Holidays are a good time to relax, spend time with family and loved ones as well as recharge for the New Year.
It is easy to fall into the trap of relaxing too much and not planning to start off the New Year right. I get it, the food, fun and companionship is too compelling and we all want to be a little lazy every now and then.
I found myself struggling to do this very post. I took some time off this week to get some rest as well as complete some projects at home that needed to get done. But here I am posting this in hopes that it will energize me to create more content that will help inspire you to crush it this coming year when it comes to marketing!
Now is a good time to look at your posts, content and metrics from last year to see what worked and what did not. Take this opportunity to repurpose your best content and notate other content that did not resonate well with your audience. This will allow you to augment your 2017 schedule with known good content and leave behind the lower performing stuff.
Here are some things to watch in the New Year:
Video: In 2016, we saw the rise of video content as well as live video. Facebook live has taken off and Periscope has just launched 360 video capabilities.
Humans are visual beings, so it is a not surprising that video is appealing and consumed at a high frequency. Make sure to use compelling and interesting content in your videos. Use Facebook Live to broadcast to your audience and verbally respond to their comments. Remember that your video live on past your live broadcast so it can be viewed by other people on your timeline later on.
Don’t forget about SnapChat, Instagram Video and Twitter Live. Those are other channels that you should try to incorporate into your social media planning. Maybe you can try a new channel in 2017!
Virtual Reality: VR is quietly growing and finding new uses every day. With the success of augmented reality, VR is the next step.
Just think, customers can have near life experiences with products and also go on virtual tours of stores, vacation spots and much more. There is no limit when it comes to what you could experience in VR.
For small businesses, you may not see a compelling reason to use VR, but you should keep an eye on how others are using it.
Engagement: when it comes to being online, if you are not engaging, you are irrelivant. Don’t put out content just to have something to post. Make sure it is interesting so that your followers find value and come back for more.
Remember that sharing is caring, but is also a signal. The more comments, likes and shares you have, the more viral your content will become. On Facebook, it will impact the amount of fans that see your posts.
Whatever you do, don’t wait until you are already into 2017 to start planning, because you will already be behind and lose the opportunity to start the year off with great success.
Do you have a marketing plan in place for 2017 already? Let us know.
