Our Top 3 Marketing Communications Resolutions for 2019

The word New Year's resolution written on the blackboard with blank notes

As the New Year approaches it’s time to begin thinking about New Year’s resolutions. I’m pretty goal oriented and actually love this time of year–it’s always fun to look forward to new possibilities and make new plans for growth and achievement. I also believe that thinking about and committing our goals to some formal form (whether hard copy or online) serves to formally mark them in our minds and increases the odds that we will actually move forward to achieve them. Following are our top three marketing communications resolutions for 2019.

Develop a plan for 2019 and commit it to writing.

It doesn’t have to be a “fancy” or elaborate plan, but it’s important for businesses of any size to take the time to clarify their mission, vision and values, identify goals and measurable objectives, evaluate the internal/external environment, development strategies and tactics designed to leverage strengths and opportunities and overcome threats and weaknesses, and establish metrics to monitor success. I’m a strong proponent of strategy (hence the name of my company!) and the author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Strategic Planning.

Make a commitment to be “they” vs. “we” oriented in 2019.

It’s easy for businesses to think they know all there is to know about their customers or potential customers and to base decisions on their own (often flawed or misinformed!) perspectives. It’s not about “helping your customers understand your value proposition” as one client suggested to me a few years ago – it’s about understanding what your customers value and delivering it to them.

Measure, measure, measure and don’t waste time doing things that don’t generate results.

Social media activities often (but not always) fall into this bucket. The things that are going to make a difference for your company will likely be different than the things that will make a difference for another company. This is true even for your competitors. Make sure you know what it is you’re intending to achieve through your social media efforts, understand the cost (which includes time) and if you’re not producing measurable outcomes, stop. The same is true of any advertising/communication effort you’re using. Don’t do things just because the competition does them or because you “think” they make sense. Measure!

Those are our top three. What are yours?

About Us

Strategic Communications, LLC, works with B2B clients to help them achieve their goals through effective content marketing and management with both internal and external audiences. We are adept at evaluating and analyzing communication efforts and working with clients to plan, create and publish high-quality, unique content, through both on- and offline media to achieve desired results. Our background in business journalism, marketing, PR/media relations and online communications makes us well-positioned to serve the needs of 21st-century marketers.

We serve clients who are looking for help creating content for a wide array of channels—from social media posts to full-length manuscripts, and everything in between. We focus primarily on service-related B2B topics and work with a number of independent consultants interested in building their thought leadership through online channels. For ongoing content management, our first step is to fully understand your goals, objectives and competitive landscape.

Then we’ll conduct a thorough analysis and assessment of your digital presence, compared to competitors, and recommend a communication strategy to achieve your goals. But, we also regularly take on individual projects – white papers, blog posts, contributed articles, etc. If you’re interested in learning more, let us know!

(Strategic Communications is certified as a Woman-Owned Business Enterprise through the Wisconsin Department of Administration.)

Our Top 3 Marketing Communications Resolutions for 2019

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