Which Marketing Tactics Should You Invest in Next Year?

If you’re a small business owner, you may have to make choices when it comes to marketing. Rather than invest several thousands of dollars into a dynamic marketing strategy, you may have to pick and choose marketing tactics based on the budget you find works best for your business. If that’s the case, you may be wondering what’s worth investing in next year, and what should be cast aside.

A comprehensive marketing strategy is always best, but for those who are looking for the most bang for their buck, a new survey from Ascend2 shows that marketers are pointing to one tactic as being most effective when it comes to digital marketing. Can you guess what it is?

Social media marketing, which is still a young concept in the marketing world, was cited by 1/5th of marketers as the most effective digital marketing tactic for 2018 (Marketing Charts).  “Although marketers continue to struggle with measuring the ROI of both social media and content marketing, the use of attribution seems to lead to more rather than less spending on social media. Marketers’ perceptions of social’s effectiveness also makes sense given social’s influence on youths’ purchases and power as an awareness vehicle – not to mention that social media conversations drive an estimated 9% of consumer sales,” Marketing Charts reports.

This change is significant given last years’ rankings, which had email marketing rated higher than social media (Marketing Charts). So what does this mean for your marketing strategy?

If you’re not already using social media as a marketing tool, or you have social media accounts set up and they’re a bit stagnant, perhaps you should rethink your strategy. Consider these 5 things as you prepare for 2018:

• Create an editorial calendar. Fill out a spreadsheet with post copy, post ideas, times when the posts should go on social media, and more. Use it to stay on track and prepare it before January so you start the year off strong.
• Use free design programs. Try out Canva, a free design program that will help you make nice graphics to use in your posts. Remember that posts with images almost always get better engagement than text-only posts.
• Schedule ahead. Facebook has a tool that allows you to schedule posts ahead of time. This will help you get ahead and stay ahead. Try out Tweetdeck for Twitter, or use Hootsuite for a variety of scheduling options.
• Post at least 3 times per week. It’s ideal to post 2 times per day, 7 days per week, but if you can’t quite keep up with that schedule, try 3 posts per week. You can always work up to posting more.
• Create an ad account. If you have funds to invest more than just your time on social media, consider boosting posts on Facebook or running an Instagram campaign. This is a simple way to help extend the reach of your posts, and a little can go a long way!

Remember that a comprehensive marketing plan encompassing a variety of marketing tactics is always best, but if you’re hoping to employ a new strategy in 2018, or you’re looking to expand an existing strategy, social media is a great choice! Need help managing your social media accounts in the new year? Contact Pulse Marketing Agency for a free consultation!