Your 2018 Promotion Strategy Guide

Marketing is the lifeblood of any business. If nobody knows what your company offers, they’ll never make a purchase.

But, it isn’t enough to just know about your products and services. People in your target audience have to understand why they should care about what you have to offer.

The only way to get people curious enough to learn more about your business is through stellar marketing efforts.

The world of marketing is constantly changing. Each year, new methods and trends arise that business owners need to be aware of. This is true for virtually any industry, as well.

So, what should your first step be in 2018?

If you’re looking to make this year one of your best, you’ll need to develop a solid promotion strategy.

Continue reading to learn everything you need to know about promoting your company in 2018.
 

Set High (But Realistic) Promotion Strategy Goals

Every accomplishment started as an ambition.

People who achieved great things sat down and envisioned what they wanted and how they wanted to get it.

Goals are vital to success because you are essentially creating a roadmap for your journey.

But, you should be careful not to set aspirations that are unrealistic.

While shooting for the moon can help you accomplish great things, it’s also important to consistently hit your targets. This helps keep you motivated, and continually drives growth.

Also, make sure not to set goals too low that they can be achieved without any increase in effort or you won’t push yourself or your business to improve.
 

Reevaluate Your Audience

Now that it’s a new year, take a look back at the past one.

Did your audience respond well to your 2017 promotion strategy?

How effective were your methods of communication?

Was your target demographic specific enough?

These are all questions to ask yourself before creating a marketing plan for 2018.

Sometimes, companies even change their target audience after reviewing past analytics.

It’s not uncommon for a business that originally targeted middle-aged people to shift their demographic to a younger audience.

But, it’s also not unlikely for your chosen target audience to be right where it needs to be.
 

Develop a New Budget

The worst thing you can do each January is drag everything from the previous year into the new year.

If your business isn’t constantly growing and adapting, it won’t be as successful as it could.

Budgeting is no exception.

Keeping the same budget from year to year is dangerous. In some cases, you’ll be paying too much when you could be saving money.

On the other hand, 2018 could be the year you should increase your budget in order to make the most out of untapped markets.

Look back at last year and determine what worked and what didn’t. Cut the stuff that didn’t work and double down on what did.

And, don’t be afraid to add something new to the mix if you’ve done the research to back it up.
 

Choose Your Tactics

Now that you’ve set some goals and figured out who you’re targeting, you’ll need to decide how you’re going to make those goals a reality.

Is your promotion strategy going to be Internet-heavy this time? Will you incorporate print advertising? What does your marketing plan look like?

How you accomplish something is just as important to think about as what you’re aiming for.

Tactics aren’t just limited to how you reach your audience. You need to remain aware of other factors as well, such as how your competition is performing with your demographic.

If you want to succeed as a business, you’ll have to stand out from the clutter. Keep this in mind when developing your strategy for 2018.
 

Experiment

Don’t be afraid to try something different.

If your company generally uses physical marketing like billboards, flyers, etc., give social media a try.

The same can be said for the other side as well. It may be worth trying a billboard if all you ever focus on is social media and email marketing.

And, by implement your strategy at the beginning of the year, you’ll have plenty of time to see what works and what doesn’t.

If you’re skeptical about whether are not a specific marketing endeavour will be worth your time, try it for a quarter and see what happens.

Then you can make the necessary changes.
 

Video, Video, Video

People love videos, and for good reason. They’re simple to consume and are extremely accessible.

People also tend to love short videos, especially on social media, so don’t feel pressured to make a documentary-length recording every time you do.

Video is a great platform to engage with your audience. At the very least, you should utilize it to remain competitive, because other companies in your industry definitely will.
 

Automate

Automation can save business owners both time and money, which in itself makes automation worth it.

Even if your automation software does something as simple as Tweet for you or sends emails, it saves you time that you can spend putting back into your business.

The software automation industry is at the beginning of its growth cycle right now. But, this means that it’s projected to experience a large increase in both value and efficiency.

Automation software is going to continually improve over the next few years, so you should start learning about it now so you can integrate it into your promotion strategy.
 

Temporary Content

Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook all have something unique in common: they offer the opportunity to upload temporary pictures and videos.

And people love it.

Content that is only available temporarily has experienced an unprecedented boom in popularity among social media users.

For business, it’s also a powerful tool.

When something is only on the Internet temporarily, it creates a feeling of scarcity and compels people to pay more attention to your social media.

This is especially true if the content you produce is really good.
 

Conclusion

Your promotion strategy for 2018 should be more thorough than years previous, and should build on what you’ve learned.

If you put the time and effort into developing a goal and researching how to achieve it, you’ll get to where you want to go.

For more information that can help you grow your business, check out our blog.