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Make a plan with a difference in 2024

January 2024

Reading time: 3 minute(s).

Hello 2024! And happy new year to everyone.

It’s that time of year when new plans are set into motion. Which, for us here at Strand, is very exciting.

However, as we look forward to the next 12 months, we wanted to stop and take a minute to highlight some key things to consider for your marketing and comms planning.

Smaller steps allow you to be much more accurate with where the budget is allocated

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Do something really well

We’ll often talk to marketing managers or business owners who are keen to push for more activity, but don’t quite know where to start. If you create a 100-page strategy with leverages, segmentations and lots of tactical activity, the chances are it’ll serve your business better as a doorstop than plan of action.  

So, don’t do that.  

What you should do is prepare to test. Start with a few key activities and test, test, test. Review the organisational objectives, ensure your activities and anticipated ROI are aligned and then go for it.  

Smaller steps allow you to be much more accurate with where the budget is allocated. 

Do create space for flexibility 

Once you’ve spent the first quarter testing out new activity and assessing performance, now is the time to tweak your tactical activity.

So, in that beautiful marketing plan, keep some headroom for changes, adaptations or new actions.  

Do internal communications 

We observed a push in 2023 to move this type of communications to internal HR teams. Which is great when it comes to getting the information you need on a functional level. But, is that the goal? Probably not.  

Creating a plan for inspiring, driving and supporting your teams could be your competitive advantage in 2024. They are your very first brand ambassadors and should be a key part of your communications strategy.  

Do put the customer at the heart of the story 

You probably expected that from a marketing and comms agency, but it’s true. You telling me you’re great really is just an advert. But if your customer says it, you’ve got yourself some third-party endorsement.  

If you’ve previously collected testimonials in written form, try something new this year. At the very least, get a professional photograph of your team member with that customer at their premises or invest in video.  

 

We’re ever sceptical of reviews online, so make yours stand out.  

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January 2024 | Laura Pearce