Even if you have been working on your year-end wrap-up for months now there are still a few things you need to get done before 2014. Not only should you be reflecting on what was accomplished as well as the failures for 2013 you should also make sure your marketing is as custom and personalized as it can be. You can't just market the same product to everyone anymore, you really have to do the research.
So after you have reflected on the previous year or two and figure out what did and did not work you can focus on the following:
INTEGRATE SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media is no longer a stand-alone initiative for your marketing and public relations departments. More than making sure your messaging is consistent online and offline, you need to consider how social media fits into your business as a whole in 2013. Integrate social media into your customer service, sales, e-commerce, email marketing and website.
Examine your mobile presence. Smartphones and tablets are increasing their foothold in your customers’ daily lives and Internet use. More than 800 million will be sold in 2012. Most websites get 25 to 35 percent of all traffic via smartphone or tablet.
LOOK AT SEO
If you’re not using Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools, you should be. These tools help you take a hard look at your Web content and determine what your Web traffic looks like and how and why that traffic ends up on your site. What keywords and search queries are delivering sales and qualified leads? Which important keywords are delivering more traffic to other sites instead of to you?
Blogs, Twitter, YouTube and other social sites directly affect search results. Be cognizant of the importance of keywords on those sites while creating conversational, engaging content.
HARNESS (AND FIGHT) REVIEWS
As Google and Bing adjust their search algorithms to account for social media and user-specific search results, socially generated content like Yelp reviews, Foursquare tips, Facebook recommendations, YouTube videos and others increasingly will disrupt traditional search results. The rise of tools like Siri and GoogleNow will only increase the importance of this user-generated content.
Your 2013 plans should include encouraging happy customers and clients to be your online brand advocates. You must also consider your crisis plan and process for handling negative reviews and comments. (Monitoring the Internet for brand mentions is the vital first step of this exercise.)
The big focus for 2013 planning is clearly data. Use the information already available, dig a little deeper, analyze a little further. Your customers are out there already, telling you via words and actions what works and what doesn’t. Use that to develop new strategies and campaigns. Listen to them to plot your 2013 marketing road map.
A lot of people don't realize how important it is to do a year-end wrap-up in almost every aspect of your business. The cool thing about social media is you can make it even more personal by creating a little year-end video based off of the data you've been collecting all year. Tell them how your year ended up, on a personal note, as well as what can be expected for 2014. Taking the time to address your client's and even your business partners in this form will go further then you think.
Have you ever done a video review for your own business to use in your year-end marketing campaign?
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