2020’s Checklist for Success

checklist, red pen, check mark

As 2019 comes to a close, it’s time to ask yourself some tough, but important questions about your business. Are you satisfied with how things have been going? Are you seeing measurable results? If not, what’s the problem and how can you improve things in 2020? To help you address all of these questions and begin the new year on the right foot, below is our 2020 checklist for success.

1. Adjust Target Personas

The new year is the perfect time to re-evaluate your current target personas to ensure that they are appropriately defined. To determine whether your target personas are accurate, look at the definitions you currently have set and compare it to your business’ consumer data from the past year. If you notice any differences between your current target persona and the consumers you have been serving, adjust your target persona for 2020 as needed to best fit your current customer base and those you want to reach. Otherwise, you may miss out on a demographic that is interested in your brand but not receiving enough attention.

2. Assess 2019’s Marketing Goals

The next step in preparing for success in 2020 involves assessing your goals from the past year to see whether they have been effective before setting marketing goals for the next year. If you find that your goals are not appropriate and/or that the efforts you have made were not effective, you need to make adjustments for the upcoming year.

To complete this process:

• Look at the goals you set for 2019.
• Ask yourself whether you have met each of these goals. If not, how close did you come to meeting them?
• If you have not met your goals, what was the obstacle?
• Ask yourself how you can redirect these goals to best work in your favor for 2020

3. Set Small Goals to Achieve Throughout the Year

Large goals are great to help your company focus throughout the year, but you need to set smaller, incremental goals as well. These smaller, more achievable goals will keep your employees feeling accomplished and motivated, which boosts morale and productivity. Be sure that the smaller goals you set are still a part of the larger picture to keep your company on the right track.

To create the most effective small goals, use the SMART acronym as a guide:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Timely

For example, if your goal for the year is to create a new revenue stream, you may break the goal into smaller objectives that take less time to reach, such as coming up with product ideas, creating prototypes, and developing a marketing plan.

4. Determine Where to Put Your Marketing Budget

Not all marketing methods will be equally as effective for your business. For the best results, you need to focus your marketing funds on the channels that your target audience is most active on. To determine the channels that should receive the biggest shares of your marketing funds, ask yourself:

• What social channels can you find your audience on?
• Does your audience like more engaging types of content?
• What has worked well in the past for your brand?
• What’s the best way to get your message across?

5. Decide Who to Work With to Best Execute Campaigns

To get the most out of your marketing campaigns, you need to work with partners who understand and appreciate your goals. With the right media partner, you can dramatically boost the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and your company’s overall profitability.

In fact, all of the checklist items listed above can be accomplished with the help of the right media company. When you work with an established media company you are able to use their knowledge and expertise to best set yourself and your campaigns up for success.