With the start of the new year, it’s always a positive time to try and revitalise and re-energise your business. Even the most successful brands can benefit from a shake up every now and then to improve productivity, staff satisfaction and overall success.
- First of all, consider your goals: Do your goals for the coming year still reflect where you’re at with your business? A lot can change in a year, both positively and negatively. It’s worth taking stock of where your company is and make sure the goals you have set still make sense.
- Secondly, update your business plan: Perhaps you’ve achieved some of the objectives on your business plan early, or perhaps you’re behind on a few. Regardless, updating your business plan is always a good idea, especially as the market and the landscape around you shifts and evolves.
Now, let’s look at some ideas for strategic areas and associated tactics that you can apply to your business.
Expanding your reach
Social media
With over 3 billion active users on Facebook and 2 billion on Instagram, it’s clear that social media is no longer optional. Every company no matter their industry or niche needs a strong social media presence. Review your social strategy and be sure to make sure it shows your business at its best. And remember, consider which channels are right for your business – do you need to be on TikTok or is LinkedIn the right fit?
- Host live Q&A sessions: Engage directly with your audience by hosting live Q&A sessions on Instagram or Facebook.
- User-generated content contests: Run contests encouraging customers to share photos or videos of them using your product or service.
- Local community engagement: Share behind-the-scenes content that highlights your involvement in the local community.
Marketing campaigns
With cookies phasing out and user data becoming less and less clear, it’s becoming more essential than ever for brands to understand their audience organically and for marketing campaigns to get it right first time. With consumer behaviour changing quicker than ever, it’s important to use fresh, creative marketing campaigns to capture your audiences attention and put yourself ahead of the competition.
- Limited-time local discounts: Create time-sensitive discounts for local customers to boost immediate sales.
- Storytelling campaigns: Share authentic stories about your business journey, employees, or customers.
- Collaborative marketing: Partner with other small businesses for joint marketing efforts, tapping into each other’s customer base.
SEO
If your company hasn’t factored in Search Engine Optimization, now is the time to start. SEO helps the right people to find your company quicker and increases online visibility on search engines. It also improves user experience by improving site loading times and mobile optimisation.
- Local SEO blog content: Create blog posts with locally relevant keywords and information.
- Google My Business optimisation: Regularly update your Google My Business profile with accurate information and photos.
- Customer reviews strategy: Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews, boosting your local search presence.
PPC
PPC allows companies to get themselves in front of potential customers almost instantly. It also allows companies to target the exact demographics they’re looking for without any of the guess work of more traditional marketing. It can be hugely effective when promoting a new product or specific event.
- Geotargeted ads: Use PPC ads targeting specific geographic areas to attract local customers.
- Special offers ads: Run PPC campaigns for limited-time special offers or promotions.
- Retargeting ads: Implement retargeting campaigns to re-engage website visitors who didn’t make a purchase.
Reimagine your offerings
Extend a physical range
Extending your physical range allows you to tap into a potentially new customer base that you may not have found before. The landscape is always evolving, and by expanding, you’re making sure you stay ahead of the curve (and your competitors).
- Pop-Up shop Events: Organise pop-up shops in different local neighbourhoods.
- Local collaboration products: Collaborate with other local businesses to create unique, co-branded products.
- Community-focused products: Develop products inspired by local events, traditions, or landmarks.
Create new software
Technology is changing and developing faster than any other time in history. New software allows you to keep your user base engaged and means your brand stays relevant in a constantly changing world.
- Custom loyalty app: Develop a mobile app for loyalty rewards or discounts for repeat customers.
- Online booking system: Create a user-friendly software for online appointment scheduling.
- Customer feedback portal: Develop a platform for customers to provide feedback and suggestions.
Update your current offerings
If there’s one thing that matters in business it’s not getting stale. There’s a million anecdotes about major corporations taking huge downturns as they’re overtaken by smaller companies that became more relevant. Keeping your output fresh and up to date can make sure your business stays on top for years to come.
- Seasonal menu items: Introduce seasonal variations to your product or service offerings.
- Limited-edition packages: Create limited-edition product bundles or service packages.
- Personalised options: Offer customisation options to tailor your offerings to individual customer preferences.
Brand merchandising
Beyond being a simple additional revenue stream, merchandising allows your most loyal fans to wear your brand like a badge of honour. People will support the brands and businesses they trust, and this can act as a marketing tool in itself as your brand image is seen across the globe.
- Local artist collaborations: Collaborate with local artists for unique, locally inspired merchandise.
