We’re officially in that weird part of the year when everything you’re thinking about has to jump PAST the end of the year madness.
You wanna start a workout plan? Oh, let’s do that AFTER Christmas Cookie Season.
You want to start a new project? Well, you won’t have time during the Thanksgiving chaos, so we’ll just pin that until January.
Ready to start that new book? Not until that holiday shopping is done you don’t.
But here’s the thing. The end of the year is perhaps the most pivotal time when it comes to marketing, goal setting, and business growth entirely, really.
I know that sounds dramatic but I stand by it! At the end of the year, you are naturally looking back and reflecting on how far you’ve come. You are also naturally looking forward and daydreaming about how much you’ll be able to achieve in the new year.
That energy deserves to be captured! Now before you run away screaming that Christi is over here demanding you work MORE over the holidays!
I will remind you that I am lazy on my best day! That is the farthest from what I’m recommending. As a fan of the motto work CLEVER-ER not harder, I’ve figured out some of the best ways to tap into the end of the year energy and get a jump start on your new year marketing plan.
With the least amount of energy investment possible.
Small Business Marketing Tip #1: Start BEFORE the new year
If you want to start anything in the new year that means the planning stages HAVE to start BEFORE the new year. November and December are the perfect months to start jotting down the logistical, procedural, and strategic plans and approaches even if just in your phone between pie binges.
Beyond planning, you can get a jumpstart on all the backend procedural aspects of your new plan. For example, if you plan on starting a paid ads campaign in the new year - now is the time to create the account, start the keyword research, play with copy options, research buying trends in your target market, etc.
It’s likely that any goal/plan/dream you have for the new year and your small business will require some prep work and the end of the year season is the perfect time to handle all those initial steps. Imagine how much easier getting started on January 2 would be if everything was ready and waiting for you.
Small Business Marketing Tip #2: Embrace Baby Steps
To that same token, it’s important to embrace the baby steps. There are 20+ steps to setting up a Professional Instagram account, setting up a dashboard in Google Analytics, connecting your social platforms to a scheduler, or any other marketing action! Tackling all of these at once is usually impossible or at the very least exhausting. It is also obviously far more time-consuming in one setting than spread out over 10+.
That is why I love baby steps! When I plan a project I think about every single step in the process and I make each their own task. This makes the entire plan of attack infinitely more actionable.
Instead of waiting to find a time when I have 1 hour to dive into setting something up, I can just jump into my list and check off as many as I can in the pocket of time I was able to steal.
Sometimes I get lucky and complete the whole list in one sitting and it’s all the more satisfying to check off all of those boxes! And more often than not I jump in and handle an item or two at a time and I always feel good knowing I’m both making progress and not overwhelming myself during the most wonderful time of the year!
Small Business Marketing Tip #3: Don't Spread Yourself Too Thin
This is the part where I let you see some of my hippie side. This is the part where I tell you living your life is more important than checking all the boxes in the new year. Its important during this inspiring time of year to keep perspective. You can do more next year - but you CANNOT do it all!
This is good life advice in general - you’re welcome - but when it comes to marketing this can save you THOUSANDS of dollars! Doing everything at once, overwhelmed without a solid footing is only guaranteeing you are going to waste loads of money.
I personally watched a client lose $500 over the weekend bidding on the wrong keyword (singular) because they saw a Youtube expert suggest this Adword Hack! In 48 hours, while I was probably staring at an obnoxious jigsaw puzzle unaware of his/her/their second opinion, $500 was literally flushed down the drain. Not one single thing to show for it, but an adjusted client's user access.
If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right and you can’t do anything right if you’ve spread yourself too thin. Keep in mind your current work, family, personal, and other obligations and make sure your plan is challenging in the way that helps you push yourself to be better, not in the way that requires you to develop a Tylenol PM addiction. You know what I mean?
Happy Holidays Y’all!