They say 80% of new year’s resolutions fail by February. Unfortunately, when it comes to marketing your business, not following through on your goals comes with a (literal) cost. If you don’t set yourself up for success long term, you run the risk of investing time and money into an ad strategy that’s collecting dust by March.

With this in mind, we’ve outlined some of the most common business goals for tourism brands, along with our own ideas on how to make it stick. (Even after January 31st).

Be more efficient with your time.

Maybe you have a big project coming up that you know will be especially draining, or you’re hoping to spend a little more time outside of the office this year. Lucky for you, there are ways you can accomplish the same daily tasks in less time (thank you, technology!).

Come up with a few of the repetitive functions you do every day to manage your brand’s digital presence, like checking site visits and ad performance. Google Analytics, Google Ads, and Facebook Business Pages (to name a few) all have free mobile apps that allow you to see your key metrics at a glance. So you can quickly check for new reviews, bookings, and sales trends on your phone between meetings. Plus, you’ll find that a lot of basic reporting is even clearer in the app than it is on the desktop version.

Next, automate wherever possible. Set up your Google Analytics dashboards to be sent out (to yourself or your team) automatically. Create custom e-mail alerts for your Bing and Facebook ads so you can stop obsessively refreshing those tabs. It may only seem like you’re saving a few minutes, but if you consider all the times you collect the same information and click “Send,” it adds up.

Spend less money.
Or at least, spend it smarter.

Think of your marketing strategy in terms of three basic categories: brand awareness, sales, and brand loyalty. Does your customer base know you exist? Do you already have a ton of site visits, but not so many calls and reservations? And finally, are you staying in touch, collecting their info for next year, and getting referrals from existing customers?

After asking yourself these questions, you’re probably able to see the area of your marketing strategy that needs a little more attention over the next 12 months. Once you prioritize one category, you’ll have an easier time rearranging your budget to match. If you need to, draw some funds from one area and put that cash where it’s really needed.

Finally, document your focus area, and set a reminder for yourself every 3 months. This will prompt you to step back and check that you’ve spent your money wisely.

If you’re actually writing that reminder in ink, please, put down the pen and step away from the sticky note. We came up with our last New Year’s resolution just for you. 

Get organized.

Choose one method for quickly setting reminders, taking notes, and sharing docs and photos. Select your own weapon of choice, as long as it can’t get forgotten on a plane. (This is 2019. Leave the spiral-bound pages in 1999 where they belong).

There are plenty of apps that allow you to plan ahead with calendar, note, and file sharing functions. Google Calendars, Evernote, and Outlook are all perfectly respectable options.

Finally, invest in tools like Hootsuite that allow you to schedule your social media posts in advance. Yes, you still have to come up with some content, but in about two hours you can plan out your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds for the next two weeks. Now your brain gets that daily half-hour back to focus on other, more pressing matters. (Like managing your reviews, perhaps.)

New Year’s resolutions should last long after the champagne’s been popped. With just a little extra planning, you can give yourself a path to success for all of 2019. New customers are out there planning a year’s worth of vacations and activities – make sure you’re ready to greet them.

Interested in hearing more? Contact the Von Mack Agency today to hash out your 2019.