Whether it’s bright and balmy or blisteringly brisk, January is a great time to plan for the year. A mad rush of holidays has ended, affording small business owners a chance to stop, catch their breath, and reset for the coming year.
Photo by Flickr member Sally Mahoney. Used under a Creative Commons License.
How was your 2012? What product lines worked? What sales venues worked?
Are there things you want to do more of in 2013? Are there things you want to start doing? And how about things you’d like to NOT do this year?
AWeber quizzed 3000 business owners to gain some perspective on what’s in store for small businesses in 2013.
Here are some ideas and advice for the coming year from Clovis News Journal, GROW Nebraska, The Examiner, Swipely, and Reno Gazette Journal.
And finally, here are some predictions that may help you tailor your plans for 2013:
Colloquy predicts the rise of small businesses, “establishments with as much engagement power as some of their national rivals, but with the ability (and panache)–of being hands-on local.” Due to deft handling of social media and the ability to take payments online, small businesses are competing with national chains. (Members, this is the year to take advantage of a soap guild store!)
Being mobile-friendly is more important than ever. Email insider stresses the importance of generating mobile-friendly marketing emails. Rohit Arora, at the Fox Small Business Center, emphasizes use of smart phones in small business, while Constant Contact predicts “an aggressive upward trajectory” to the trend of consumers searching for business and product information on their phones.
Ekaterina Walter and Dave Kerpen, in a Social Media Examiner article, foretell the growth of visual marketing, which small businesses can take advantage of through sites like Instagram and Pinterest, as well as their blogs. Speaking of visual marketing, Pinterest will be used in more marketing emails, per Email insider.
Regardless of which sites become more popular, social media will be even more crucial this year (Constant Contact), with advertising becoming more popular and more industries engaging on social media networks (Social Media Examiner). Businesses will not have just a social media department, but will truly become social businesses, according to Brian Solis. Small businesses are well positioned to take advantage of social media and truly listen to the customer.
Here’s to an incredible year!
One Comment on “Business Planning in the New Year”
Thanks for sharing our research on small business marketing in 2013!
I absolutely agree about the importance of visual marketing, especially for businesses like soapmaking where you have a physical, handmade (!) product.
We happened to interview Brian Solis for our blog – your readers might enjoy getting some more of his take on social sales and marketing: http://www.aweber.com/blog/email-marketing/the-new-world-of-social-sales-with-brian-solis.htm
Thanks again for noticing and sharing the research!