Hard to believe that we have only 2.5 months left of this current year.  Things are starting to wind-down or wind-up depending on the industry you are in.

However, regardless of our industry there are things that every marketer needs to be thinking about as the year begins to come to a close.  Think of this article as your marketing checklist to close out this year successfully and bring in a new one with a foundational marketing strategy and plan.

As we begin to prepare for the end of the year, we start really looking at our goals and many of those goals have revenue tied to them. My hope is you have been keeping an eye on your marketing metrics throughout the year, but if you haven’t watched them as close as you should of there are things you can do to boost revenues before the end of the year.   Think about it, many businesses slow their marketing efforts at the end of the year, this gives you an opportunity to gain the competitive edge by not following that trend.  Grab a piece of paper and a pen and let’s get started.

• What low-hanging fruit (product, service or event) could you focus on now and promote for the next 10 weeks that would help you in reaching your revenue growth goal?   Don’t quit yet, you still have time.
• What one thing could you start doing today that would easily and quickly grow your sales?   Think behavior not tactic.
• What high potential prospects could you follow-up that haven’t yet purchased your products and/or services yet this year?  Go ahead, take a few moments and right down five.

• Do you need to consider end of the year media buying?  When it comes to media buying, your fourth quarter of marketing is like the fourth quarter of a football game. This is the time to make those big plays if you have found that you are facing some shortcomings or losses in previous quarters.

Hopefully the four questions above have given you some firm action steps that you can start taking today, not tomorrow to help in increasing your overall sales numbers.  Put a timeline to those action steps and get busy – don’t quit yet, every moment counts.   Finish strong!

What else do you need to consider in fourth quarter when it comes to marketing?

Great question, this is also the time to start planning for the upcoming year, so that you don’t find yourself scrambling when effective planning makes it unnecessary.  To ensure you are ready for the upcoming year take time to:

• Create your marketing plan for next year.   This is one of the most valuable documents that you can have especially if you draft it as a month-by-month blueprint.  Consider putting the following items in your marketing plan:
  • Promotional Calendar
  • Communication Strategy and Plan
  • Product / Service Launch Timelines
     
• Create a professional development plan for you and your team.  This is extremely important in our shifting world of marketing.  It’s difficult to stay up-to-date with all the new strategies, tactics that are being introduced and changes in consumer behavior.  Create a professional development plan that will give you the time and tools to keep your marketing effective and cutting edge.
   
• Identify the resources and tools you’ll need.  Our marketing departments are continually doing more with less.  Most of us are all stilling running on shoestring budgets and short staffed.  We’ve learned how to work around this since the recession in 2008.  While your marketing plan is fresh in your mind and your development plan has just been drafted take some time to create your wish list of resources and tools that you’ll need to be successful.   While you may not be able to secure everything or everyone on your list it will at least give you an idea of what you really need to build and grow and efficient process and team.  Besides you’ll need this if you are headed into your end of the year budget meeting and have to justify extra expenditures in the upcoming year.   Go in prepared by having the ability to explain exactly what and why you need additional headcount and/or marketing tools that get the job done easier.