The beginning of the year is the perfect time to reflect on your business and make changes to take it in the right direction.
After getting past the turn of the new year and all of the primary tasks you and your team need to handle to keep rolling, it’s time to think about the ways you can improve your business.
Q1 is all about assessing and planning key improvements and innovations.
Looking ahead to the rest of this upcoming year, what can you do for your business?
Today, we’ll dive into some of the most helpful things business owners can do for their businesses in 2022.
Focus on Connections
This first idea may seem counterintuitive. Of course, you want to grow your business. To get more clients or customers. To keep moving forward. However, along the way, it’s easy to lose sight of exactly what helps you do that- connections.
Take time this year to focus on your business relationships. Take a step back and implement 1-on-1 meetings.
Here’s what Andy Crestodina, co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Orbit Media, has to say about the topic:
“Schedule time for 1×1 calls every week. Do them with your team. Do them with your clients. No need for an agenda. Just listen, learn and let them know that you’re there for them. We are all getting a lot less personal interaction these days, which has a big impact on creativity, retention, and morale. There are people in your network who really need a virtual hug, so spend at least an hour per week reaching out and checking in!”
1-on-1 meetings take time. They may even take away time from prospect calls or other tasks, but they will pay off for your business. Here are just a few of the ways these meetings can benefit your business:
- Improve the employee experience
- Allow you to identify areas for improvement that you were not aware of
- Build company rapport
- Strengthen relationships with clients
- Foster creativity for new innovations or solutions
- Show people you care. People want to work for and with those who care
Find Key Themes From the Previous Year
Chances are, you’ve already dug through the data of last year. You may already know which quarter you did the best, what your customer retention rate was, how much you spent in overhead, etc. (hint, if you don’t now’s the time to find out!)
But now it’s time to take things a step further. Go past the numbers to find the key themes from the previous year.
For example, let’s say you noticed a huge boost in sales mid-summer. What was the reason? Did you introduce a new product or service? Did you change your offer and campaign for the season?
Look back and pinpoint key themes, both positive and negative. Consider how to apply these themes to the upcoming year. Don’t forget to consider market changes and current events that may have impacted your business!
Ask How You Can Make Someone’s Job Easier
As a business owner, you oversee it all. There’s a lot on your plate, which means it’s easy to overlook how much is on someone else’s plate.
Remember, your team is the core of your business. Without them, you cannot serve customers and you cannot enjoy a successful business.
One of the best things you can do this year is to ask your employees how you can make their job easier. According to Inc.com, one of the top questions to ask your team about career goals is “How can I help?”
Questions like this are part of the dying art of servant leadership. Far too often, leaders inquire about how others can help them with their goals (like growing their business), but quality leaders are there to serve those around them.
Ask your team how you can help them. By doing so, you again, prove that you care about them as employees and people. But beyond that, you also put yourself in the position to learn a lot more about how your business works, and how it can improve.
Asking this question will help you find out the common challenges that your team faces. Many of these challenges could be things you weren’t aware of but could address relatively quickly or easily. On the other hand, you may learn of some major operational issues that need an overhaul. Either way, you gain access to key information about the inner working of your company and how you can improve them moving forward.
Plan an Event
Events are excellent lead magnets that can help you attract potential customers. They can also help you gain status as a thought leader in your industry.
Plan an event for 2022 (no, it doesn’t have to be in person!) You can plan a virtual and/or in-person event. Create something that will provide value to your audience and can help you gain leads.
Schedule ME Time
Take a break? Spend more time on me? How does that help my business?
Well, we can only give as much as we have to give. As a business owner, you often give every ounce of what you have to improve your business.
Sometimes, business leaders spend so much time trying to help their business that their personal needs fall by the wayside. But missing family dinners or neglecting your hobbies won’t allow you to be the best person possible.
To be the best business owner possible, you need to be the best YOU possible. That means you need time for yourself. You need to set boundaries for work, and not let it seep into every waking minute of your life.
This may sound like it will add more stress, but soon you’ll notice that you feel more ready to attack the day. You’ll approach work and your business with a better mind.
So, one of the best things you can do for your business this year and every year is to put your mental and physical wellbeing first. Schedule out time for your self-care and hobbies, and just make sure you have plenty of “me” time!
Automate
Automation is not only the way of the future, it is the way of the present. This tip is key for businesses of all sizes, but it may be a lifesaver for small businesses especially. When operating with limited teams, automation is paramount.
