The new financial year brings an opportunity to reflect on what you’ve achieved and what changes or improvements you need to make for the new year. So, what’s your plan of attack for the new financial year? Could this be the year to ramp up your social media marketing? Perhaps the time has finally come to tackle Google AdWords to increase your sales numbers? You might even be feeling a bit stuck as to where you should place your focus. That’s where we come in. Here are some key marketing areas every business should be focusing in the new financial year.

Going back to the customer

As marketing channels improve their capabilities and features many businesses feel like they’re losing touch with their customers. We’re closer to them than ever, yet feel so far away. Invest in training for your staff to ensure that all interactions with the customer are a memorable experience that will keep them coming back for more. Set communication guidelines that your team can follow to ensure language is consistent for a repeatable customer experience. Take the time to send your customers surveys and feedback forms for them to share their feedback. Finally, take time to re-analyse your customers. They might have changed. If their demographics haven’t, their needs and motivations might have. In 2018, spend time ‘going back to the customer’ to ensure you understand who they are, where they are consuming their media and what value you provide to their lives.

Live Chat

Every business needs this! Live chat bots are your 24/7 receptionist. They’re there to greet a user who lands on your website and help turn them into a customer by guiding them through a process and/or answering their questions. There’s been a huge shift in where people are choosing to make contact with businesses – surprise, surprise – it’s Facebook Messenger. You can actually integrate a Facebook Messenger chat bot onto your website – learn more here. Take advantage of this integration to provide an attentive service to people who visit your website.

Personalised Content

Consumers want personalised content that keeps them engaged and addresses their questions. Keep them engaged with Facebook posts, blogs, monthly EDMs and video content to keep them interested and informed. Where possible personalise your content to make it more meaningful to your customers. This comes back to segmenting your customer so you know who you’re talking to and how you need to talk to them.