Start planning now for 2023.
We have taken a little time to reflect on 2022 and we hope it has been as busy a year for you as it has been for ProspectaBase? We expect, like us, that you're happy to have left COVID-19 restrictions behind and that you have gone full throttle into rebuilding business partnerships and relationships. The last few months have seen us all adapt; adjusting to a diverse and constantly changing set of circumstances whilst continuing to grow our brands and companies.
During this year we haven't been able to get out and see as many customers as we would have liked, but in recent weeks we have enjoyed a flurry of face-to-face meetings, which has brought us immense joy! As a company we believe in communication and human to human contact so getting out of the office and having customers visit us in our office has been a real tonic.
It’s now time to look forward to 2023 in earnest. We are sure your strategy is in place and campaigns are scheduled. But in case not, there is still time! You can achieve a lot in the next 6 weeks to help you hit the ground running when January comes around.
Here are some top tips for planning your 2023 activity to make the most of your budget, your brand, and your business:
Plan:
Decide on business objectives
What do you want to achieve and when?
What is the current state of your business and that of your competitors?
Calculate your financial forecast
Strategise:
How will you achieve your objectives?
Will you use a multi-touch approach?
What tools do you need to accomplish your goals? e.g. additional budget, extra heads, clean and fresh marketing contact data
Look at industry trends
Create a plan of action
Review, revise and proofread your plan
Implement:
Execute and manage your plan
Measure:
Stop, start, continue
Measure and analyse what has worked. Stop the things that have not, try new things instead and continue with those elements that are paying dividends
The Data is in the Detail
For those of us in the data industry we see data as a key factor in business planning. Marketing campaigns are going to be one of the vital tenets of any plan and your campaigns will only thrive if you have the right contact data to call/email/post/SMS in to. Data is the lifeblood of all marketing campaigns, without it your messaging will fall on deaf ears.
As stated by Majesteye, “data helps companies predict trends, identify opportunities, and stay ahead of their competition by providing them with insights into consumer behavior or market conditions before they happen and by enabling accurate, personalised communications and marketing activity.”
Data is essential for businesses to thrive. Organisations use data to make informed decisions based on accurate information (rather than just guesses or instincts) and to contact customers and prospects to maintain or build sound relationships and brand loyalty using compelling personalised, targeted marketing.
It is all very well having data, but it is the quality that is important. You may have an abundance of data but is it clean, accurate and tidy and can it do the job you want it to do? If you've been neglecting your data, this could have dire consequences as you kick off 2023 marketing campaigns.
Accurate, quality contact data has the following benefits:
It makes timely, successful communication possible
It presents an advantage over your competitors
It opens up new avenues
It supplies a better, personalised customer experience
Data quality is important for one main reason: organisations can provide customers with the best experiences when they make contact and decisions based on accurate data. We all know that great customer experiences lead to happy customers, enhanced brand loyalty, pipeline growth and improved marketing ROI. Why would you risk using stale, unkempt data when clean, fresh data is at your disposal?
We are not pushing you into buying data (although that is always a good option if you want to extend your reach into silos, regions, or buyer personas that you've not previously targeted). Purchasing, or subscribing to, fresh data is a great idea if you don’t have a database of your own, but if you do, you can make this work harder and smarter for you by giving it a thorough cleanse. ProspectaBase offers this type of service via PureData; a service which takes your dirty data, puts it through the equivalent of a 60° wash and turns it into clean data. Not only that, but you can also consider injecting new data intelligence into your database to make it work even harder on your behalf. ProspectaBase can enrich your patchy, stale data with existing IT landscape and installation details e.g., number of network users, physical/virtual server count and data volume as well as vendor installation insight for a variety of remits.
If you consider data as the beating heart of your marketing potential, this element of your business plan must be top-notch to achieve your goals. Planning activity for 2023 is a big deal. There are lots of elements to consider. When you start your planning, consider all your strengths and weaknesses, and put systems, data and approaches in place to get the best return on your investment.
