WRAPPING UP THE PR & MARKETING YEAR
AND PLANNING AHEAD
How do you wrap up your business year and start planning for next year’s marketing and public relations campaigns?
I’d say give yourself a break and start with your successes. Celebrate the positives and aim to improve upon the negatives.
Many people start with where they went wrong but you should really allow yourself a moment to look at what you did right because it will signal where you should be heading and highlight your strengths. Too many people start with what they did wrong (and then beat themselves up too much and become paralyzed), I’m sure you did tons of stuff right – start there. Next year, do lots more of the stuff you did right.
Once you’ve allowed yourself a pat on the back then start planning ahead.
Whatever worked for you this past year, do more of it. Lots more. And more frequently. Aim to get better at it than anyone else in your field – and pump it up. Plan to share your expertise in it on every platform, and via all communication methods.
Benjamin Franklin said it well when he said, \”If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.\”
Your next step is to plan for promotions that you know are going to happen and build in what you know your customers need all year round. Every year Valentine’s Day happens as does Back to School, Mother’s Day, Independence Day, Christmas etc. Factor these dates into your calendar for promotion. Your best marketing tool is $3, a calendar. Seriously. Make sure you have your basic bread and butter offerings and promotions ready and scheduled at the start of 2018. This should be your first new year marketing task.
Equally, as you plan your tent pole items, always make space in your marketing calendar to try new things. Make sure you have great visual assets to back everything up.
By the end of January, you should be able to see laid out before you at least 12 different types of promotion or marketing activities and campaigns. You don’t have to use it all but it’s better to have a framework straight out of the gate.
So remember to…
Celebrate your successes.
Do more of what works and pump it up.
Plan your year ahead. Know your focus and goals for each quarter. Write it down!
Include tent pole items, make them stand out and are spectacular – no same old/same old allowed!
Have great visual assets – lots of show, less of tell.
Make space to try new things in your marketing campaign.
Test, tweak, try again and repeat.
We live in a time where there are so many wonderful possibilities for promotion across so many platforms, that in terms of marketing, it’s the holidays for all of us all year round!
