As we enter a new year, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and overloaded by all of the objectives we have before us. But you need to start somewhere.
If you are like most business owners, your to-do list is a mile long. There always seems to be more marketing that needs to be done than there are hours in the day. What should you focus on? With strategic planning and proper resources, you can increase sales, attract more customers and create a winning marketing plan. Here’s how.
The importance of setting SMART goals in 2022
Since 2022 is still a slippery slope for businesses, SMART goals will ensure that your year is zero waste when it comes to marketing. SMART is an acronym that helps you set clear goals and make sure they are on track. Here’s what it means.
● Specific
Your goals must be stated in terms of what will be accomplished, not how it will be done. For example, it is better to say “we will increase the number of clients who sign up for our newsletter from 100 to 200 per month” rather than “we will build a newsletter sign-up page.” It is okay to include a plan for reaching the goal (for example, you will use Facebook ads and an email follow-up campaign), but the goal itself should be stated in terms of outcomes.
● Measurable
Your goals must be quantifiable so you can tell whether they are being met. Again, if you can’t measure something, it is difficult to tell whether you are on track or where there might be roadblocks. Once your goal is stated in terms of outcomes instead of actions, it should be easy to measure whether or not you are meeting it.
● Attainable
This is where most businesses fail with their goals because they aim too high and don’t allow enough time for things to happen in order for them to succeed. In 2022, set a goal that is challenging but realistic and attainable.
● Relevant
Your goals should be relevant to your overall business plan and vision. They need to tie into these key areas of your growth strategy. Thus, choose a goal that contributes to the work or area you are already involved in — one that involves your niche.
● Time-bound
Set a deadline for reaching your goal. By setting a deadline for the completion of the task or project, you add immediate importance and can focus on the goal itself. That said, ensure that your deadlines are realistic enough to keep you motivated. If they are too rigid, neither you nor your team will be able to deliver on your goals.
6 goals and objectives for marketing your business in 2022
Make personalization a priority
Mass marketing is the standard for most B2B and B2C marketers today. Your website has a single-size-fits-all landing page. Your advertising messages are broad and nonspecific. You blast email to thousands of contacts, hoping some will convert into customers, with little real data about those prospects. But that’s the perfect way to flush your marketing budget down the drain.
Businesses that can figure out how to make personalization work in 2022 will be well-positioned to win in the marketplace. The only challenge is figuring out how to do it at scale. That’s where big data analytics and multichannel approaches can come into the picture. They can help you yield better results in order to address every customer’s needs individually.
Personalization also requires more insight into customers’ lifestyles, preferences, and habits than ever before. So, investing time into understanding buyer personas will yield a profitable outcome.
To stay ahead of the curve, you need to make sure your email templates, landing pages, and website content can be personalized. You also need to track the success of your personalization efforts with lead scoring systems and be able to retarget those leads who have shown interest in your product or service.
In a world where customers expect more from companies, delivering a personalized experience will set you apart from competitors and help you reach a higher level of customer satisfaction in 2022.
Focus on being found invoice search results
Seventy-one percent of users prefer using voice search over typing. So, if you haven’t already, it is time to refocus your marketing efforts on voice search initiatives. As people are becoming more comfortable with this technology, they are starting to “talk into” their phones and tablets more often.
This doesn’t mean you have to immediately hire a bunch of SEO specialists and tech-savvy writers. But it does mean that you should start thinking about how your products or services can be found when people use voice searches as their norm.
The best part about voice searches is that you can capitalize on those long-tail keywords that get you the most qualified leads and niche traffic. This will automatically improve your conversions and, ultimately, your return on investment (ROI).
Educate your audience to a greater degree than you sell to it
Education is the key to long-term marketing success. By educating your potential customers, you will not only be able to build better relationships with them, but you will also create stronger brand loyalty and influence.
On the other hand, hard selling is a method that emphasizes sales and revenue rather than the quality of a product or service or customer satisfaction. It is usually characterized by high-pressure tactics and little regard for how the customer feels.
Therefore, in order to be successful over the long term, you need to educate your future customers about your business and what value it can bring to them instead of trying to force them into buying your products just to earn a short-term profit.
Focus on creating content that’s interesting, useful, and actionable to your customers. And if you still need direction on how to strategize your content, here are three educational goals that will help you shape your content in 2022:
- To be the go-to source for all of your customers’ informational needs
- To create a relationship with your customers that will last for many years to come
- To have your customers recommend you to their friends and family members as a source for obtaining information so that you are always gaining new customers from referrals
Incorporate marketing automation tools into your campaigns
Marketing automation tools provide businesses with an edge over the competition. And as the name suggests, they can automate your entire business.
For example, you can automatically send out a series of e-mails to people who have visited your website but have not converted. When they do convert, you can send them a different message or sequence of messages to guide them through the checkout process. And if they don’t convert again, you can follow up with them one or more times until they do convert.
These tools, when used correctly, can help you streamline your marketing efforts and boost your ROI. They also offer a way to gain valuable insights into your customers’ preferences and buying habits.
And contrary to popular belief, marketing automation is not only for larger, multichannel businesses; it can and should also be used by smaller companies that want to increase their efficiency and simplify their processes.
Avoid budget waste by leveraging performance marketing
Thanks to the global economic crisis, trying to get the most out of each dollar you spend on your marketing is important in 2022. That’s why performance marketing is the future of marketing.
Simply put, performance marketing allows you to pay for specific results instead of paying for everything. For example, when a customer takes an action on your site (e.g., clicks on an ad, makes a purchase), you pay only for that specific result.
In other words, you pay based on performance and only when things happen, which directly allows you to lower your overall expenditure and increase your ROI.
Performance marketing uses tools like Google Adwords, social media, and email marketing to help you find people who are ready to buy now.
In many ways, performance marketing is more effective than more traditional forms of advertising. It is also cheaper in the long run as it gives you more control over the demographics you are targeting and reduces budget waste.
Consider investing in both organic and paid marketing
Paid marketing is a great way to get your name out into the world. But in order for you to reap the benefits of paid marketing, it is crucial that you invest in organic marketing at the same time.
Here’s why: Organic marketing has a compound effect on your business that paid marketing can never match. It is sustainable and its effects won’t wear off once you stop investing in it.
Paid search is an ongoing investment in keyword research and bid management, which can be time-consuming or expensive. But it is an indispensable part of increasing your brand exposure. Without paid marketing, it is almost impossible to establish a noticeable presence for your business in the market, let alone get customers.
To succeed in 2022, you need a holistic approach to marketing. It is not just about creating great ads that pull people toward you; it is also about strategically identifying where your target audience spends its time online so you can reach them in an organic way.
That’s what we do at Timmons&Company. We help you figure out the gaps in your marketing efforts and use our our nearly 50 years’ worth of experience to deliver unparalleled outcomes. Don’t believe us? Check out our work or get in touch today to learn more.