- Customer-designed merchandise: Allow customers to submit designs for potential merchandising.
- Limited-edition merch drops: Build anticipation with occasional limited-edition merchandise drops.
Consider new tools
Project management
With technology changing constantly, project management tools offer improved workflow efficiency that allow your team to do their best work whilst staying as efficient as possible. Being able to collaborate easily and without hassle can be the key to hitting those all important deadlines.
- Collaboration platforms: Use affordable collaboration tools like Slack or Trello for project management.
- Free project management apps: Leverage free or low-cost project management apps suitable for small teams.
- Time tracking tools: Implement time-tracking tools to monitor project hours efficiently.
Marketing
Marketing tools such as social media scheduling, capture and conversion and email marketing platforms can make campaigns much more straightforward and successful. They also allow you to look back at what made a campaign successful and replicate it in the future.
- DIY Graphic design tools: Use user-friendly graphic design tools for creating marketing materials.
- Email marketing on a budget: Choose cost-effective email marketing platforms for small businesses.
- Social media scheduler apps: Utilise free or affordable social media scheduling apps.
Design and branding
In-house graphic design and video production can allow a much more hands on approach to branding as well as a much faster turnaround than outsourcing. It also allows a tighter control on finances keeping things within the business.
- DIY branding kits: Create your own branding elements using budget-friendly design tools.
- Video editing apps: Use user-friendly video editing apps for creating promotional videos.
- Stock photo libraries: Access free or low-cost stock photo libraries for visual content.
Web analytics
Being able to tell if your website/store front is effective is key to a successful business. Analytics tells you where your successes and pain points are and what you need to improve to enhance the customer experience.
- Free analytics tools: Utilise free analytics tools like Google Analytics for website insights.
- DIY SEO resources: Learn basic SEO techniques through affordable online courses.
- Customer feedback surveys: Implement low-cost customer feedback surveys using online platforms.
CRM
CRM tools allow businesses to take their customer relationships seriously by centralizing all their data, allowing for more efficient marketing campaigns as well as financial forecasting.
- Basic CRM platforms: Choose entry-level CRM platforms suitable for small businesses.
- Email marketing integration: Integrate CRM with affordable email marketing tools for personalised campaigns.
- DIY customer segmentation: Learn and apply customer segmentation techniques without expensive tools.
Communication
If your business has a hybrid working system with lots of employees situated around the globe, being able to communicate efficiently, quickly and without unnecessary hurdles is key to success. Investing in high end communications means you’re not losing out on productive time.
- Free communication apps: Use free communication apps like Zoom or Microsoft Teams.
- DIY internal communication: Create internal communication channels using budget-friendly apps.
- Remote team-building ideas: Implement low-cost remote team-building activities.
Taking on new staff
Apprentices
Apprenticeship programs can benefit businesses greatly. Not only are you helping and developing the community around you, you can also find potential talent in places you may not have previously looked.
- Local internship programs: Establish partnerships with local schools for internship opportunities.
- Skill development initiatives: Create in-house training programs for skill development.
- Community engagement: Attend local community events to identify potential apprentices.
Highly experienced staff
Bringing experts into your company can take you far. Employees with years of experience can help solve problems, act as an inspiration to current staff and get potential customers or investors to take notice. Whether they’ve worked for a competitor or a similar role in a different sector, bringing someone on board who’s one of the best can only bring benefits to your business.
- Networking events: Attend industry-specific networking events to connect with experienced professionals.
- Freelance experts: Hire experienced freelancers for short-term projects or consultations.
- Professional development stipends: Offer stipends for experienced staff to attend industry conferences or workshops
Training
Improving yourself
Look at yourself from the year before. Are there areas where you could improve? Perhaps take feedback from your team and peers and take what you can on board. We can always develop and improve, and the start of a new year is a better time than ever.
- Online skill development: Enroll in affordable online courses for personal and professional development.
- Peer feedback sessions: Organise regular peer feedback sessions for continuous improvement.
- Networking opportunities: Attend local business events for networking and skill-sharing.
Upskilling your staff
Likewise, look at where your staff were lacking from the year (or years) before and try to close those gaps. As cliched as it may be, the phrase “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link” stands true for business. Look at where the weaknesses are within your team and improve.
- Online training resources: Utilise cost-effective online training platforms for staff upskilling.
- Cross-training initiatives: Implement cross-training programs to strengthen team collaboration.
- Internal knowledge sharing: Facilitate internal knowledge-sharing sessions among team members.
