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The holidays can be hectic, but one thing that always helps is a list. Even Santa Claus needs one — and I’ve heard he checks his twice!
I have a holiday routine I follow every year to help me reflect on how my business performed over the past year and how it can improve in the next. These crucial tasks have helped me grow my business, PostcardMania, from nothing to over $100 million in annual revenue. The best part is that our revenue growth is accelerating, which is a big accomplishment for a 26-year-old business. Since 2020, our annual revenue averages 15% growth — three times better than the previous decade’s average of 5% growth.
This checklist will help guide you in the process of analyzing your results and preparing for the year ahead.
Related: 4 Marketing Triggers You Need to Set Up Now to Supercharge Your New Year
Review marketing metrics and focus on top-line (aka new sales) growth
At the end of the year, take time to compile all of your results data — leads, sales, and where both are coming from.
For me, I look at what’s driving top-line growth (i.e., orders from new customers). A lot of coaches and consultants focus on bottom-line growth, but top-line is where I find the most useful information when it comes to marketing.
What’s driving sales? What brings in the best ROI? Once you know that, you can build in efficiencies down the line to improve profitability/bottom line, but getting that top line to grow is always my number one priority.
For example, last year, we noticed that new orders were down. My beautiful VP of Sales, Ashlie, who has been with me for over 20 years, made an excellent observation and suggestion. She asked, “How about we increase the postcards?”
Um, HELLO — I needed to practice what I preach!! We looked into it, and somehow, our outgoing postcard promotion had been cut from 205,000 weekly to 195,000. So, we increased our postcard outflow again (it’s now at over 260,000), and new orders and revenue from first-time buyers is finally up. That increase is over $1 million in top-line growth year to date. As I write this, we still have four weeks left in the year.
On top of that: We already know that half of those new clients will order more than once — and many will order for years and years to come.
To me, this was huge! A “come to Jesus” moment — if we increase our postcard mailings, we increase our top line without fail. It’s a little bit embarrassing because this is my mantra, and I missed it.
What works for my business may not be what works for yours, but you have to put the work in to find that top-line growth driver. Once you know it, grow it like no one’s business and build in efficiencies as you go. That has been the key to growing MY business.
Look for year-over-year trends to make adjustments
It’s not just the current year’s results you want to scrutinize. Compare the last five years to identify trends. If you don’t have data that goes that far back, try to gather any information possible to obtain a bigger picture of what may have changed or stayed the same over a span of time.
How have your marketing strategies evolved? I can tell you that at my business, PostcardMania, direct mail marketing continues to deliver massive results. We mail hundreds of thousands of postcards every week advertising our services like clockwork.
But we’ve also tested other marketing strategies over time. For example, the majority of our social media ads were static images. Then, last year, we decided to launch a series of short video ads about our clients’ successful marketing campaigns, and we witnessed a huge difference. As a result, our social media leads doubled, increasing by 105%! Since then, we’ve transitioned most of our ads on Facebook and Instagram to video instead of photos.
What is your most significant marketing trend? It will be different for every business, but the crucial takeaway is that the more you market, the more your business will grow. That’s a tried-and-true trend that will always stay the same.
Related: What I Learned From Spending $5.9 Million on Marketing Last Year
Analyze your sales funnel to discover opportunities for improvement
Even if you have been relying on the same sales funnel for years to deliver customers, it’s still beneficial to analyze its performance to see if there’s room for improvement.
Where do you normally witness prospects losing interest? Find the weaker spots in the communication channels and brainstorm strategies to draw them back in.
Typically, an interested buyer will visit your website before making any final decisions. This is a key point where prospects will often fall out of your funnel — but you can do something about it. At PostcardMania, we use technology to match a website visitor’s IP address with their physical address, then mail them a retargeted postcard within 24-48 hours following their website visit. The mailer sitting inside their house helps bring them back for a purchase.
I also recommend creating a solid schedule of reminder ads, emails and phone calls to re-engage prospects who haven’t converted yet. If you can automate these tactics to be responsive using your CRM, that’s even more ideal. This will cut down on the workload on your end and create a more personalized experience for prospects. Win-win!
Remember to work smarter, not necessarily harder.
Track your competitors and compare for additional insights
By now, you should have an idea of who your main competitors are. A well-thought-out marketing strategy includes an analysis of the competition and their marketing as well.
What did your competitor offer this year? Was it better than the discounts or free items you advertised? Who did their ads appeal to in regards to audience? If you aren’t sure, make sure to visit their websites and sign up for their newsletters or marketing promotions. I also suggest creating a Google alert for each competitor that will send any new mentions across the web right to your inbox. Take all of this information into account and detail any offers or messages that may have performed better than yours. Then, rally with your team to come up with even better strategies next year to get ahead of the competition.
Just keep in mind that your business should maintain its unique mission and identity despite any changes in advertising and promotions.
Ask your customers for feedback through surveys and reviews
I can’t preach this enough, but the only way you are going to get more positive reviews is by asking! The end of the year is the perfect time to send out an email or text message to customers and ask them to rate your products, services and customer service.
By giving customers an opportunity to provide feedback, you not only increase your credibility online, but you also gain more information about what your customers love and don’t like as much.
My staff regularly takes time to ask happy clients for reviews. If someone’s had a good experience, they’re very likely to leave a review when asked!
Once we put a process in place to do this, our five-star reviews skyrocketed. I’m B2B, and I noticed my competitors — even publicly traded competitors that are 10x our size — have far, far fewer good reviews than we do.
Create a comprehensive plan for the new year
You don’t have to wait until the new year to make changes. As soon as you digest your business’s results data, you can begin a new marketing strategy. The best time to make purchases is before the end of the year so that you can reinvest otherwise taxable profits back into your business and reduce your tax burden. Some purchases might even be eligible for tax credits!
If you are a B2B business like we are, go ahead and mail a letter to your prospects and customers and give them the great idea to pre-buy your product or service before the end of the year. Some of them inevitably will, and you’ll see a boost in December when people are usually too preoccupied with the holidays to spend that taxable income. We do this every year, and December is often our biggest month of the year!
Celebrate your successes and acknowledge those who contributed
The year shouldn’t end before you acknowledge all of your wins! Even if this year wasn’t your best, you can still celebrate any accomplishment. Include these victories in end-of-year events, or create a company email newsletter full of positive highlights. Make sure to give credit to anyone who contributed to the growth of your business. It will boost company morale and encourage the whole team to do even better in the coming year.
