That Holiday Lull: Five Easy Ways to Get a Jump on 2012

Mon 5 Dec 2011 @ 15:00

Carabiner Communications' Peter Baron takes a look at how to get a jumpstart on 2012

Ahh, that stretch between Thanksgiving and New Year's.
Fewer meetings. Less travel. Not so many calls and emails. Time to kick back and …
get in some quiet, thoughtful reflection before your marketing effort is in full swing again.
It's the perfect time to take a deep breath and do some important plotting that can give you a leg up on your competitors in the new year.
For starters, how's social media working for you? Have a little fun with this one, a combination of web surfing and serious research. Take some time to see what your competitors are doing on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and check what their leaders may have profile-wise on Google+. Are you leaving them in the dust? Or is some competitor doing something that makes you take notice? That might make your customers take notice? Good ideas can come from anywhere. (For insight into some free media-monitoring services, read Justin Rubner's blog post, "Did Someone Mention Social Search?").
Speaking of good ideas, step back a bit and think about your messaging across all media. Did what you're saying change in effective ways during 2011? Do you really want to keep saying the same things in 2012? Did marketplace dynamics shift in any way that creates new opportunities to connect with your audience in fresh ways?
And if there are new opportunities to connect with your audience, is your SEO keyword list sufficiently up-to-date to help make it happen? What might prospects be searching for now that they weren't a year ago? And really, how long has it been since your last, really serious SEO keyword list update? If you're doing pay-per-click, don't forget to update those keywords, too.
Unless you're lucky enough to have an offering so popular that the sales team has trouble taking all the orders, lead generation is probably a hot topic right now. How did your lead generation programs perform in 2011? What worked? What didn't? What might help get that sales team so busy it does have a hard time keeping up in 2012?
Back to the most basic of basics, is it time to adjust your media strategy? Publications are putting out their 2012 media calendars as you read this, and the best of them are adjusting their coverage in meaningful ways. Take a look at those calendars – is there anything you can do to take advantage of shifting content?
Depending on your marketing mix, there are probably additional areas that could use some big thinking right now. The point is, we all get so caught up in day-to-day must-do's for most of the year that it's really hard to find time to reflect, assess, and let big thoughts bubble up. The easier schedule most of us have between the holidays is the perfect time to correct that.
And hey, if you'd like a little help, just give us a call. We'll even bring the holiday candy.

Ahh, that stretch between Thanksgiving and New Year's.

Fewer meetings. Less travel. Not so many calls and emails. Time to kick back and …

get in some quiet, thoughtful reflection before your marketing effort is in full swing again.

It's the perfect time to take a deep breath and do some important plotting that can give you a leg up on your competitors in the new year.


For starters, how's social media working for you? Have a little fun with this one, a combination of web surfing and serious research. Take some time to see what your competitors are doing on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and check what their leaders may have profile-wise on Google+. Are you leaving them in the dust? Or is some competitor doing something that makes you take notice? That might make your customers take notice? Good ideas can come from anywhere. (For insight into some free media-monitoring services, read Justin Rubner's blog post, "Did Someone Mention Social Search?").

Speaking of good ideas, step back a bit and think about your messaging across all media. Did what you're saying change in effective ways during 2011? Do you really want to keep saying the same things in 2012? Did marketplace dynamics shift in any way that creates new opportunities to connect with your audience in fresh ways?

And if there are new opportunities to connect with your audience, is your SEO keyword list sufficiently up-to-date to help make it happen? What might prospects be searching for now that they weren't a year ago? And really, how long has it been since your last, really serious SEO keyword list update? If you're doing pay-per-click, don't forget to update those keywords, too.

Unless you're lucky enough to have an offering so popular that the sales team has trouble taking all the orders, lead generation is probably a hot topic right now. How did your lead generation programs perform in 2011? What worked? What didn't? What might help get that sales team so busy it does have a hard time keeping up in 2012?

Back to the most basic of basics, is it time to adjust your media strategy? Publications are putting out their 2012 media calendars as you read this, and the best of them are adjusting their coverage in meaningful ways. Take a look at those calendars – is there anything you can do to take advantage of shifting content?

Depending on your marketing mix, there are probably additional areas that could use some big thinking right now. The point is, we all get so caught up in day-to-day must-do's for most of the year that it's really hard to find time to reflect, assess, and let big thoughts bubble up. The easier schedule most of us have between the holidays is the perfect time to correct that.

And hey, if you'd like a little help, just give us a call. We'll even bring the holiday candy.