Mid-year Marketing Review
Every year, organizations should conduct a mid-year marketing review to assess the effectiveness of their marketing strategies and refine as needed to help set up a successful second half of the year. How are you performing against competitors? Are you monitoring market trends? Is your digital campaign generating leads? Is your social media engaging? Are your website analytics showing an increase in visitors to the areas where you want to grow? Are your public relations activities helping to build credibility, trust, and brand awareness?
This blog outlines key steps every organization can take to analyze its marketing and communications activities for the first half of the year and provides actional recommendations to finish the year strong.
Assess key metrics and performance
Start by reviewing internal data. Determine the products and/or services that outperformed the prior year’s numbers, remained stagnant, or experienced a drop in sales. The data will help you identify sales trends in your products and/or services and provide insight into your organization’s strengths and weaknesses.
Dig into customer feedback. Evaluate online reviews, surveys, and general feedback to understand how your customers feel about your brand, what they like and dislike, and take any reoccurring feedback seriously as it can be a sign of a bigger issue or opportunity.
Conduct a competitor analysis. Identify your top five competitors and audit their social media, website, and online reviews. You also should check to see if they are being sought out by local, national and/or industry media. Being quoted or interviewed regularly by a third-party can help build credibility, authority, and trust.
Evaluate return on investment (ROI). After reviewing internal and external data, take time to evaluate the effectiveness of your organization’s marketing efforts. Some questions to consider: Are the leads from your digital campaign turning into sales? Are your public relations activities helping to build the credibility of individual team members and the brand – and are stories carrying the message you want? Is your website easy to navigate and are there strong calls to action? Are your customers engaging in your social media?
When to take action
What marketing strategies are providing ROI? Your marketing plan for the year ahead may need a new mix of marketing strategies to ensure optimal reach and engagement.
Fine-tune audience segments based on what your internal data, customer feedback and market trends are saying. Is the data showing a shift in demographics, purchasing intentions, or interests? If so, it’s time to refine your target audience.
Create content to better connect with your audience. Develop a content strategy that addresses pain points, interests, and specific needs of your audience. Publish the content and share it. This will allow you to see what resonates most.
Review your marketing and advertising spend. Adjust your budget allocation to feed funds into those marketing strategies that are providing a strong ROI.
Update the plan
After internal and external data has been reviewed and action items have been identified, it’s now time to update the marketing plan and hit the ground running. Create a timeline of the recommended strategy refinements, clearly define roles and responsibilities of team members, and develop key performance indicators to track progress and measure success throughout the second half of the year.
Dedicating time at the mid-year point to assess successes and challenges will give your organization the opportunity to refine and strengthen its marketing efforts for a more successful second half of the year. If you need help with your mid-year marketing review, contact the marketing experts at Chartwell Agency.