The goal of automation is not to replace people, it’s to make their jobs easier. It’s to eliminate the need for repetitive low-value tasks that take away time from more crucial processes that need people.
Evaluate your business’ current use of automation. What processes do you use it for? What opportunities are you missing out on?
A few core areas to look to implement automation include:
- Marketing
- Customer service
- Accounting
- Taxes
- Reminders
Get On LinkedIn (You & Your Business)
2022 is the year to implement a LinkedIn strategy or improve your current one! This is one of the best platforms for business owners to use to grow their professional network, access leads, and even find employees.
Take some time to set up or optimize your LinkedIn profile. Make sure to fill out every section, add a professional headshot, and include a relevant banner image. Focus on adding industry-relevant keywords throughout your content. After completing your personal profile, then set up your Company Page.
Once you have your profile set up, you should use it to start growing your network. Many business owners make the mistake of focusing their network on essential competitors. While you may want to add a few experts in your industry, you should aim to use LinkedIn to add prospects.
The bottom line is that now is the time to leverage LinkedIn to spread brand awareness and grow your business! It’s a powerful tool that many business leaders don’t realize the vast potential of.
Listen to Customers
After seeing some success with your business, you may get a sense of what to sell and how to sell it. However, there’s always room for improvement. While internal discussions are important, the people who know best are your customers!
Spend some extra time this year listening to them. Ask for feedback from happy customers, but also from those who are unhappy, and from prospects as well. They may have ideas about how to improve your product or service, but they may also have feedback that can help you improve your marketing, website, customer service, and more.
There are many ways to ask customers for feedback. Make it as easy as possible for them to do so. Some ideas include:
- Polls on social media
- Short surveys sent via email
- Automated follow-ups after purchases or after other actions (like an abandoned cart)
- Sending the Google review link via email or text
- In-person surveys after purchase (if applicable)
Start Making Videos
Videos are crucial for fueling engagement. According to a 2018 Hubspot study, 54% of consumers said they wanted to see more video content from brands they support. Digital video usage and views have only gone up since then. In 2020, over 83% of US internet users accessed digital video content.
There are many key benefits for using video content on social media, your website, and more. For one, people remember the information from videos more than when they read it. 95% of viewers retain the main idea from a video, compared to 10% when reading. Whether it’s a how-to video about using your product, or a marketing video promoting your brand, you want people to retain the information.
Beyond retention, video is also powerful for engagement. The current digital landscape is saturated with text, and even images at this point. The vast majority of brands have jumped onto the content train for text and images, but far fewer venture into videos. This makes video content a powerful way to stand out. WordStream found that marketers who used video grew their revenue 49% faster than those who did not use video.
This makes video content an incredibly beneficial tool for your business in 2022 and beyond. Start incorporating videos into your overall strategy. Some ideas include:
- Introduction videos (introduce your company, products, team, etc)
- How-tos/ tutorials
- Testimonials/ Reviews
- User-generated content
- Educational videos highlighting key points
- Turn blogs and other content into videos
Elevate Your Marketing with Better Content
Nearly every business knows it by now, content IS king! Differentiating with other mediums, like video, can greatly help, but when it comes down to it, you need quality content.
Maybe in the past, the focus was on just getting enough relevant content out there. But one of the best things you can do for your business moving forward is to elevate your content.
Content doesn’t just apply to marketing (though it is a HUGE part of all of your marketing efforts). You need great social media copy, but you also need quality content for training materials, internal and external newsletters, and much more.
Here are a few tips for elevating your content this year:
- Improve the writing style and quality
- Implement SEO best practices at every stage of content marketing
- Revamp old pieces that could use a facelift
- Add images or videos to existing content
Delegate & Outsource
As a business owner, it’s hard to give over the reigns to other people. You want to help your business as much as possible, but the more you grow the more there is to do. Many business owners are incredibly savvy, and they juggle multiple hats for a long time.
However, to truly ensure the long-term success of your business, you need to delegate. Figure out what you’re best at, and assign the rest. This includes delegating to your team but also outsourcing when necessary.
One of the top areas to outsource is writing. Writing quality content takes a lot of time away from your core competencies.
That’s where Content Cucumber and our team of dedicated professional writers are here to help! Depending on your content needs, we can either bring your ideas to life, or we can handle every part of the content writing process including SEO research and optimization. We’re here to help you help your business this year!
Learn more about how Content Cucumber can amplify your content for 2022. Reach out to us today or purchase your sample article to get started!