Services
TAYA

They Ask, You Answer Mastery

A coaching & training program that drives unmatched sales & marketing results.

Sales

Sales Performance Mastery

Improve the competencies and close rates of your sales organization.

Web design

Website Mastery

Web design, development & training for your team.

HubSpot

HubSpot Mastery

Everything you need to get the most from HubSpot.

AI Mastery

AI Enablement Mastery

Unlock the power of AI in all aspects of your revenue operations.

Discover how IMPACT’s services can help take your business to the next level. Book a free 30-minute coaching session Book a free 30-minute coaching session
Learning Center
Learning Center

Learning Center

Free resources to help you improve the way you market, sell and grow your business.

Discover how IMPACT’s services can help take your business to the next level. Book a free 30-minute coaching session Book a free 30-minute coaching session

Free Assessment: How does your sales & marketing measure up?

Get Started
Close

Free Assessment:

How does your sales & marketing measure up?
Take this free, 5-minute assessment and learn what you can start doing today to boost traffic, leads, and sales.
Get Started
Inbound Marketing  |   Marketing Strategy

How to Review 2016 and Set Goals for 2017 Marketing

Ali Parmelee

By Ali Parmelee

Dec 24, 2017

How to Review 2016 and Set Goals for 2017 Marketing

It's that time of year again—the time when you start putting together your marketing plan for the next year. With 2016 drawing to a close and 2017 approaching fast, you'll want to take a hard look at this year's efforts. 

You'll need to determine your successes and failures to develop a solid marketing plan for next year that will enable your business to experience greater levels of success. By reviewing your current efforts, you'll be able to better shape your choices to create a more effective marketing plan in the coming year.

Check the Numbers

A look at the year's numbers will quickly show you whether or not you've accomplished your marketing goals. Are you selling more now than you were at this time last year? Do you have more returning customers? Are you generating more leads? If so, continue to maintain those parts of your strategy in the coming year that are showing clear benefits and ROI. On the other hand, if you've experienced a dip in sales, you know that something about your current marketing efforts has been ineffective—and that means a change is in order. This analysis of the current year's profits and losses is a great indicator of where the bar was set too high, where your execution fell short of your expectations or where you should re-allocate or cut back spending in certain areas. 


Detailed Analysis

As important as they are, numbers alone won't tell you exactly what marketing strategies are working. There are many other factors to consider and intangibles to evaluate. Together, your numbers along with these other factors form an effective picture of your current marketing efforts and a guideline for next year's strategy. Here are some of the questions that need to be asked:

  • What is the current cost to reach one new customer or client? 
  • What's the return on investment for each of your marketing strategies? What strategy is most likely to bring in new customers?
  • What about re-engaging former customers and bringing them back to your business?
  • What were your key accomplishments for 2016?
  • What failures or setbacks did you experience this year?
  • What keywords ranked highest for your website?
  • How has your marketing reach expanded throughout the past year?

“Set your goals for 2017 based on 2016's marketing successes and failures” TWEET THIS 


Considering Your Customers

It's more effective to actively engage with customers to learn about what is and isn't working for them. This can take the form of:

  • Online surveys—ask your current customers to rate your products and/or services via targeted emails. 
  • Social media ads—monitor how customers are reacting to social ads and other interactive content, including what they've been most likely to respond to, repost or share.
  • Social media engagement—keep a close eye on what posts get the most engagement based on content, timing, etc. (We love RivalIQ for monitoring).

You want to know what your customers have engaged with, what drew them to your business and what's working for them. Do you have incentives that stand out from your competitors? A fantastic social media presence that encourages your personas to interact with you? Don't be afraid to ask customers what they like most about your business.


Evaluate successes and areas to improve

Start by understanding who your company is and what you're able to accomplish.  Align your goals with:

  • What sets you apart from your competitors—what makes your business remarkable? 
  • What are the new technologies or platforms making an impactthat are appropriate for your business—that you need be aware of and incorporate in your strategy? We emphasize this because, all too often, we see businesses jumping on the bandwagon before they've mastered their other efforts or truly evaluated if the new platform is right for their audience.
  • What corner of the market belongs to your business? How do you want to expand that in the coming year?
  • What channels have you used successfully in the past?
  • How is your industry changing?
  • Have you revisited your buyer personas to make sure they're still accurate? Do you need to add anyone new to adjust for your current climate or new products/services you're offering?
  • What new channels or trends might you need to learn about in order to more effectively reach your target audience?

