Marketing your business in the new year is most likely something you’ve been thinking a lot about. So let’s take a look at what to include in 2015 that’s different than 2014.
Let’s break it down into an actionable checklist. You can refer back often to make sure you’re hitting your goals each quarter or mid-year and make adjustments as needed.
Your 2015 Fashion Business Marketing Plan Checklist
Evaluate 2014
- Where did your website referral traffic come from?
- Which pages were the most trafficked?
- Which pages had the largest bounce rates?
- Did people sign up for your newsletter? From where?
- Do people share your blog posts?
- Which channels lead consumers to purchase most?
- Is your social community growing?
- What content is your social community engaging with most? least?
- Do you have a good social content mix?
Improve on the Basics
- Review your marketing budget and decide how much money you can dedicate to digital marketing and where you’d like to focus based on your 2014 marketing review
- Make more use of the keywords that people use to search for your website content, products, and landing pages
- Make sure to use those same keywords in your social copy – especially on channels like Pinterest where those words are used to help discover pins
- Focus more on the channels that provide referral traffic and/or purchases
- Cross promote your content and let followers know about the existence of your other channels
- Invest in channels where you don’t have to spend as much money to get content out to your audience (ex. Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, tumblr)
Test Something New
- Instead of just posting photos on Instagram, try some of the video features such as Hyperlapse. Some tips here!
- Work with influencers who are willing to trade goods for content (or a small stipend). Not all influencers need lots of money to create great social content for your brand.
- Invest in a tool that will help you schedule and plan your social content. Hootsuite has affordable options with simple scheduling for small brands and startups. It allows more time for the important things like strategy, blogging, and experimentation.
Be excited for the new year — embrace growth and allow your brand to kick some marketing butt!
This post was originally written for Startup Fashion.
Instead of posting only about your brand, its accomplishments, and awesomeness – consider posting about others – post about your audience, partners, charities, and those who are putting out great content such as thought leadership in your industry and marketplace.
Avoid Conversations Where You Have No Right
We’ve seen it. We’ve done it. We want to hop on a trend to be a part of a conversation. But not everyone is Oreo during the Super bowl. Not everyone can be Arby’s during the Grammy’s with Pharrell. Find your time. Find the right opportunity. Be true to your brand’s voice and image.
Don’t Be Stale
It’s easy to stick to what’s safe, comfortable, and what seems to work. But instead, how about setting aside part of your marketing budget to experiment. Try a new social channel. Find a new content partnership. Invest in influencers who can help your brand draw in new audiences. Be willing to try something new.
Don’t put quantity over quality
Because of the nature of social media, it’s hard to be noticed unless you’re putting our content on a regular basis. However, some brands make the mistake of putting out tons of content, and only a couple pieces being actually share-worthy. Take the time to put together quality content that will resonate with your audience rather than churning and burning…crap.
Avoid trying too much at once
And although it’s awesome to try new things, experiment, dive into new social channels because your audience is there and it would be a great place for your brand to play — wait. If you invest in too much you’ll spread your budget thin and won’t be able to invest properly and as above – with quality content. Take a minute and decide on the 3-5 things that seem valuable for your brand and leave the rest for later.
And last but not least, don’t be lame. Have some fun with your content!
This post was originally written for: https://marketingontherocks.com
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