Now that Thanksgiving is over and the holiday season is officially upon us, most marketers are turning their attention to planning for 2013. But before you jump into next year with full force, there are a few things you should do in order to make sure 2012 comes to a smooth end. Here are our recommendations.
1. Clean up your email marketing lists. Most marketers make list maintenance an ongoing priority, but every email list could use a deep clean now and then. What could be better than kicking off next year with an email marketing list that is in top shape? Begin by preforming a simple data check to correct misspellings and typos that occurred in the data process. Then, remove distribution list addresses (customerservice@example.com) and any addresses that look fake. Most email marketing programs have tools that make this process simple. Finally, address your bounce list by removing addresses that have generated hard bounces, and eliminate any subscribers who have flagged your messages as spam.
2. Revisit your goals. If you’re like most marketers, you set goals for the things you hoped to accomplish in 2012. Now is the time to determine what you’ve achieved. Spend a few hours gathering the metrics you need to evaluate your success in various priority areas. Doing so will help you identify what’s working so you can do more of it in 2013.
3. Identify pain points. It’s just as important to determine which marketing activities have underperformed in 2012 as it is to identify the things that have worked well. Take a look back at the year and make a list of your top five pain points. If you’re like most B2B marketers, lead generation and content marketing may top the list. Then, begin strategizing about how you’ll address these pain points in 2013.
What are you doing to wrap up 2012 and get read for the year ahead?
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