As we embrace the new year, it’s the perfect time for your business to reassess and revitalize your digital marketing strategies. In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, staying ahead means constantly adapting and refining your approach. This is especially true for small businesses, where effective digital marketing can be a game-changer in terms of reaching new customers and fostering growth.
Whether it’s exploring new advertising strategies, enhancing your online presence through SEO, or embracing a range of digital tools, there are numerous avenues to boost your business’s visibility. Here we’ll outline 24 resolutions that your business should implement in 2024, each offering a unique opportunity to elevate your marketing game.
1. Run an Email Marketing Campaign
Revitalizing your email marketing for the new year is a chance to engage your audience with fresh, relevant content. Kick off with a campaign that showcases your plans and goals for the year.
Personalize your emails to different segments, highlighting new products or services and recapping key achievements. This approach, aligned with the new year’s energy, is perfect for re-engaging customers and setting an enthusiastic tone for the year.
2. Refine Audience Targeting in Google Ads
Refining audience targeting in Google Ads is pivotal for ensuring your marketing efforts reach the right people. Start by analyzing your current customer base and identifying common characteristics and behaviors. Use this information to create detailed audience personas.
In Google Ads, leverage demographic targeting to reach users based on age, gender, location, and even interests or past purchasing behavior. Utilize the audience insights tool to gain a deeper understanding of how different audiences interact with your ads.
This targeted approach not only helps in conserving your budget by focusing on users most likely to convert but also increases the relevance and effectiveness of your ads. Ads tailored specifically to your audience’s needs and interests are more likely to engage and convert.
3. Leverage Google’s Smart Bidding
Google’s Smart Bidding is a powerful tool for optimizing your ad campaigns. It uses machine learning to automatically adjust bids in real-time, aiming to maximize conversions. To effectively use Smart Bidding, start by setting clear goals for your campaign, whether it’s increasing conversions, maximizing clicks, or achieving a target return on ad spend.
Experiment with different Smart Bidding strategies like Target CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) or Target ROAS (Return On Ad Spend) to find what works best for your business. Smart Bidding takes the guesswork out of bid management, allowing you to focus on other critical aspects of your campaigns while it optimizes your ad campaigns for the best possible results.
4. Increase Social Media Presence
In 2024’s marketing landscape, social media strategy is crucial. Platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook are essential for engaging with audiences. These aren’t just channels for content; they’re spaces for interaction and connection.
Content creation should balance brand voice with audience engagement. It’s about crafting messages that inform and resonate, sparking conversations and building community.
Engagement is key on social media. Brands should actively participate in discussions, respond to comments, and genuinely connect with their audience. This approach not only engages followers but also fosters a sense of loyalty, creating a more dedicated audience.
5. Showcase Clients and Employees on Social Media
Spotlighting clients and employees on social media is a great approach to humanize your brand. This strategy fosters a more personal connection with your audience and showcases the real impact of your business.
Featuring client testimonials and success stories is one of the best ways to demonstrate the value of your services or products. When clients share their positive experiences, it acts as credible social proof, encouraging others to trust and engage with your brand.
Similarly, highlighting your employees brings a relatable and human aspect to your business. Share their stories, achievements, and glimpses into their daily work life. This not only enhances employee morale but also allows your audience to see the faces behind the brand, deepening their connection with your business.
This approach transforms your social media presence, making it a platform where the voices of both clients and employees contribute to a richer, more engaging brand narrative.
6. Post Relevant Updates on LinkedIn
Focus on content that adds value to your network. Share articles, comment on industry trends, and highlight company milestones. Engaging with others’ content is also key to building a strong professional network. This approach positions your brand as informed and connected in your industry.
The LinkedIn platform is ideal for sharing industry insights, company news, and professional achievements.
7. Conduct Keyword Gap Analysis
Keyword Gap Analysis is a strategic approach to uncovering opportunities you might be missing in your SEO and PPC campaigns. It involves comparing your website’s keyword portfolio with that of your competitors to identify gaps where they are ranking or bidding, but you are not. Tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs can automate this process, offering insights into keywords driving traffic to competitors’ sites.
By identifying these gaps, you can tailor your content and ad strategies to include these overlooked keywords, potentially capturing traffic that your competitors are currently enjoying. This analysis not only broadens your keyword strategy but also helps you stay competitive in your niche.
8. Make New Business Cards
Revamping your business cards is a subtle yet impactful way to refresh your brand’s image. It’s not just about contact information; it’s about making a memorable impression.
