Do Your Homework.

-What is your primary goal for the year?
-Who are you targeting?
-Have you gathered info from focus groups?
-What marketing problems exist?
-What is the competition offering?
-What had a good ROI in the past?

Brainstorm!

-Before the year starts, gather your team and gather ideas.
-List events, promotions, holidays specials.
-How can you reach new customers?
-What’s exciting and new in your company?
-All ideas are good ideas at this phase.

Create the Plan.

-Sort thru the ideas and build your year-long plan.
-Use tools like Google Docs, Monday.com & Trello to get organized.
-Preschedule marketing thru Mail Chimp, Constant Contact, Facebook and other social media planning tools.
-Pick promotions, plan projects, set deadlines, determine budgets
and assign jobs to staff.

Outsource When Necessary.

Most small marketing departments have skill gaps.
Using professionals for all or just key elements can help you put your best foot forward, meet deadlines and manage workloads.