As we head into a new year, I think it’s safe to say we’re all looking forward to having a fresh start and a new outlook for our businesses. I believe those of us who have strategically survived COVID are feeling optimistic about the future and getting things somewhat back to normal. What a breath of fresh air this would be. In addition to new goals and objectives for the new year, we should also have some New Year’s resolutions when it comes to our marketing strategy. Here, I’ve compiled the top five marketing strategies, including tactics and philosophies, that I’m considering as I put together my game plan for 2021.

#1 – Optimize Content Marketing

Search engine optimization (SEO) has always been important when it comes to marketing yourself online. And it’s never been more important than it is right now. If you want to dominate your industry, or at least have what it takes to stand out and succeed, then you need to be known as a resource, an expert in your field, a master of your craft.

I’ve been talking about thought leadership marketing for a long time, but I’m going to challenge you to look at it from two different dimensions. In the first dimension, you need to be known as an expert by your target audience because they are looking to do business with someone who is knowledgeable and skilled at guiding them along the way. In the second dimension, you need to be known as an expert by Google because Google (or any other search engine) is the one that’s going to put your brand in front of your target audience. In order to convince Google of your expertise, you need to put out keyword-optimized content on a regular basis.

There’s a saying that goes, “The best time to start content marketing would have been five years ago. The second-best time to do it is now.” If you haven’t developed your content marketing strategy yet, then do it now.

#2 – Experiment with New Marketing Channels

The second strategy I recommend trying in 2021 is to experiment with new marketing channels. What would happen if you started sharing content through a new social media channel this year such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or LinkedIn? Perhaps you should consider starting a YouTube channel if you haven’t already.

Be strategic about it. You want to increase engagement, but at the same time, you don’t want to hit all the channels. You want to be focusing on where your target audience is consuming content. Make sure to monitor results so you can see what’s working and change what’s not.

#3 – Write Your Book

Have you considered that this may be the year for you to write that book you’ve been thinking about? If, over the last number of years, you’ve felt compelled to share your story with the world, this is the year to do it.

I’m a big believer in book publishing. Publishing a book positions you as an authority figure and gives you credibility that others don’t have. In business, a book is the most effective business card that you could ever hand to someone.

If you don’t know what to write about, write about your company. Explore your history, culture, core values, vision of the future, brand promises, and go-to-market strategy. You can fill a book much more quickly than you think.

If you’re not a talented writer, hire a ghostwriter. 

#4 – Upgrade Customer Service

I’m a big believer that the number one way to achieve your business development objectives as a company is to first stop the leaky bucket. In other words, you need to stop your clients from leaving you.

It’s well documented that keeping an existing customer is far cheaper than gaining a new customer. And quality customer service is the number one way to ensure that your customers stay with you. As a result of investing your resources into a customer service program that works, you will drastically increase the lifetime value of each customer you engage with.

Customer service is more important now than it has ever been. Servicing your existing customers is absolutely critical. In 2021, I challenge you to up your customer service game and find new and innovative ways to go above and beyond to retain your clientele for as long as possible.

#5 – Change Your Go-to-Market Strategy

The fifth and final strategy that I want you to consider for 2021 is revisiting your go-to-market strategy. Now is the time to look at your existing go-to-market and business development strategies and change what’s not working.

Because of everything we’ve gone through, people—at this moment, at this particular point in history—are more eager for change than they have ever been. When you look at your growth objectives for 2021 and you’re assessing how much business you hope to bring in this year relative to past years, you need to also recognize that you will not get there if you don’t shake things up a little bit.

Now is the time to throw out your old business development model (or at least the components that aren’t working) and bring in new strategies.

Moving Forward

Maybe this is the year you need to look at pay-per-click advertising and own content marketing. Maybe this is the year to start a YouTube Channel or create a business Instagram account. Maybe this is the year you need to publish your own book.

Regardless, this is the year you need to change what you’re doing so that you can achieve greater business results in 2021 than you ever have before. Now is the time because your team, your customers, and your stakeholders are all ready for change now, here, in this moment.

I wish you all the best in your business and growth objectives as we move into this new year together. I truly believe that for everyone reading this article, it’s only right that you succeed. You’ve worked too hard to have it any other way. I challenge you to be bold enough to break what’s good in the pursuit of what’s great and go after your goals and dreams this new year.

Good luck.