After a month of festivities, holiday cheer, and overindulgence, January is the month for new beginnings. Customers and businesses alike are refreshed and invigorated, motivated to make changes for the better. Identifying the successes and, perhaps more importantly, the failures from the previous year can help shape the action plan for the next and, in the world of Digital Marketing, the approach is no different.
Researchers say about 60% of us make New Year’s resolutions (inc.com). From a business perspective, tapping into the mindset of some of the most common resolutions can help shape your Digital Marketing team’s strategies for the year ahead.
New Year’s Resolution #1: Learn a New Skill or Hobby
Perhaps the most important for digital marketers, staying ahead of the game by keeping up-to-date with the latest developments is critical. Tapping into training budget is the most sure-fire way to ensure this resolution maintains momentum. Involving key stakeholders across the business and aligning with overarching business goals can often fuel commitment and enthusiasm. To start, identify the learning outcomes you expect from a training programme. For example:
- I want to better understand how technology and user behaviour are changing;
- I want to discover the third-party tools available in the industry to make better-informed decisions;
- I want to execute a test-and-learn approach effectively.
Group these ideas into themes and then begin to explore the options with training providers. At Merkle, we have a huge range of training modules at your disposal. These are designed to suit a spectrum of needs; from a top-level overview of a channel, to in-depth navigation of a platform and its features.
If you’re looking for more strategic direction across your marketing mix, we’d recommend signing up to our ‘Digital Strategy 101’ module. No matter what stage of your digital journey, start the new year by investing in moving it forward. This session unpacks the processes required for your business at the planning stage, exploring the industry's key trends and tools.
Read the full course detail here.
New Year’s Resolution #2: Save More, Spend Less
Personal finances take a hit over the Christmas period, so naturally saving more and spending less is high on the priority list of New Year’s resolutions. Efficiency is likely to be a top priority for a business throughout the entire year, but January is still a great time to take stock of finances and reflect on new ways to improve. This is especially the case for Digital Marketers in relation to planning media budgets. Questions around saving more and spending less often include:
- What should be the optimum spend allocation by channel?
- How should I approach media forecasting in order to predict performance?
- How might performance be impacted by an increase/ decrease in budget?
If these are all questions that you are looking to solve, consider booking a half-day ‘Media Forecasting’ training session with one of our media scientists. They can support your team through optimal data-collection techniques, making informed decisions through analysis, and providing a framework to enable effective scenario planning and modelling.
Read the full course detail here.
New Year’s Resolution #3: Read More
Making a commitment to ‘read more’ is another common New Year’s resolution. The fact that you’re reading this blog is probably testament to your own commitment to doing so! Whilst there is proven research stating that reading just 15 pages a day can increase mental development and improve memory amongst children (Domtar), it’s also hugely beneficial in a working environment too. Keeping abreast of industry changes and having an opinion on key digital marketing topics can significantly boost your career progression and ability to react to change.
It is important to start small, empowering individuals to succeed through practical application and engaging discussions. We encourage you and your marketing team to book in a regular weekly time slot, perhaps with a coffee and a comfy meeting room, to read blog articles and share thoughts together. Merkle regularly publish thought leadership pieces on areas of digital marketing where we feel particularly knowledgeable or have a particular opinion. Feel free to engage with these resources (for free!).
New Year’s Resolution #4: Don’t Give Up!
Studies have shown that under 25% of people stay committed to their resolutions after just 30 days, and only 8% accomplish them (forbes.com). If you’ve made it this far, chances are that you’re pretty driven to make some changes. If you want to kickstart your New Year’s resolutions for the business, we would be happy to help. Contact us and we’d love to discuss opportunities for training your team or supporting your digital marketing campaign planning.
Sources:
https://www.business2community.com/marketing/5-valuable-marketing-resolutions-new-year-01971841
https://writingcooperative.com/the-benefits-of-reading-everyday-why-im-reading-100-books-this-year-f9c292350222
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