5 mistakes to avoid when finalizing your 2023 marketing plan
Before you call your 2023 marketing plan and budget allocation final, here are five common errors to avoid – and moves you can make now to maximize your time and spend next year.
#1: Failing to set clear, measurable objectives and priorities
One of the most common mistakes marketers make is failing to set clear goals and measurable outcomes and KPI’s for their campaigns – tied to organizational strategies. Today’s C-Suite is demanding to see direct and specific results from marketing spends. Success can lead to increased budget and support. Without clearly spelled out goals, it will be harder to claim success (or take lessons for next time).
“Today’s C-Suite is demanding to see direct and specific results from marketing spends.”
Before the holidays, set a meeting with key departmental leaders across the organization. Assess this year’s marketing programs, review results and impacts, and ask for honest feedback – you’ll get it! Then finalize next year’s goals and department expectations.
#2: Merely tweaking last year’s plan
While it’s tempting to simply make a few incremental changes, everything about the economy, consumer confidence, interest rates, technology and product demand will look different in 2023 than it did in 2022.
Reassess your priorities: where can you cut back legacy investments, how can you focus on more trackable tactics, what part of your funnel is most leaky and how can you tighten that up? Marketing strategies, goals and actions are more dynamic every year in a digital-first world.
“How could your team work differently in 2023 to drive results?”
And reassess the talent needs on your team, as well as the strategic partners you have extending your team’s capacity and capabilities. While you’re at it, evaluate the tools and processes in use – can these be more effective, to free your team up from manual processes to be more strategic and creative? Empowered with best in class insights and automation, how could your team work differently in 2023 to drive results?
#3: Using bad or inferior data to drive decisions
If your marketing plan is based on inaccurate, outdated, or limited member data, your whole strategy could be off-base. Make sure you’re using reliable data sources, research, trends insights and competitive tracking before making big decisions. Find ways to bolster and improve the quality, value, recency and data insights around your members lives, needs, behaviors and channel preferences. It’s time to get serious about lifestyle segmentation and buyer preferences from transactional and behavioral data.
#4: Focusing exclusively on new member acquisition
Acquiring new members is vital to reach your growth goals, but it can’t come at the expense of overall performance. Two things can go wrong here: failure to address churn (a surprising number of CUs don’t even track this), or such a strong focus on growth that the new members being acquired are not forming robust relationships.
Don’t lose sight of key retention efforts to grow, serve and impact the financial health of members you already have. New members cost an average of $200 – $1,200 to land. A well-focused retention strategy, and smart reboarding programs can help keep marketing costs down by reducing churn and deepening existing relationships.
Prioritize your new member onboarding programs, and your existing member reboarding journeys with advanced analytics and marketing automation to improve relevant personalized communications and track daily results.
#5: Failing to evaluate and continuously improve
“Just because something worked well ten years ago doesn’t mean it’s the best way to connect with today’s consumers.”
Finally, one of the most common mistakes marketers make is failing to evaluate their initiatives on a regular basis, and allowing “institutional wisdom” to drive the internal marketing narrative. Just because something worked well ten years ago doesn’t mean it’s the best way to connect with today’s consumers. Today’s marketing environment requires subtle adjustments on a continuous basis to optimize performance and respond rapidly to changes.
Now is the time to get the processes and tools in place for 2023 to be your most sophisticated and successful marketing year yet.
This article was originally published in CUInsight.