Start your New Year on solid footing by planning for marketing success.
By Jennifer Paulson
The beginning of the year might be a bit slower for your business, making it the perfect time to do some marketing planning. Here are ways you can set yourself up for successful marketing and business-building.
Set Social Media Goals. Determine which platforms you understand—and even enjoy—most, and set goals for posting, growing your audience, and creating content. These benchmarks can include the number of times you intend to post each week, how often you want to dive into metrics, and pushing yourself to try new types of content.
Audit Your Website. Take a close look at your website. Is everything as updated as possible? Do you have old posts of horses for sale or a calendar from two years ago that are no longer relevant? Does your site load quickly? Does it accurately represent your current business model? Don’t overlook double-checking all your contact information. And if you don’t have a website…
Build Your Online Presence. Start from scratch with a new business website that’s fresh and expresses your values, accomplishments, skills, and talents. You can build it yourself, but working with a professional will likely yield better results to get the kind of traffic that makes your site worthwhile.
Think Outside the Box. Plan a clinic at your place or across the country—or even around the world. Identify volunteering opportunities in the community that can build your presence. Reach out to journalists and content creators to find opportunities to collaborate and bolster your business’ presence.
Collaborate With Other Pros. People love to see pros from different disciplines collaborate and learn from each other. Identify another pro to work with for your own benefit, and film it, blog about it, podcast about it, and/or invite attendees to watch it. You’ll be exposed to an entirely new audience to whom you can market your services.By planning these endeavors at the beginning of the year, you have time to prioritize, prepare, and pivot as needed to best suit your business and your schedule without sacrificing marketing opportunities to grow your business, gain new sponsors, and improve your reach.
