updates and through social media. Identify other marketing campaigns throughout the year and plan for these in advance. And keep measuring and reviewing your results so that you can refine and improve your marketing message again and again.

Here’s wishing you a prosperous start to 2013 – with lots of new leads and opportunities, new business and higher levels of customer service!

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