Opt for designs that are both professional and creative, reflecting your brand’s identity and values. Consider high-quality materials and unique finishes to make your card stand out. This small detail can make a significant difference in networking and building professional relationships.
9. Leverage Google Tag Manager for Tracking
Google Tag Manager (GTM) is an invaluable tool for efficiently managing and deploying tracking tags on your website without the need for extensive coding. It allows you to track conversions, website analytics, remarketing, and more. With GTM, you can set up triggers to record specific actions taken on your site, like form submissions or downloads, which can then inform your digital marketing strategies.
It’s particularly useful for small businesses as it simplifies the process of data collection, enabling you to focus on insights and optimizations. By harnessing the power of GTM, you can gain a deeper understanding of user behavior, effectively measure the performance of your marketing efforts, and make data-driven decisions to improve your online presence.
10. Regularly Review and Adjust Budgets
Regularly reviewing and adjusting your budgets for digital marketing campaigns is crucial for maximizing ROI. Small businesses should frequently analyze the performance data of their Google Ads and SEO efforts to identify which areas are yielding the best results. Allocate more budget to high-performing campaigns and consider scaling back or optimizing underperforming ones.
This dynamic approach to budgeting allows you to respond to market trends, seasonal changes, and consumer behavior shifts, ensuring that every dollar spent contributes effectively towards your business goals.
11. Undertake a Strategic Rebrand Initiative
The new year is the perfect time for businesses to consider rebranding. Rebranding can invigorate your business identity, making it more relevant and appealing in the current market.
Start by evaluating your current brand’s strengths and weaknesses. Consider how your brand is perceived by customers and how it stands in comparison to competitors. Engage with your customers through surveys to understand their perception of your brand and what they value the most.
Develop a clear rebranding strategy that aligns with your business goals and customer expectations. This might include a new logo design, a revamped website, updated marketing materials, and a renewed social media presence.
Launch your rebrand with a comprehensive marketing campaign. This could be a mix of traditional advertising, PR efforts, social media campaigns, and community events. Ensure consistency across all channels and touchpoints to reinforce the new brand identity. Monitor customer feedback and brand performance post-rebranding to gauge its effectiveness and make adjustments as necessary.
12. Update/Change Your Logo
Updating or changing your logo is essential for businesses to maintain relevance over time. As trends and market dynamics evolve, logos that once seemed modern can become outdated. A refreshed logo signifies your brand’s evolution, adapting to the changing preferences and expectations of your audience.
It’s important that the new design reflects your brand’s ethos, while also being visually appealing and easily recognizable. A well-thought-out logo update can rejuvenate your brand’s image, ensuring it remains fresh and relevant in an ever-evolving marketplace.
13. Leverage Google Analytics Insights
Google Analytics offers a wealth of data that can guide your digital marketing decisions. Use it to track website traffic, user behavior, and conversion metrics. Analyze which channels bring the most traffic, what content keeps visitors engaged, and where users drop off in the conversion funnel.
These insights can help you optimize your website and marketing strategies, enhance user experience, and identify new growth opportunities.
14. Refresh Your Website
A website is often the first point of contact with potential customers, and an outdated site can quickly turn them away.
Revamping your website involves more than just updating the design. It’s about ensuring the site reflects current trends, aligns with your brand identity, and provides an optimal user experience.
Focus on a clean, responsive design that looks great on all devices, especially mobiles, as mobile browsing continues to rise.
Incorporate modern features like chatbots for customer service and interactive elements to engage visitors. Also, reassess your content – ensure it’s relevant, informative, and optimized for search engines. A fresh, well-organized website can significantly improve user engagement and search rankings.
15. A/B Test Ads and Landing Pages
A/B testing, or split testing, is essential in refining your digital marketing strategy. By creating two versions of an ad or landing page, you can compare their performances and determine which elements resonate more with your audience.
Test different headlines, call-to-actions (CTAs), images, and page layouts. A/B testing provides empirical evidence to make data-driven decisions, ultimately improving click-through rates, conversion rates, and the overall effectiveness of your campaigns.
16. Incorporate Local SEO Tactics
Mastering Local SEO is vital for any business aiming to establish a strong local presence. Central to this is optimizing your Google My Business (GMB) listing. A well-curated GMB profile is crucial for enhancing your visibility in local search results, including Google’s Local Pack (a set of the top three business listings displayed alongside a Google Map at the top of search results). Start by ensuring that your business information is accurate and comprehensive, including details like hours, location, and contact information.