 

Set Clear Goals

We start planning every year with our clients with a SMART goal setting session. SMART goals help improve achievement and success. A SMART goal clarifies exactly what is expected and the measures used to determine if the goal is achieved and successfully completed. Loose, ambiguous goals that aren't tied to metrics are near impossible to measure ROI—avoid generalities like "increase social media traffic" or "grow more website visits". Get specific! Increase your social media traffic by how much? How many website visits do you want—and need—each month to hit your goals? And most importantly, make sure that your goals are clear to everyone on your team, so that you're all working together.

smart_goal_setting2
Developing an effective marketing plan with quantifiable goals is the best way to help push your business to greater success in 2017. Your marketing plan, complete with the return on those investments and the way your marketing impacts your customers, shapes your business in a variety of ways. By setting those goals now, you can start shaping that strategy for the coming year.

Free Assessment:

How does your sales & marketing measure up?
Take this free, 5-minute assessment and learn what you can start doing today to boost traffic, leads, and sales.

Related Articles

The Hidden Costs of a Cheap Website

November 29, 2023
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

Your Website in 2024: The Future of Trends, Tech, and Traffic

November 1, 2023
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

How to Humanize Your Content While Using AI

September 11, 2023
Mandy York Mandy York

What is the Inbound Marketing Funnel? (+ Examples)

July 27, 2023
Anj Bourgeois Anj Bourgeois

Inbound Marketing vs. Content Marketing: What's the Difference? 

July 3, 2023
Brian Casey Brian Casey

Word-of-Mouth is Fragile; Here's How to Build Market Durability

May 10, 2023
Marcus Sheridan Marcus Sheridan

9 Best Customer Feedback Tools for Businesses of Every Size

March 27, 2023
Ramona Sukhraj Ramona Sukhraj

How to Ghostwrite Content for a Subject Matter Expert

March 20, 2023
John Becker John Becker

What Happens When You Don't Have Buy-in for Your Inbound Strategy?

March 9, 2023
Ramona Sukhraj Ramona Sukhraj

How To Set Content Marketing Goals for Growth

December 29, 2022
Brian Casey Brian Casey

Inbound Marketing for Logistics Companies (Transportation and Warehousing)

December 8, 2022
John Becker John Becker

How Much Does Inbound Marketing Cost in 2023?

November 28, 2022
Ramona Sukhraj Ramona Sukhraj

How To Grow Your Email List: 13 Savvy Tips To Try in 2023

November 22, 2022
Ramona Sukhraj Ramona Sukhraj

Content Marketing in 2024: Principles, Platforms, and Content Distribution

November 8, 2022
Marcus Sheridan Marcus Sheridan

7 Inbound Marketing Strategy Mistakes that Will Cost You in 2024

October 19, 2022
Kevin Phillips Kevin Phillips

Inbound Marketing for Construction Companies

June 11, 2022
Kimberly Marshall Kimberly Marshall

What is the Inbound Marketing Methodology?

June 8, 2022
Allison Melnik Allison Melnik

Inbound Marketing for Staffing Agencies

May 28, 2022
Kimberly Marshall Kimberly Marshall

Green Energy Inbound Marketing Strategy: The DIY Approach to Getting More Customers

May 7, 2022
John Becker John Becker

IMPACT+ for Business vs. the They Ask, You Answer Mastery Program

April 15, 2022
Kimberly Marshall Kimberly Marshall

Inbound Marketing for Franchises: Attracting Your Audience

March 25, 2022
Carolyn Edgecomb Carolyn Edgecomb

3 Surefire Signs Your Content Is Hitting the Wrong Audience

March 18, 2022
Ramona Sukhraj Ramona Sukhraj

Inbound Marketing for Higher Education

March 11, 2022
Kimberly Marshall Kimberly Marshall

Starting a Business Blog? Features and Best Practices for Success in 2022

March 10, 2022
Ramona Sukhraj Ramona Sukhraj

11 Books Every Black Sales and Marketing Professional Should Read in 2022

March 5, 2022
Hannah Woods Hannah Woods