With the new year fast approaching, many of us begin to consider our resolutions for 2024. Things like self-improvement or learning a new skill come to mind, but what about the goals you have for your business in the new year?

One of the things we will always recommend to businesses in the new year is to set up a marketing plan. Creating a plan allows you to establish your objectives well in advance and gives you a better idea of how you can achieve those goals. Here are three things to keep in mind when creating your marketing plan for the upcoming year: 

1 // Know your goals

Your marketing goals should directly support your overall business plans. Look at what your business aims to achieve in this upcoming year and let that help guide your marketing initiatives.

The next step is clearly defining your goals. Let’s say your goal is to increase engagement. You’ll need to start setting defined goals. Determine which channel(s) you will target, set a specific target for success, such as a 15% increase, and give yourself a realistic timeline.

You want to be able to clearly see that your goals are being reached. If we leave them vague or undefined, there is no concrete way for us to know if we have achieved them or not. The more specific you can be, the better your marketing initiatives will be.

2 // Know your audience

Knowing your audience is an important step in creating your marketing plan. Rather than casting your net wide and only getting a few hits, narrowing down who you are reaching will help to drive sales and get a better return on all your marketing efforts.

Take some time to define your target market. Who is using your product or service? Are you targeting specific regions or demographics? Not only consider the who, but also the why. Why is this person purchasing your product? The more information you have, the easier it will be to define your target. 

One thing that may also help in understanding your target market is creating a buyer persona, which is essentially a fictional person who represents your ideal customer. By putting yourself into the customer’s shoes, you can better understand what motivates their buying decisions. That insight can help you in accurately focusing your marketing efforts.

3 // Know your budget

One challenge we often see with marketing plans is taking a budget-first approach. When the budget is assigned first and the goals are left to be planned later, businesses can often be left in a tricky spot. As new objectives are created, funding from other projects will need to be moved around. In the end, you are left with frustration from constantly having to shift funding around to all the new goals. It’s like a never ending puzzle.

We suggest starting with goals first and allocating the budget after. By having your objectives established upfront, you’ll be able to make better informed budget decisions for each goal. Not only that, but this method helps to prioritize your budget money! Having your goals established beforehand will give you a clearer idea of which objectives will take more resources to achieve and you can more accurately allocate the funds needed.

On a similar note, it’s important to consider what is possible with the resources at your disposal along with the capabilities of your team. Are there any free resources you can utilize to cut down on your budget? Would outsourcing the project ultimately have a greater impact and be worth the cost? It’s not uncommon to go over or under budget, so remember to factor that into your planning!

One of the most important things you can invest in your planning is your time. There is no pressure to get it done in one sitting, we actually suggest spacing it out over several sessions! Give yourself enough time to do it right, especially if this is new for you in 2024.

We believe that building your marketing plan shouldn’t be complicated. In fact, we’ve made it easy for you! Our free 2024 Marketing Plan Worksheet walks you through each step and ultimately setting your business on the path to success in the new year.

Happy New Year from us at GoldBear Media and we wish you the best in 2024!