New Year’s Day is the perfect time to reflect on how last year went and what you’d like to be different next year. For many people, New Year’s resolutions are a helpful way to make commitments to create change.
So why shouldn’t they do the same for your organization?
We’ve put together six New Year’s resolutions to help you put your customers first.
1. Treat your email subscribers like people
Every email address on your list represents a real person. And you have a relationship with each one of them. So it’s important that you think about how the emails you send affect that relationship. Are you constantly making sales pitches, spamming your audience until something sticks or they unsubscribe? Or are you taking the time to build rapport, nurturing your audience and focusing on the most relevant pitches?
When someone unsubscribes, it doesn’t necessarily mean they would’ve never purchased. But it does mean you can’t use this channel to talk to them anymore, and they may not have a positive impression of your brand. Treating your subscribers like people is about seeing beyond short-term sales and recognizing the value of a relevant, loyal audience.
2. Get to know your audience
The more you know about who you’re talking to, the better equipped you’ll be to find the overlap between what you do and what they want. What are your audience’s needs, desires, goals, and problems? The best way to find out is to ask. You might consider collecting this information on landing pages, but you could (and should) also survey your audience. As you identify large groups of people you serve, you can create segments to ensure you send them more relevant messaging.
You should also consider creating personas to help you connect your messaging with your audience.
3. Respond when people talk about you
Whenever people talk about your organization online, that’s an easy opportunity for you to provide clarity, resolve conflicts, make your brand feel personal, and engage your customers. But a lot of organizations allow misconceptions and questions about their brand to go unanswered on review sites, forums, and social media platforms. Maybe you made a mistake and disappointed someone. The Internet gives you a chance to publicly acknowledge and correct it, turning a negative experience into a positive one.
The same goes for your industry or product category. When your target audience talks about something within your area of expertise, it creates a chance for you to establish your organization as a thought leader, earn new potential customers, and increase customer loyalty.
4. Optimize your content
No piece of content will ever be perfect. But with regular A/B testing, you can ensure that your emails, landing pages, and ads are as good as they can get. And this doesn’t just improve your results—it helps your audience have the best possible experience with your brand.
5. Simplify your message
The harder it is to understand what you’re saying and why it matters, the less effective your marketing is. Simple language and jargon-free marketing is key to increasing open rates, click-through rates, and conversions because it makes your message more accessible to a larger audience. It can even make a bigger impact on sales than a better offer.
As Donald Miller says, “People don’t buy the best products and services. They buy the ones they can understand the fastest.”
6. Remember why what you do matters
Every marketing asset you create should directly connect to why your organization exists, who you’re trying to help, and what you do. As your organization expands into new areas and your marketing focuses on improving your return on investment, you can lose sight of your brand message. This year, why not start by making a commitment to keep your brand message front and center?
Put your customers first
When you’re creating ads, landing pages, emails, and other marketing assets, it’s easy to focus on what you need each piece to do. But whatever your end goal is—sales, sign-ups, donations, etc.—it’s important to remember that it isn’t the same as your customer’s end goal. And that’s the one that matters. As you shift your focus to what your customers need, you’ll likely find that each piece does a better job meeting your needs, too.
