Doing a year-end marketing review is a great way to assess your past marketing efforts and start planning for the year ahead. For small businesses and small nonprofits, a year-end marketing review doesn’t have to be a complex process. Block some time on your calendar before the end of the year (or early next year) to work through these six steps.
Step 1: Review the marketing goals you set for the year
Ideally, you had measurable marketing goals for the year, but it’s okay if you didn’t. Even some more general goals are a good place to start. How did you do compared to your goals? Did you meet or exceed some? Did some remain unmet? If so, why? Identify what worked for your business and what didn’t.
Step 2: Gather samples of your marketing materials
If possible, pull all your marketing materials (print and digital) into one place, either in hard copy or on a virtual whiteboard so you can see the full range of materials to review.
Step 3: Pull any analytics you have available
There are many ways you might be tracking your marketing efforts and your business numbers. Gather any data from your social media platforms, social media scheduling tool, Google Analytics, revenue numbers, expenses, etc. These numbers can help you assess what content is most engaging for your audience, as well as what content leads to conversions or sales for your business.
Step 4: Evaluate your consistency
Did you consistently show up for your audience via social media, blogging, or other marketing efforts? How consistent were you with your message and your look/feel? Do the different marketing pieces you created through the year all sound like they came from the same company? Remember, consistency is key, and it plays a huge role in how well you can reach your target audience.
Step 5: Celebrate your wins
This one is so important, but it gets easily overlooked. You’re so busy focusing on the next thing in your business that you forget to take time to celebrate the good stuff. What goals did you knock out of the park this year? What important things did you learn along the way? Be sure to celebrate those wins as part of this process!
Step 6: Identify any areas for improvement
What areas of your marketing strategy fell short? Were there things that happened through the year that pulled your marketing off course? If there are things you want to improve on for next year, make a note and work those into your next list of marketing goals.
Working through these six steps for a year-end marketing review can help you identify any gaps that need to be addressed as you plan for next year.
If you need help creating a marketing strategy that makes sense for your business, contact us today to talk about our communications plan package and other consulting services.