My aunt runs a mystery shopping company, Market Viewpoint. Her January sales and marketing newsletter discusses her hopes for her audience in the New Year.

Which got me thinking, instead of wishing all of you a happy New Year and a successful 2011; I’ve taken the liberty to supply you with New Year’s marketing resolutions.

These New Year’s marketing resolutions can be taken personally but are meant for your company.  They come from the standpoint of what we, at Arment Dietrich, hope for you and your business in 2011.
New Year’s resolutions:

  • Build and execute a marketing plan that drives sales leads.  Don’t just say you want to have a Facebook contest, make sure what your company is doing all comes back to your strategy.
  • Set realistic goals you wish to achieve through your strategy and develop a tracking method to record leads and results.
  • Appoint a team or a team member to be responsible for execution of each group of tactics.
  • Create a position that requires someone to put real time and effort against social media. Quit putting this on the backburner.  Social media takes time and hours need to be allotted to building the foundation.
  • Spend time on your content and messaging.  The year 2011 is all about content and if you’re not putting out the right stuff, we guarantee someone else is.
  • Get more engaged with your current customers.  I take this one from Market Viewpoint.  Your current customers are who pays the bills so find the online avenues they use and connect there.

Some of you might already be doing the suggested resolutons but remember to refresh and take a look at what’s working and what the trends are for the year ahead.  Which, brings me to our last resolution:

  • Stay smart and ahead of the trends.  In the next two years we’re going to see a lot of changes in the way companies communicate.  Now is a great time to start a habit of paying attention and understanding what you’re up against.  (If you don’t want to be left in the dust, join us for an encore of our 2011 marketing trends Webinar on January 25.)

What marketing resolutions do you have in place for your business?