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of holidays it can be hectic, but one thing that always helps is a list. Even Santa Claus needs one – and I hear he checks twice!
I have a holiday routine that I follow every year to help me reflect on how my business has performed over the past year and how it can improve in the coming year. These essential tasks have helped me grow my business, PostcardManiafrom nothing to over $100 million in annual revenue. The best part is that our revenue growth is accelerating, which is a great achievement for a 26-year-old business. As of 2020, our annual revenue is averaging 15% growth – three times better than the previous decade's average growth of 5%.
This checklist will help you in the process of analyzing your results and preparing for next year.
Related: The 4 Marketing Drivers You Need to Set Up Now to Recharge Your New Year
Review marketing metrics and focus on top line growth (aka new sales).
At the end of the year, take the time to compile all of your results data—firsts, sales, and where both come from.
For me, I look at what's driving high level growth (ie, orders from new customers). Many coaches and consultants focus on bottom line growth, but the top line is where I find the most useful information when it comes to marketing.
What drives sales? What brings the best ROI? Once you know this, you can increase efficiency down the line to improve profitability/bottom line, but growing that top line is always my number one priority.
For example, last year, we noticed that new orders were down. My lovely VP of Sales, Ashlie, who has been with me for over 20 years, made a great observation and suggestion. She asked, “How about we raise the postcards?”
Um, HELLO – I had to practice what I preach!! We looked at it and somehow, our outbound postcard promotion was down from 205,000 per week to 195,000. So we increased our postcard output again (it's now over 260,000) and new orders and income from first time buyer is finally up. This increase is over $1 million in the highest increase of the year to date. As I write this, we still have four weeks left in the year.
What's more: We already know that half of these new customers will order more than once – and many will order for years and years to come.
For me, this was huge! A “come to Jesus” moment – if we increase our postcard mailings, we increase our top line without fail. It's a little embarrassing because that's my mantra and I've missed it.
What works for my business may not be what works for yours, but you have to work to find that key growth driver. Once you know it, grow it like nobody's business and increase efficiency as you go. This has been the key to growing MY business.
Look for year-over-year trends to make adjustments
It's not just the current year's results that you want to review. Compare the last five years to identify trends. If you don't have data that goes back that far, try to gather every piece of information you can to get a bigger picture of what may have changed or stayed the same over a period of time.
how are you marketing strategies evolved? I can tell you that in my business, PostcardMania, direct mail marketing continues to deliver massive results. We mail out hundreds of thousands of postcards every week advertising our services like clockwork.
But we've also tested other marketing strategies over time. For example, most of our social media ads were static images. Then, last year, we decided to launch a series of short video ads for our clients' successful marketing campaigns, and we saw a huge difference. As a result, our social media leads doubled, increasing by 105%! Since then, we've switched most of our Facebook and Instagram ads to video instead of photos.
What is your most important marketing trend? It will be different for every business, but the bottom line is that the more you tradethe more your business will grow. This is a tried and true trend that will always remain the same.
Related: What I learned from spending $5.9 million on marketing last year
Analyze your sales funnel to discover opportunities for improvement
Even if you relied on the same sales funnel for years to deliver to customers, it is still useful to analyze its performance to see if there is room for improvement.
Where do you normally see prospects lose interest? Find the weakest points in the communication channels and prepare strategies to attract them.
Typically, an interested buyer will visit your website before making any final decisions. This is a key point where prospects will often fall down your funnel – but you can do something about it. At PostcardMania, we use technology to match a website visitor's IP address with their physical address, then send them a retargeted postcard within 24-48 hours of their visit to the website. The mailman sitting inside their home helps them return for a purchase.
I also recommend creating a solid schedule of reminder ads, emails, and phone calls to re-engage prospects who haven't yet converted. If you can automate these tactics to be responsive using your CRMthis is even more ideal. This will reduce the workload on your end and create a more personalized experience for prospects. Win-win!
Remember to work smarter, not necessarily harder.
Track your competitors and compare for additional insights
By now, you should have an idea of who your main competitors are. A well thought out marketing strategy includes a competition analysis as well as their marketing.
What did your competitor offer this year? Was it better than the discounts or free items you advertised? Who did their ads appeal to in terms of audience? If you are not sure, be sure to visit their websites and sign up for their newsletters or marketing promotions. I also suggest setting up a Google alert for each competitor that will send any new mentions across the web directly to your inbox. Consider all of this information and detail any offers or messages that may have performed better than yours. Then, get together with your team to come up with even better strategies next year to stay ahead of the competition.
Just keep in mind that your business must maintain its unique mission and identity regardless of any changes in advertising and promotions.
Ask your customers for feedback through surveys and reviews
I can't preach this enough, but the only way you will get more positive comments is asking! The end of the year is the perfect time to send an email or text message to customers and ask them to rate your products, services and customer service.
By giving customers an opportunity to provide feedback, you not only increase your credibility online, but also gain more information about what your customers like and dislike so much.
My staff regularly takes the time to ask for feedback from happy customers. If someone has had a good experience, they will most likely leave a review when asked!
Once we put a process in place to do this, our five-star ratings skyrocketed. I'm B2B, and I've noticed that my competitors – even publicly traded competitors that are 10 times our size – have achieved a lot, FAR less good reviews than us.
Create a comprehensive plan for the new year
You don't have to wait for the new year to make changes. Once you digest your business results data, you can start a new marketing strategy. The best time to buy is before the end of the year so you can reinvest taxable profits back into your business and reduce your tax burden. Some purchases may even qualify tax credits!
If you're a B2B business like us, go ahead and send a letter to your customers and clients and give them the great idea to pre-purchase your product or service before the end of the year. Some of them inevitably will, and you'll see a spike in December, when people are usually too preoccupied with the holidays to spend taxable income. We do this every year, and December is often our biggest month of the year!
Celebrate your successes and appreciate those who contributed
The year doesn't have to end before you claim all your wins! Even if this year wasn't your best, you still can celebrate every achievement. Include these wins in year-end events or create a company email newsletter full of positive points. Be sure to give credit to anyone who contributed to the growth of your business. It will boost company morale and encourage the entire team to do even better next year.