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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