At midnight tonight, you’ll probably announce your latest New Year’s resolutions — some of which you will follow through with … others, you will shame yourself for not accomplishing this time next year. But when it comes to your marketing goals for 2014, set resolutions you can stick to and take your B2B marketing practices to the next level with a little practice and commitment this year.
1. Reach for the stars with your mobile experience: 2013 brought a lot of discussion about the importance of responsive design, mobile optimization and user experience. At this point, you’re probably just as likely to have a quality mobile experience as you are to have a poor one. In 2014, move your mobile focus from “best practices” to making a uniquely memorable and engaging mobile experience for your users.
Using white papers to drive leads through your website? How can a user download a white paper to their mobile device? Do you allow them to email the offer to themselves if they prefer? Do you know what actions your users need prioritized on mobile for your particular site? What are your mobile users interested in when they land on your site? Have you tested your site on multiple devices personally?
2. Increase your focus on great quality content: Focus on content your users will go bananas for. Write more content for your company blog. Search for guest blog opportunities on relevant blogs. Ask yourself with each piece of content you put out, “Am I psyched to read this?” If the answer is no, you’re probably not doing content right.
If you haven’t already figured out a content generation cycle that works for your organization, this will be your year. For each content marketing asset you release, think about how you can repurpose parts of it to get the most out of your content. Tie several related blog posts together to become an e-book. Take research from a white paper and create an infographic. Focus on repurposing quality content to manage your editorial expectations in 2014.
3. Put the spotlight on customer advocacy: Whether you attended InfluenceHR this year or not, you have, no doubt, heard the buzz around the topic of advocacy. In 2014, prioritize the importance of testimonials, referrals, and customer-generated content to create an advocacy strategy that will work for you and your business. Get out there and introduce yourself to influencers in the community. Introduce gamification in your existing advocacy program and see if you can move the needle. How can you improve your customer advocacy program this year? You can download The Advocate Marketing Playbook from Influitive if you want to get your customer advocacy program started this year and don’t know where to begin.
4. Raise the bar for measurement: We have already seen B2B marketers putting a whole new kind of pressure on marketing measurement and that demand is only going to increase. In 2014, you should focus on getting an overall marketing metrics dashboard in place that lets you know how each piece of your marketing puzzle contributes to the big picture. This is the year to take social media out of the silo and hold it to the same standards of marketing performance you hold all other channels (that means impressions, clicks, and conversions — not just retweets, engagement, and influence). Hold your marketing programs to the highest possible standard in 2014.
