Key Takeaways:
Marketing is a habit that requires patience and perseverance.
It’s important that 2024 marketing habits are obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying.
Planning, answering customer queries quickly, reviewing metrics regularly, and listening to the data are four specific habits we recommend small business leaders focus on in the new year.
The New Year is the perfect time to ditch old habits and adopt new ones. Here are some principles to make smarter marketing habits — and some specific habits that the Technology Therapy® Group team recommends developing as you look forward to small business growth in 2024.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence […] is not an act, but a habit.”
– Aristotle
4 Principles for Making Smarter Marketing Habits
In his book “Atomic Habits,” James Clear lays out four “laws” that should inform any habit you start building. These principles translate well to the marketing world since marketing really is a habit (not just something you can do occasionally and still get results). Here are some Clear-inspired guidelines to help you define what marketing habits to pursue in 2024.
Make Your Marketing Habit:
- Obvious.
Pin your marketing tools to your browser so they are the first things you see when you log in to your laptop or another electronic device. These tools can include your email marketing platform, Google Analytics, social media sites, or scheduling tools.
- Attractive.
Tie a marketing task you may not enjoy to a reward that you would enjoy. It’s a way of reframing the habit (so you start to dread it less). For instance, maybe you dislike planning out the next week of social posts for your business. Bribe yourself to do this task by stopping by your favorite coffee shop or ordering something small from your favorite store after you’ve completed it.
- Easy.
Leverage automation as much as possible to make your life easier and save you time. Create email flows that trigger in response to certain customer actions, such as when they abandon their virtual shopping cart, subscribe to your email list, or contact you with a question.
Use chatbots to field frequently asked questions from clients, so you’ll have fewer questions to respond personally to (the more complicated questions!). Set automated notifications that let you know when you get a social comment or DM and alert you when someone fills out an online web form. Remember to answer every question and comment from customers promptly so they’re more likely to do business with your brand over a rival’s.
- Satisfying.
Use a physical or digital list to keep track of your habits. Check off each habit throughout the year, as you make them a part of your daily life as a business owner. And monitor your data so you can celebrate your wins such as an increase in Facebook or Instagram engagement for the month.
We strongly recommend reviewing your business’s metrics monthly. Weekly is even better.
4 Marketing Habits Worth Cultivating in the New Year
Here at Technology Therapy® Group, we have some specific marketing habits we recommend that small business leaders develop in 2024. You might already be doing one or more of these. But, if you’re not, consider adding them to your “new habits to build in 2024” list.
- Plan, Plan, Plan
It’s all too tempting to “just wing it” sometimes — especially when we get busy. But creating a plan will make your digital marketing easier to implement.
It also makes it simpler to measure your success, since you’ll have clearly defined goals and time parameters. For example, you’ll know that that sale didn’t flop because it didn’t have enough promotion. So, you’ll be able to look at other factors like the timing of the sale or the offer itself not being strong enough.
The TTG team recommends planning out every part of your small business strategies. This includes (but, of course, not limited to!) mapping out sales and promotions, social media content, digital advertising, and email campaigns.
- Answer Customer Inquiries ASAP
Prioritize answering all customer inquiries quickly to show clients that you value their needs and concerns. This could mean delegating inquiries from your website to a certain team member and social messages to another.
Keep in mind that customer service is no longer in-store only. In other words, your digital service can make or break a sale.
- Review Key Metrics Frequently
We strongly recommend reviewing your business’s metrics monthly (but weekly is even better). You can’t replicate success if you don’t know exactly what is working. And, on the flip side, you can’t fix what you don’t know is broken.
- Listen to the Data
Make friends with data. Analyze it, then let it guide everything you do. Your decisions, marketing strategies, the content you share via your website and social channels, etc.
Don’t change things for the sake of change. And don’t allow things to run just because you don’t have something else lined up as a plan B. For instance, if you notice that your Facebook digital ad results are slowing down or the ad content is no longer relevant, it’s time to change up the ads. Perhaps you can test a different ad objective.
Make friends with data. Analyze it, then let it guide everything you do.
Need Help Growing Your Marketing Habits in 2024?
Technology Therapy Group wishes you and your team a happy, healthy, and successful business year. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you need some extra support with marketing aspects like data analysis, content marketing, email marketing, or digital ad strategy.
Build Better Marketing Habits with a TTG Mentor
Need some extra guidance and accountability as you cultivate healthier marketing habits in the new year? Invest in TTG’s Mentoring service.
