A new year is a time to start a fresh page on the calendar, turn over a new leaf, set new goals and approach business challenges with renewed energy.
If you want your business performance to improve in the new year, you’ll need to rethink your marketing and sales strategy. The new year is an excellent opportunity to do some things differently, try new tactics or branch out into new markets.
Here are three ways to re-energize your business performance for the new year ahead.
1. Re-evaluate your mix of outbound and inbound lead generation
What are you doing to find new business leads, and where are your new prospects coming from? Take time to analyse your lead-generation results, or even create a simple spreadsheet to keep track of your most significant client accounts.
Where did each of your current clients originate? Referral? Online inquiry? Or did you proactively introduce yourself to the client’s company?
Every business needs to strike the right balance between reaching out to customers directly (“outbound lead generation”) and helping customers find you (“inbound lead generation”).
Are you getting better results from one tactic or another?
In the new year ahead, do more of whatever tactics are working for you and devote fewer resources to the tactics that haven’t generated results. It sounds simple, but many companies never take the time to evaluate what’s working and what isn’t.
The new year is an excellent occasion to take a step back from the daily rush of business and ask big questions like “What is really working for us, and how can we do more of it?”
Utilise CRM and analytics tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Google Analytics to comprehensively analyse your lead-generation results. These tools can help create a simple spreadsheet to keep track of your most significant client accounts and understand the origin of each client – be it referral, online inquiry, or proactive outreach.
2. Consolidate your social media and online marketing
Many businesses find themselves getting spread too thin by trying to do too many social media activities. Do you have a Twitter account, LinkedIn profile, Facebook page, YouTube channel, podcast, or Pinterest page?
Are they all active? Or are some not getting any engagement? Sometimes social media can become a time suck without any good results to show for it.
Instead of trying to cover every social media platform, declutter your online presence. Spend time evaluating where your prospects are active on social media.
From my experience in B2B marketing, most B2B decision-makers are on LinkedIn, the best platform for performing company research and networking.
Depending on your industry, you might also get value out of Twitter. But other than LinkedIn, Twitter, and perhaps YouTube, if your customers like to see product demos or other helpful video content, there are social media platforms and online marketing channels that you are probably better off avoiding altogether.
Use social media management tools like Hootsuite, Buffer, or Sprout Social to streamline your online presence. These tools can help manage multiple accounts, schedule posts, and analyse engagement. For B2B marketing, LinkedIn Sales Navigator is an excellent resource for targeting potential clients.
You can also use tools like Shorby to create a social media landing page and interlink your leading platforms to grow your presence everywhere.
Let the new year be a time to simplify. Quit putting time, energy and resources into underperforming marketing tactics.
3. Reconnect with old customers
Word-of-mouth marketing is still one of the most effective forms of marketing, and your best customers are often your best marketers. Refocus your New Year efforts on being more proactive about drumming up repeat business and referrals. Return to your inner circle of customers who have bought from you.
Introduce a referral program using software like ReferralCandy or Ambassador to amplify this. Re-engage with past customers through targeted email marketing campaigns using tools like Mailchimp. These strategies can help remind your customers why they chose your business in the first place and encourage them to return or refer new clients.
Consider introducing a generous referral program or creating a marketing campaign focused on people who have already bought from you in the past. Word of mouth doesn’t always happen on its own – sometimes, you must do something to remind people why they like doing business with you.
The new year is an ideal time to reconnect with customers you might not have contacted in a while. Use the new year to get back on their radar and see if they have any unique business needs you could help them address.
Business success in the new year is not always about doing things that are “new” and different – sometimes, it’s a simple matter of looking back at the tactics that brought you to this point and deciding which ones to continue and which ones to cease.
Hopefully, you already have a good foundation for sales success – you don’t have to hit the reset button. Instead, you can use the new year to re-evaluate and adjust your marketing processes and reconnect with your customers. Happy New Year!
Takeaways:
- Analyse and adjust lead generation strategies: Utilize CRM and analytics tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, or Google Analytics to evaluate your mix of outbound and inbound lead generation. This analysis helps identify the most effective strategies and channels for acquiring new leads and enables businesses to allocate resources more efficiently. Creating a new landing page optimisation strategy based on those insights is also a good idea.
- Streamline and focus social media efforts: Consolidate your social media presence by focusing on platforms where your target audience is most active. Tools such as Hootsuite, Buffer, or Sprout Social can help manage multiple social media accounts effectively. B2B businesses should particularly consider LinkedIn Sales Navigator for networking and company research.
- Engage and reconnect with existing customers: Implement referral programs and targeted marketing campaigns using tools like ReferralCandy, Ambassador, or Mailchimp to reconnect with past customers. This approach encourages repeat business and leverages word-of-mouth marketing, which remains a highly effective marketing strategy.
- Simplify and optimise marketing efforts: The new year is an opportunity to declutter and focus on marketing tactics that deliver results. This means investing in areas with proven ROI and stepping back from underperforming strategies.
- Leverage technology for marketing efficiency: Emphasize the importance of using modern marketing tools and technology to enhance efficiency, track performance, and make data-driven decisions.
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