Business team having meeting
Another year full of potential promise is about to begin. For most business owners, it’s time to start thinking about what they want their companies and teams to accomplish in 2023. Maybe those goals include launching new products or continuing to build on the success of existing ones. As an entrepreneur, your ambitions might also veer toward reinventing your business’s brand and online presence.
While 2023 has yet to unfold, current economic predictions and market conditions have shifted many owners’ priorities. Finding ways to attract leads, retain customers and employees and improve efficiency are probably top of mind. Despite the challenges the next year may bring, establishing goals now can set your team and company up for success. Here are some resolutions for your business to pursue.
Set New Growth Goals
Most companies need to keep moving forward to stick around. But that progress or growth isn’t always spread evenly across business units or activities. Sometimes growth objectives are concentrated on a particular market segment, product line, division or strategy. The important thing is to determine what you want to take to the next level and devise a plan to get there.
Perhaps you hope to increase your market share for a recently redesigned product. You’ll need to boost awareness while bringing in more qualified leads. A growth marketing campaign with informative online content will help get the word out and gather prospects’ information. As part of the campaign, you might also implement a try-before-you-buy program to reduce consumer hesitancy.
Setting new growth goals shows you’re invested in the company’s future. The idea of progress can also increase your team’s commitment since it gives them purpose and agency. Growth objectives often become opportunities to serve customers better, bring innovations to market and establish industry leadership. They demonstrate resilience and persistence, which can contribute to more effective outcomes.
Upgrade Online Marketing Strategies
Compared to traditional advertising, digital marketing is where an increasing share of companies’ promotional budgets go. Surveys show 57% of marketing budgets invest in digital campaign activities. Plus, spending on online marketing is expected to go up by 16% in 2023. However, simply pumping more money into digital strategies doesn’t always bring the hoped-for returns.
Maintaining a website, sending targeted emails and creating pay-per-click ads are often crucial parts of online marketing strategies. So are having a social media presence and engaging with audiences through such platforms. But performing these activities without good data analysis and experimentation won’t get the job done. Designing and implementing strategies that produce results means moving away from what you think you know about your audience.
Using more first-party data and experimenting with A/B tests can help you get past misguided assumptions about your target market. Results from customer surveys and A/B tests are usually more accurate than third-party market research. Data you gather in real time can improve open rates for emails, online conversions and organic website traffic. Learning how your market responds is a cost-effective way to upgrade your digital strategies for better results.
Keep Employees Happy
Entrepreneurs may come up with business ideas by themselves. But owners and founders usually need a talented team to bring those concepts to life. Employees might join your team because they’re attracted to the ideas behind the company. Or they feel driven to do the work a position or set of business values promises.
Yet talented team members often leave when their expectations about the job and company culture don’t match the reality. And those feelings of discontent make it tough for businesses to hold onto valuable employees. Over 4 million workers resigned each month in the first half of 2022. About 40% of the workforce also thought about leaving because of shifting priorities.
Your company’s culture must reflect employees’ needs to improve team retention. Trends show that people are willing to switch industries or pursue self-employment to meet their desires. Cultures that support flexibility, psychological and physical safety and career development are winning over others that don’t. When employees feel supported and seen as individuals, they’re more motivated to work toward your company’s business goals.
Improve Efficiency
The phrase “Work smarter, not harder” usually applies to increasing efficiency or productivity. While efficiency improvements sometimes align with saving money, they can also be about using resources better. Maybe processes and workflows could benefit from new technologies or automation. You might also achieve higher productivity by revising project management practices.
Making changes in the efficiency category starts with assessing where bottlenecks or inefficiencies exist. Maybe you already have the tools to enable your employees to execute modern project management practices. However, teams aren’t using those apps to their full potential. Instead, they’re reverting to spreadsheets on a shared network drive that causes access problems.
Now it’s more tedious and challenging for employees to update assignment statuses. In this scenario, they need training on the software and a compelling reason to use it. Getting to the bottom of why inefficiencies exist can reveal the right solutions to fix them. A business can get the most out of its resources by making it easier for work to get done.
Business Resolutions for the New Year
Making business resolutions for the new year creates plans for growth and improvement. These goals also help you monitor and get ahead of trends or changes that may impact your company’s longevity. Objectives will vary between businesses, so it’s essential to define yours. After that, it’s up to you and your team to set your 2023 goals in motion.