New Year Means New Opportunities

The New Year is filled with people making pledges on social media to make huge changes to themselves and their lifestyles: from eating less meat to quitting smoking. Everyone wants to make this year better than the last, yet studies show that one-quarter of people give up their resolutions after just one week. This is why it is important to make realistic goals that you can really stick to. One way of doing this is not to just make changes that will change yourself (although they are good too), but resolutions that will really impact your business for the better.

This means fully assessing your marketing strategy and not just writing down some ideas down on a google doc and sending it around the office… Luckily for you, we’ve put together some ways you can make changes to your strategies for the new year and really sell to more people. A belated Christmas present, if you will.

If your logo, website or branding is more than five years old, it’s probably time to make some changes. The digital world is ever-evolving and this means things can become out-dated pretty quickly. Something that may have felt shiny and new in 2015 will seem antiquated in the new year of 2020. Of course, completely re-branding could seem overwhelming so it could be an idea to start small. Update your business’ Instagram bio or refresh the graphics you put out to the world and then you can start thinking about rejuvenating your logo, website design and branding.

Renewing your image also isn’t just about what you can see. Is your business model the same as when you first started? As your business grows, so should your goals and therefore the foundations it is built on. Your audience might have expanded or you may have new products and you’ll have to adjust for this. It might even be a good idea to start with this before you concentrate on any of the aesthetics so that you can match your updated model to your branding. This means that you won’t alienate any of your existing audience when you make some changes as what you’re putting out to the world will truly reflect what your brand is about. And hey, it will probably get you more new customers, because who can resist engaging with something that feels brand new?

The key is to make people aware of your rebrand by publicizing it beforehand and keeping them constantly updated. Don’t just spring it on your audience with no warning as this can cause confusion and a feeling of alienation. Let them know and perhaps even get them involved by letting them vote on any changes.

Social media moves at a faster rate than Usain Bolt before he retired, so keeping up with trends is extremely important in the digital world. However, sometimes it is not enough to just be aware of what is changing and instead, you should actually implement these incrementally as you go along to really give your social strategy a boost.

From TikTok (read our post about it here) to Influencer marketing (read our post on micro-influencers here), there are plenty of ways to make the most out of social media and really grow your audience.

Video content is growing massively with no signs of slowing down so enforcing quick, bitesize moving content into your strategy will cause customers to interact more. Create stories with polls and quiz questions to increase engagement (all it takes is a click) whilst also gaining free market research.

Instagram also recently removed showing the number of likes on posts which means this surface-level data has become less useful. It might be a better idea to forget about going viral with content and instead concentrate on long-term engagement by building up an unforgettable brand that will keep customers following for life rather than just engaging with a singular post.

Of course, the main reason we advocate for these new ways to market brands is to reach new audiences and grow the customer base. Re-branding and investing more budget into popular social media trends are two large and sometimes time-consuming (but undeniably effective) ways to grow your clientele, but there are plenty of smaller actions you can take in 2020 gain new demographics without abandoning your current audience.

For example, you could offer small incentives for new customers such as competitions and surveys with prizes. Everyone loves a freebie, and if it takes a few seconds to answer a question then the general public can’t resist. Even better, you could make one of the terms for entering to be to follow a social media account or entering their e-mail address, gaining your brand followers or additions to your database with minimal effort.

You could also try adjusting your message, without a complete re-brand. Keep your core values but expand the message to appeal to a wider audience.

It could even be something as small as putting out the same content on a new platform. Does your brand post to LinkedIn? Do you have a weekly newsletter? Small additions like these can quickly grow your audience with little investment.

We’re not the type of digital marketing agency who doesn’t practice what they preach. We have a brand new website ourselves, so have a browse!

Do you want some individualised help for how to make new and positive changes your business? Get in touch with the team at The Township today and we’ll be happy to help you will any challenges that the new year will bring!