What are your marketing priorities?

: Image by koalazymonkey via Flickr

With the beginning of a new year, now is the time to finalize the plan for your great success. For almost every company there are more things that could be done than there are the time and money to do them. If you haven’t already done so, now is the time to prioritize the activities in your marketing plan.

Engagement in 2011

There are many lists and pundit “Must Do” activities suggested for 2011: start a blog, update your website, create a social media policy, and on and on. All are activities designed to do the same thing: engage your customers and potential customers. How will you engage your audience this year? Are you clear on who is in your audience? Do you have more than one audience?

How to Prioritize

I suggest you start your prioritizing with a work session. Bring together your core team – sales, marketers, managers, and anyone else involved with your customers or business operations. List all the activities you did last year, notes on their success, and any new thoughts about what you would like to achieve this year. Then set actions to make those priorities possible.

When you have your list (or most of it), compare the activities to your audiences for reach and engagement. Will you reach everyone who is important? Will you engage them in a meaningful way with your company and product or service? Use your plan to set your priorities.

A Doable List of Priorities

Here is a doable list of priorities for 2011:

Commit to a social media effort that is sustainable.
Whether blogging or tweeting, recognize what you can contribute to your audience and the effort to do so. Maybe it’s setting aside time in your calendar every week, or assigning the task to someone else you trust.
Set a schedule to update and freshen your website.
More than keeping your website current, you need to keep your website fresh as well. That can mean changing the photos, updating your news, and finding new ways for your viewers to interact with you. Try a quick poll or offer a white paper.
Evaluate past efforts and continue those that work.
The old New England adage of “Don’t fix it if it ain’t broke” applies here. If it is working well, keep doing it. Don’t let the good things slip. Renew that advertising contract, repeat those sponsorships, and keep getting out there.
Try one new strategy or initiative this year.
Is there something you think would work but haven’t tried? Don’t throw away your plan – evaluate your new opportunity against your goals. Does this new initiative reach a neglected target audience? What is the call to action? Is the effort cost effective? Can you support the outcome? If you could afford a TV ad during the Super Bowl, could you handle the increase in requests and sales it would generate?
Never think you’re too busy to keep marketing commitments.
Even when things are going well, we all need to monitor our metrics and focus on customers and marketing. You don’t want to miss an important customer deadline or have a Valentine’s Day ad running in March.

This year holds lots of promise, and I wish you well.