Coming back from the summer holidays we are often inclined to just pick up where we left off and keep on rolling. Now is a good time to pause for a moment and ensure that your marketing plan is set for the year.

Here are 5 key things you need to do, right now:

1. Set your marketing goals and make KPIs from these goals

Be clear on what you want to achieve and how you plan on measuring this. You may want higher brand awareness but how will you achieve this? Perhaps one way will be to drive more people to your website to learn about the brand. So that’s your goal, but be specific. How much is more? Give it a figure or a %. That is the KPI you are working towards. With a clear aim in mind you can be more efficient and focus.

2. Know how you are going to measure – set up your analytics, set time aside for measurement

Think about how you will measure, at the beginning, to save you time down the track. First you will need to determine how and what will be measured. Once the frameworks are set up it is usually quite easy to plug in new numbers or re run a report as compared to starting from scratch every time. Spend the time now and thank yourself for it later.

3. Know who you are talking to – understand your target markets and key personas

Figure out who your audience is and their reasons for needing your product or service. Give a value to each customer type (make sure to think beyond spend per transaction) – include frequency, influence and other factors that add to the overall value. Knowing whom you should target will inform your strategy and save you money.

 4. Get going! Be genuine in your message, use the different marketing channels creatively, re-purpose content and be efficient.

Rather than focusing on doing a lot, focus on doing a few things right and then use them across multiple channels. Remember not everyone that likes you on Facebook also subscribes to your emails or follows you on Twitter so it’s ok to re-use – as long as you ensure you alter it so it’s appropriate for each channel. This saves time from creating new content.

 5. Review and refine  

As always in marketing things change – so just because something is working in January doesn’t mean it will still be performing in the same way in July. Make sure you refer back to your goals, KPI’s and measurements and adjust throughout the year to ensure you are achieving the best results.

If you would like assistance with putting in place any of these five key tasks please email Pitstop Marketing or call us on 08 7325 0336.