Welcome to 2024! Starting a new year is always exciting: new beginnings always bring new hopes and new plans: a world of endless possibilities and fresh opportunities lies ahead.
What’s YOUR plan? Ideally, marketing planning for the year should have happened in the last quarter of the previous year – if you have no plan, there are still ways to catch up and get up to speed!
Why Do I Need a Plan?
While certain things go better when unplanned – like that coffee you had with that one long-lost friend you had not seen in years – we cannot simply go through life without having a plan: setting goals, strategically planning, and making informed decisions can and will give you better results.
Having a concrete and realistic plan will not only make your goals clearer but can help determine responsibilities and strategies and help to pick the best alternatives.
Whether in business or personal branding, flying by the seat of our pants simply doesn’t cut it. If Q1 is looming without a plan, the chances of achieving the desired results may fall short.
How Can I Start Planning?
Planning is a process. Making a plan does not simply happen overnight or gets done while showering. Being 100% real with you, starting may seem overwhelming, especially if you tend to procrastinate (yes, we are seeing you scrolling over there). Let’s try to break down the process into manageable chunks – little action steps are always more manageable and less intimidating 🙂
1. Start by Reviewing Your Mission
For starters, make sure you know why you are here and why you do what you do. As Simon Sinek said:
“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.”
Take a moment to revisit your mission and evaluate if it still aligns with your values and aspirations. If, for any reason, it doesn’t quite hit the mark, that’s perfectly okay – you can always tweak it.
Your mission is flexible and open to evolution over time: it can be modified as needed.
2. Review Your Past Performance
“Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it”.
History serves as a remarkable teacher: the performance of past periods can help pinpoint what worked well and what didn’t, providing invaluable insights for future planning and decision-making.
TL;DR – looking at your past performance is a good way to save time and money by NOT repeat the things you know are not working.
3. Address Challenges From the Previous Quarter
Let’s be real—nobody’s perfect, and that includes YOU. If the last quarter threw some curveballs your way, no biggie. The first step to overcoming any challenge is acknowledging it. Brainstorm creative solutions and embrace necessary changes to ensure the same issues will not be repeated during the upcoming periods.
4. Decide What Your Goals for the Year Will Be
Now that we have explored who we are and where we come from, it’s time to decide where are we going! What do you aspire to achieve? Be specific and realistic—seriously, I mean it: if you currently have 100+ followers on Instagram, aiming for 100K followers might be a tad unrealistic. The key is to be reasonable, especially considering your past performance (and this is why we started the planning process by reviewing historical data!).
Clear and achievable goals give your efforts purpose.
5. Break Down Your Yearly Goals into Bite-sized Quarterly Targets
Remember when you were little and eating a whole cake sounded unrealistically good? Well, I am not trying to say you should eat a whole cake, but I am trying to point out that big goals can be overwhelming. Instead, break them down into bite-sized pieces: think of where you are headed and set milestones for each Quarter: what can you realistically achieve in Q1? Much like cutting a cake into slices, breaking down your yearly goals into quarterly targets eases the journey and helps you maintain focus.
6. Identify Your Focus Areas
We all have our strengths. Recognizing and aligning them with your goals can help shape your plan. Customize your strategies to enhance your strengths. When choosing a focus area, take into account your limitations and the defined goals to ensure you can deliver the desired results.
7. Choose Key Metrics for Focus
Having plans is cool and everything; but what good is a plan if you can’t measure its success? How do you know it’s the right plan? Selecting metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) is vital for your planning strategy. Track what matters most to your business, and adjust your plans based on performance.
8. Set Your Budget and Assign Responsibilities
Finances matter, and so does clarity on responsibilities. Create a budget for your marketing initiatives and assign clear roles. Knowing who’s in charge of each task ensures accountability and promotes smooth collaboration
Is it Too Late to Start?
The simple answer is YES.
However, life is unpredictable: life just HAPPENS. If you find yourself a bit late to the planning party, DON’T PANIC. A belated beginning is better than no beginning at all when it comes to launching your strategic journey: it’s better late than never.
If you haven’t crafted your 2024 plan yet, there’s no time like the present: seize the moment, make informed decisions, and set the stage for a year of triumph.
Ready to Make 2024 Your Year?
Whether you’re just starting or need help refining your strategy, we’ve got your back. Reach out, and let’s dive into a journey of growth, success, and strategic brilliance together!
