How to prepare your business for Q2: Marketing edition
As Q1 winds down, it’s the perfect time to take stock of where you are in your business and start thinking about your goals and strategy for Q2.
One of the best ways to help build up a strategy for this next quarter is to look back at everything you've done so far and evaluate what’s been going on in your business!
As business owners, we get so busy and can easily get caught up on moving forward all the time. We’re constantly thinking about what comes next.
But the truth is, that in order to create a better path for us to follow when moving forward, we need to look backwards first!
This is why I always recommend doing a SWOT analysis on your business at the end of every quarter to help you devise a better strategy for the quarter ahead.
For me (and when helping my clients) there are several things I focus on when it comes to reviewing the past few months of business.
These include financials, your website content, email marketing, paid advertising, social media marketing, , team, resources and even your energy.
So let’s break down each of these and evaluate how you can use them to create a killer marketing strategy moving forward!
But before we start, I want to remind you that when you’re doing this SWOT analysis, it’s super important to be honest with yourself because this is what will lead to the best improvements!
Okay…let’s get into it!
Social Media & Digital Marketing
There is so much insight to be gained from looking back over your social media.
Generally speaking, you want to be looking at what content performed the best and on what platform. To do this, you need to establish what metric is most valuable for you- Clicks, views, likes or saves.
You want to choose the metric that best represents your wider goals for the next quarter so you can look at what type of content you need to be creating going forward.
The metric you choose will also depend on where you are in terms of strategy at the moment. If your main goal is to increase awareness in your business, views and impressions are going to be key metrics.
But if your main goal is to increase conversions, link clicks/ messages will likely be more important!
If you’re carrying out other digital marketing activities like Email, it’s also a good idea to look at what campaigns are performing well, what links people are clicking on, what is your open rate etc!
Website
Your website is a bit like your social media in the sense that it has a lot of insight to offer you!
So there are a few things you want to review:
What pages are getting the most traffic- this will give you a big indication of what pages are of the most interest to people visiting your site. You can use this to build more content around the topics covered on these pages!
Identify where the traffic is coming from- Where are most people coming from? Your social media? Ads? Organic search? Using this information you can see where you need to put the most effort in and what's working well when it comes to driving traffic to your website.
Look over your analytics- whether you have built-in analytics or use google analytics, having a good look over them before Q2 can be invaluable- look at what people are searching for, how long they stay on your site, when they exit or how many people buy from your website. (Also, if you don’t have Google Analytics yet, you’ll be invited to create a Google Analytics 4 account, if you are already using analytics, make sure you make the switch and set up GA4 sooner rather than later, as universal analytics is set to stop working on July 23. So set GA4 up now, to start collecting data that you can look back on.
Finances
I know, I know, reviewing your finances can feel a little daunting but it’s so important to do!
Especially when it comes to being able to create strategic and impactful plans for your business.
Look at what you’re spending each month and unsubscribe and get rid of anything you don’t need!
Remember to talk to your accountant about this too. I’m currently in the process of switching to a new accountant, she uses the profit-first method which I’m really interested in learning about.
I’ll also be reviewing exactly what I’m spending. Knowing what budget you have to utilise can also majorly impact your marketing as you’ll know what help and tools you can (or can’t) afford to invest in!
Energy
This might sound like an odd thing to include in your marketing review of Q1 but it’s arguably one of the most important!
Take a look at how you’ve been feeling throughout the last quarter. Where did most of your energy go? Were you doing a lot of tasks that felt draining? Were you excited by what you were doing in your business?
How much time did you take to relax and reset?
As business owners, we’re often always focused and working toward our goals, which is great….but not at the expense of our mental and physical health!
Taking time for yourself can be so beneficial. Often, our best ideas come to us when we allow ourselves to switch off, consequently allowing us to propel ourselves forward!
So when you’re looking back over the past quarter while building your strategy for the next one, make sure to take stock of yourself as well as your business.
Team
When I say team, I mean any people you have working for you and the tech tools you use to support you as well!
Look at what's working well, what isn’t and what additions you may need to make.
Now is also the perfect time to start thinking about what new automations you could put in place to help you reach your goals and save you a bit of time too!
Also, if the last quarter felt like a massive overwhelm and you know you’re pushing your limits, it’s probably time to look at hiring new people and potentially bringing in outside experts to help you keep your momentum without burning out in the process!
A final important thing to look at when you’re evaluating your team and what additional support you might need in Q2.
Feeling overwhelmed at the thought of Q2?
That’s understandable!
There can be a lot to think about when it comes to preparing for a new quarter and the key to setting yourself up for success is to plan, plan and plan.
If you need a bit of help working through this review in a structured, proactive and efficient way, I offer marketing intensive where we can work through this together and come up with a marketing strategy that will support you through the next quarter!
You can learn more about it here!
