The start of a New Year is the perfect opportunity to take a glance back at your organization’s past year and evaluate what worked, what didn’t, what could be improved, and what new ideas you can bring.

We’ve created some New Year’s resolutions to help continue your organization’s marketing success in 2016.

For example, your social media presence is an extension of your brand and should be treated that way. Customers want to connect with organizations that are current and generate content in real time.

Continue to cultivate lasting relationships with those who follow your brand.  People want to do business with a brand they trust. Trust is established by keeping those relationships thriving. A great way to do this is:

Share valuable information

Be purposeful with the content you post on your website or social media. Each post is a recommendation from your organization. Therefore, each should add value to your brand and make its mission more meaningful to followers.

Add a visual component

They say “a picture is worth a thousand words,” because it is! Research from eMarketer published in March 2014 revealed 87 percent of posts with pictures get shared on Facebook. Adding a visual to any picture you post can generate more buzz to your content and make it that much more enjoyable to view. We can only read so much before we lose interest.

Survey Says… Video is in!

Video marketing is hot and will only be getting hotter in 2016! Creating a video to promote your brand or idea will get followers more invested in your brand. Video is different than just reading. It requires engagement and allows followers the time to get emotionally invested in your brand through a fun platform. HighQ reported in 2015, experts believed video would account for 57 percent of consumer traffic, which is 4x more than email and internet browsing!

Thank them for their interaction

A mention, share or retweet is an endorsement for your brand and should be treated as gold. When someone shares your content on social media, kindly respond back saying “thank you, we appreciate the interaction.” It’s easy to do and gives your organization some credibility. It’s also a way to reinforce your message or promote something your organization has created. This simple technique could result in frequent interaction and more of a following. Don’t forget the basic lessons of your childhood, keep it kind!

Have a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year from the CMA Crew!