Regularly updating your profile with fresh content, such as posts about promotions or events, can also increase engagement. Photos and virtual tours can further enrich your profile. Leveraging these aspects of GMB helps in tapping into the local market more effectively, making your business more accessible and prominent to nearby customers.
17. Encourage Customer Reviews
Encouraging customer reviews is a vital strategy for improving local SEO and building trust with potential customers. Reviews not only enhance your visibility in search engines but also provide valuable social proof that can influence buying decisions.
To encourage reviews, start by providing exceptional service or products that leave your customers satisfied. Follow up with a friendly email or message asking for feedback, making the process as easy as possible by providing direct links to your review platforms like Google My Business, Yelp, or industry-specific sites.
Actively seeking and managing customer reviews can significantly boost your local SEO efforts and help establish your business as a trustworthy and customer-centric brand.
18. Optimize for Long-Tail Keywords
Optimizing for long-tail keywords is a powerful SEO strategy, especially for small businesses. These are longer, more specific phrases that are less competitive but highly relevant to your niche.
Long-tail keywords often have lower search volumes but can lead to higher conversion rates as they align closely with user intent. Incorporate these keywords into your website content, blog posts, and meta tags to attract targeted traffic more likely to convert.
19. Focus on User Experience (UX) for SEO
The user experience (UX) of your website is a critical factor in SEO. A site that is easy to navigate, loads quickly, and provides valuable content is more likely to rank higher in search engine results.
Pay attention to site layout, page speed, mobile responsiveness, and content quality. By enhancing UX, you not only improve your SEO but also keep visitors on your site longer, increasing the likelihood of conversion.
20. Improve Internal Linking Structure
A robust internal linking structure enhances SEO by helping search engines understand and index your site’s content more effectively. It involves strategically linking your pages to each other to guide visitors and search engines to more relevant content.
This not only helps in distributing page authority across your website but also increases user engagement by providing them with more valuable information. Ensure that your internal links are logical and use descriptive anchor texts, as this helps search engines contextualize your content better.
21. Invest Time in Keyword Research
Investing time in comprehensive keyword research is the backbone of any successful SEO strategy. Utilize tools like Google Keyword Planner for basic research or opt for more advanced platforms like SEMrush and Ahrefs for deeper insights.
Look for keywords relevant to your business, with a focus on those with a high search volume and low competition. Understand the intent behind the keywords to create content that aligns with what your audience is searching for. Consistent and thorough keyword research not only improves your visibility in search results but also ensures that your content stays relevant and engaging.
22. Diversify Your Advertising Strategy
Diversifying your advertising strategy to include traditional formats like billboards, lawn signs, and direct mail letters is a comprehensive approach to reach a wider audience. Each format offers unique advantages and caters to different segments of your market.
Billboards are great for high-impact, visual messages, capturing the attention of commuters and passersby. They work well for brand awareness and large-scale promotions. Lawn signs can be effective for local businesses, providing community presence and targeting specific neighborhoods.
Direct mail, like personalized letters, offers a tangible connection in an increasingly digital world. They can be highly targeted and personalized, making them effective for specific promotions or messages.
23. Make a New Commercial
Creating a new commercial in 2024, which can double as a YouTube ad, is a smart move for businesses aiming to boost their visibility and engagement. This commercial should tell a compelling story that resonates with your target audience, showcasing your brand’s unique value proposition.
The content should be concise, engaging, and tailored for digital consumption. High-quality visuals and a strong, clear message are key.
Consider incorporating elements that evoke emotions or humor to create a lasting impression. This approach not only increases brand awareness but also drives engagement across multiple platforms.
24. Implement Remarketing Campaigns for E-Commerce
Implementing a dynamic retargeting campaign is a powerful strategy for e-commerce businesses. It involves tracking products that visitors view but don’t purchase and then displaying ads for these items on other websites or social media.
Integrating retargeting tools with your e-commerce platform allows you to create ads that remind customers of what they’ve left behind, often sweetened with incentives like discounts or free shipping. This approach keeps your products in the customer’s mind, encouraging them to return and complete their purchases, thereby enhancing conversion rates.
If you’d like to implement any of the strategies laid out above in the New Year but don’t know where to start, talk to the team at TOTAL Advertising! TOTAL is a full-service advertising and digital marketing agency with a team of marketing specialists ready to help your business reach your audience and achieve the goals you’ve set for 2024.