Are you prepared for preparedness month?
2022 is already just around the corner! While this may bring joyful thoughts of a new year and new beginnings to some, for us marketers, it means we need to start getting our strategies ready for the year ahead. A strong strategy is a foundation you need to build any good marketing plan and here at Halston Marketing, we think that early prep is key so we’ve put together a guide on how you can get ahead of the game.
Who is your target audience?
Consider who your ideal target consumer is. Are there any moves you’re looking to make in the next year to target a new consumer? Considering these personas, their interests, pain points and how your product or service helps to ease these will considerably shape the way you build your marketing strategy. There will be entirely different means of marketing to a 19-year-old student to how you would market to a 77-year-old retiree so it’s important to know who you’re targeting.
Research, Research, Research
Let’s be honest, there’s no such thing as too much research. Whether that be on your client’s market, future trends or the latest marketing techniques, knowing what is going on out there should always be top of your priority list to execute effective marketing. Future trends is the one you’re going to want to focus in on most when looking to pre-plan next year’s strategy. You need your content plan to be relevant to what is going on at that moment in time to keep consumers and boost your SEO.
One of my favourite tools for keeping on top of current news is Feedly, where you can set up subject-specific feeds and follow publications to be constantly updated with the latest news.
Save the date
There are plenty of online resources to show you any national holidays which may be relevant to your client’s product. Exciting online content surrounding this often will see high levels of engagement and can be a great way to converse with your consumer. For example, if your client works in the business of sustainability, September 21st is zero-emissions day, and you could curate a social post asking your audience how they are working to reduce their emissions. It is well worth building these dates into your content calendar at the start of your strategy planning, so you don’t miss out on them.
Seasonality
Seasonality effects many businesses with some being entirely reliant on sales within certain times of the year. If this is the case for your client, then this should be at the forefront of your mind when developing your marketing strategy. The lead up to peak seasons should see you going deep on your marketing strategies to really draw in potential customers. Whilst this time of year you may typically see dips in sales, leave room for engagement posts to build relationships with your consumer.
Budgeting
Finally, don’t forget to set a budget. If you’re looking into paid media campaigns or other costly services, try to work out your year’s budget in advance. This enables you to effectively plan when you push out campaigns like this and how much money you are happy to spend on them. Not setting a budget is likely to result in too much money being spent on a single resource, leaving you short for further campaigns, events etc through the rest of the year.
Still need a hand with preparing your annual strategy? That’s one of many reasons why we’re here! Get in touch with our specialist strategic team and we’ll dive right in.