Last weekend, I spent 12 hours with my business coach - she's based in California so they were early mornings. It was the culmination of a year of coaching and it was well worth the investment. (If you don't have a coach of some sort for your business, go find yourself one <- that's an extra tip for you, a good coach will stretch you and hold you accountable for your own goals, it's a lot harder and not as fun doing it alone).
My coach is one of the strongest leaders I've come across and she's full of insightful nuggets. It was during our time together on the weekend when she reminded me that it's preparation that makes you successful.
Before I look back at one of the biggest years of growth for me, I'm looking forward to what 2022 has in store and preparing my business now for the things that will open up next year.
The last few years have been tough for small businesses. That's an understatement. But, as the world reopens, so too will new opportunities. Our workplaces already look different, we've been forced into digital communications and while we'll welcome more face-to-face contact in 2022, I think much of our marketing will continue to be done online.
We just have to get better at it. More human. Less transactional.
So, as I look ahead to the promise of a new year and as I work on a short programme to help my customers (and anyone else who wants to join us!) prioritise their 2022 marketing activities, I've compiled my top three tips below.
I hope they help you get clarity on your focus for next year too!
1. Know your baseline
In the words of the great Maya Angelou “you can’t really know where you’re going until you know where you’ve been.”
What’s worked for you in the past is a great indicator of future performance. It's what helps you stay in your lane. Your best competition is yourself and with every sales page, social post, email send, you should be aiming to better your highest performance to date.
If you don't know how you're currently performing, make this a priority to the end of this year so that you go into 2022 with clarity and certainty of what's working and what's not.
Marketing is both an art and a science. Design will attract. Data will advance.
The platforms you use today should provide reports to help you with this. Tools like Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Google Search Console and Wordstream Performance Graders are my pick of the bunch for free insights.
2. Commit to something new
We've all heard that growth doesn't come from comfort zones so if you want 2022 to be better than 2021, get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable.
Is there are new marketing channel you've been too afraid to try? Have you been holding yourself back in your social channels?
2022 is the year to break-through those barriers. When you're equipped with the measurement tools and techniques I mentioned above, you can take action in real-time based on live data. Chances are, you won't get it perfect first time. Be okay with a test-and-optimise approach and strive for progress over perfection.
3. Compose a rhythm
This is something I'm really focusing on in my business next year. Once you're clear on what works and what doesn't, you can create flow in your business and freedom in your personal life.
Is there a natural sales season? Do you prefer to plan and produce content regularly or in batches? Are there key campaigns you need to plan ahead for? Have your automated your 'always-on' activities?
Can you build flex time into your weeks or months?
My business coach takes the last week of the month off. Every month. I prefer to work 3-4 days a week and have a holiday every quarter. That didn't happen in 2021 so it's a priority for me in 2022.
What are your priorities for 2022?
I'm currently working on a 12 day challenge to support small businesses with all of the above, starting 1st December. Get in touch and I'll make sure you're one of the first to know!