The beginning of the year is a good time to sum up, analyse and plan. Turning brilliant ideas into real actions doesn’t always come easy, so it’s a good strategy to start small and plan realistically. These three simple steps will help you expand your business and get ready for a better and more effective year.     

1. Measure your marketing efforts

Whether you use social media, run e-mail campaigns or write a blog to market your services, it’s time to analyse the results you achieved last year. This will help you realise which strategies and marketing channels where the most efficient and prepare an improved action plan for 2015. Maybe you’ll find out that certain social media channels didn’t work for your business, or maybe you’ll realise that personal networking was the most beneficial strategy. Use your findings wisely and in the following year focus on actions that are most likely to boost your marketing results. 

2. Keep abreast of market developments

Make sure you’re up to date with all market changes and trends that emerged in 2014. Maybe it’s a new technology, new tools, certain predictions for the future or different types of services and products demanded by your target customers? Analyse these trends and developments and take steps to implement relevant changes in your business and strategy. For example, offering new products or adjusting your current services to new customer expectations will help to stay ahead of your competitors. Similarly, using latest tools and the right technology can increase your productivity or prove that your business adapts to the changing environment. Finally, make sure to be on top of changes and trends that will appear in the following year and be ready to take relevant actions on
a regular basis. However, don’t refer to online resources only. Attend trade shows or conferences and engage into face-to-face networking to stay on top of industry news and build new relationships.

3. Translate and localise your website

Depending on your target market, you’ll be able to reach more prospects and attract more customers if your website is available also in another language or several different languages. Don’t go with the obvious choice of translating your website into English only. Sometimes the widely spoken language may be less effective than 2 or 3 less common languages (e.g. Swedish, Polish or Hungarian). Think about your target users and don’t limit your efforts to the mere translation. What you’re really looking for, is the proper and successful localisation of your online presence to make sure that your website and social media profiles are tailored to the needs and expectations of your target users. Here you can read more about benefits of website localisation.

These three strategies aren’t difficult to implement and you’ll definitely get
a better view on your business and prepare the ground for a more successful year.

What other steps are you planning to take to boost your business in the following months? 

Dorota Pawlak

Dorota helps digital brands infuse their content with a local touch. She is a localization consultant, translator specialized in IT, prompt engineer, and a book author. Dorota teaches online courses on localization, writes for her blog and a Medium publication. She also runs a Small Biz AI, a Substack newsletter for freelancers and small business owners ready to discover handy AI tools.