1. Before You
Look Ahead, Reflect on the Past
After that marathon, I
was pretty disappointed because I didn’t accomplish my goal time. My first
reaction was to sweep the failure under the rug and try to forget about
it as quickly as possible. In other words, I wanted to move forward
without taking time to reflect on what had just happened.
You may have that same
reaction when things don’t go as planned with your marketing campaigns.
Maybe an ad campaign didn’t work, or your SEO traffic plummeted, or an
email marketing campaign didn’t generate any sales. Whatever the case,
it’s much easier to look ahead and get excited about a new project than
to relive your failures.
But if you want to
improve, then you must resist this urge! As we approach the end of the
year, now is the perfect time to reflect on all of your marketing
campaigns this past year. Most importantly, what can you learn from the
failures (and the successes) that you can apply to your marketing next
year? If nothing else, make sure you don’t make the same mistakes
again!
2. Establish
Your New Baseline
Unless nothing changed
in your business this year, which is highly unlikely, then your current
situation is a bit different from last November. You may have a bigger
or smaller team and more or less cash to invest in marketing. Whatever
your situation, this is your new baseline. It doesn’t matter how things
were going last year or the year before.
For example, I already
mentioned that I did not hit my goal time in the marathon pictured
above. In fact, I did a little worse than the previous year. That means
my new baseline changed and I had to adjust my goals accordingly for
the following year. If I ignore this small step back, then my training
and goals will not fit my current situation, which ultimately leads to
frustration and failure down the road.
The
key here is to be honest and realistic about where your marketing is
right now. I’m not saying you shouldn’t set lofty goals that get you
and your team excited. I’m saying your business has changed over the
past year (for better or for worse) and it’s important to reestablish
your baseline to ensure you’re setting attainable goals. Don’t be
afraid to throw away last year’s goals, because they may not be
relevant to where your business is right now.
3. Plan to Stop
Most
businesses start the year strong, just like every marathoner looks
great in the first few miles of the race. But then as the year
progresses, we tend to wear down, lose focus, or just get stuck in a
rut. For this reason, it’s important to plan specific days next year (I
recommend quarterly) when you’ll take a break and refocus your
marketing.
This
was a huge takeaway for me in my marathon running. Unfortunately, I
used to resist the urge to stop early in the race despite tightness and
pain in my legs. In the marathon mentioned above, my calf eventually
tightened up so much that I was forced to stop, stretch, and even
change my stride so that I could finish the race. If instead, I had
planned to stop a few times in the race, then I would have prevented
this injury and likely achieved my goal time.
In
our fast-paced society, it’s hard to take a break unless you lock it
into your calendar right now. Remember, if you don’t set aside time
throughout the year, then you’ll miss opportunities to prevent
potential marketing “injuries” that will prevent you from hitting your
goals!
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