Choose the Right Marketing Tactics to Achieve Your Goals

by Marielle Reussink

The beginning of a new year is the perfect time to make a fresh start, reflect on the past and make plans for the year ahead. If you’ve already done the work and you’re ready to dive in, you might be wondering, where exactly do I start?

For your business to grow, you probably need to make some tweaks to ramp up your marketing, which means figuring out what new tactics can help you achieve your goals, and then choosing the right resources to actually make it happen.

Before we begin, if you haven’t already set your goals, you can download our free worksheet to get you started by reflecting on last year to set meaningful goals for the road ahead. Once you have your goals set out, make sure you have them written down. You’ll want to have them on hand as you think through the possibilities.

Break Down Your Goals

Using your marketing plan like a map to identify the steps you need to take to achieve your business goals, work backwards to pinpoint what challenges you need to address, and then choose specific channels and tactics to solve those challenges.

For instance, if you have a goal of increasing your sales by 30% this year, you’ll need to break that goal down into milestones over time, and then link those milestones to marketing activities that will enable you to get there.

Ask yourself:

What marketing challenges do I need to solve to get to the next milestone?

What will success look like?

This is a really practical way to make your goals feel less intimidating, more tangible and more attainable.

Choose The Right Tactics to Address Your Challenges

In marketing there is unfortunately no one-size-fits-all solution plus, there are a million and one channels to choose from. So, how do you decide which solution is the right one to address your key marketing challenges and get you one step closer to achieving your objectives?

To figure out where you should focus your resources, let’s explore some of the different channels you may want to use, and how they could impact your goals:

Social Media

For most businesses, social media is an important tool for growth, and since these platforms are always evolving, your strategy should too. If you identify that your social media isn’t working as well as you’d like, take a look at your existing channels, dip into your analytics and try to sort out what’s working and what’s not. Can you adapt your approach based on the latest best practices? Is there something that has worked well in the past that is no longer effective? Are there new channels that you’re interested in exploring? If you’re feeling stuck, it could be time to hire a consultant to help you take your social strategy to the next level.

Email

If you have a large customer base or contact list but your business has hit a plateau, it may be time to invest in email marketing to re-engage and convert your audience.The wonderful thing about email marketing is that you’re not at the whim of algorithms and trends that seem to constantly change. This means that any investments you make in developing your email marketing could help you for years to come.

Advertising

Ads are a powerful tool to consider if you need to either reach more people, or target the right people. If your goals require either of these, it could be time to look at a new advertising strategy. For example, if you have great content and a great product but your social media isn’t converting, it could mean that you don’t have a wide enough reach. Or, if you have a lot of followers who are opting into a free version of your product but not enough paid customers, you could use ads to target an audience that would be more willing to pay to upgrade. If ads aren’t a part of your current marketing strategy or if it doesn’t seem to be working for you, consider hiring an expert to help you get the most out of your ad spend.

Branding

If you’re having trouble standing out from the crowd, differentiating from your competitors or connecting with the right audience, it may be time to consider a brand refresh. Your brand–which encompasses your visual identity, your voice and your core value proposition–can help customers identify your business as the right choice for them. Remember, people have options, so it’s up to you to show them that your brand will align with their values and ultimately meet their needs.

Website

When you think about your marketing activities, does your website come to mind? Getting people to your website is one thing, but selling them on your product is another. Your website is one of the most important marketing tools at your disposal, and it’s completely within your control! If you’re getting a lot of traffic but everyone seems to bounce, it’s probably time to look at updating your site. Do you have beautiful imagery and compelling copy? Is your site easy to navigate on web and mobile? Are your calls to action convincing? If you can’t answer yes to all of these with confidence, it may be time to give your site an update.

SEO/SEM

SEO (search engine optimization) and SEM (search engine marketing) are typically not the first place that startups will look to achieve their marketing goals, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not worth considering! If you’re not familiar, SEO is a process of tailoring your website to increase the likelihood that it will come up through relevant searches on search engines like Google. SEM is a paid approach that allows you to increase your visibility on relevant searches through advertising. If you feel like you’ve tried everything and your marketing still isn’t getting you where you want to go, it could be time to consider SEO or SEM.

Recognize When You Need Help

Effective marketing is an art and a science. If all this feels a bit intimidating, or you can’t understand why your strategy isn’t working, get the help you need to unlock a path forward.

A consultant can help you evaluate your business or marketing strategy, make recommendations to guide you and help you implement your vision. The key is to choose the right partner, and give them what they need to help you succeed. We’ll go deeper into this topic in our next post.