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Via ThriveHive

It’s a new year! Whether you’re making New Year’s resolutions or just need some motivation to amp up your marketing, January is a great time to get started with fresh marketing and blog ideas. Here are some ways to get the word out about your business.

1. Update Your Google Presence

If consumers near you perform a search for your products and services on Google, does your business show up? Your top priority for the new year is to make sure you have maximum visibility in local search. To do this, head to your Google My Business profile and make sure all of your contact information is accurate.

You’ll also want to make sure you populate the Reviews, Q&A, and Posts sections, as having a robust profile will also boost your rank in search results. Getting these sections completed are longer-term goals you can tackle throughout the month.

2. Create and Share New Year’s Resolutions

Start the New Year off right by making and posting your resolutions for 2020 – and ask your followers to post theirs! This is a great way to engage customers on social media. For example:

• Fitness centers can have a weekly accountability post to create a support community
• Restaurants and catering services can write blog or Facebook posts with healthy recipes
• Daycares can blog about toy organization ideas for playrooms and toy areas

3. Write Holiday Roundup Posts

Just because the holidays are over doesn’t mean that they’re not ripe for being part of your marketing strategy! Customers and companies may have been busy or traveling over the holidays and not as active on social media.

• Did your catering company work a holiday party? Post pictures or recipes!
• Cleaning services can provide post-holiday cleaning or Christmas tree disposal tips.

You can also take advantage of #tbt (Throwback Thursday) on Twitter and Instagram and post pictures from just a couple of weeks ago to share with your followers. Show off the holiday party that you had or the New Year’s Eve festivities just last week.

4. Announce Upcoming Events

Market your business both online and offline by highlighting upcoming events for 2020. Some upcoming holidays include President’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mardi Gras, and St. Patrick’s Day. If you have anything planned for these events, like upcoming Valentine’s Day deals at your spa or a special Valentine’s menu at your restaurant, let customers know!

5. Honor Martin Luther King, Jr.

January 19th is a national holiday to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday and commemorate his Nobel Peace Prize for his Civil Rights leadership. Many communities participate in a day of service to create a positive impact on the world.

Take part in a community day of service with your customers or employees. Create a buzz on social media and invite other small businesses to get involved. Banding together with others to better your local community is a great way to give back to your community while fostering a good business reputation.

6. Save Lives by Donating Blood

January is National Blood Donor Month. Donating blood, volunteering at a blood drive, or hosting one is a great way to get involved in charitable organizations in your community. Getting involved in community organization is an effective way to market your small business offline. So get out there and donate a pint or hand out cookies to those donating!

7. Compliment Day (January 24)

Take the time to say something nice on Compliment Day. What goes around comes around, especially in marketing! You may even want to show another small business some love on their social media or Yelp page. They may return the favor by writing some positive reviews for you as well.

8. Start a Customer Loyalty or Referral Program

Building customer loyalty is important to small business because loyal customers create return business and are more likely to refer other customers. Increase sales and attract more clients through referrals by starting a customer loyalty program.  How you do it is up to you but consider offering a free product or service discount for customers who come back a certain number of times. Offer current customers a discount on their next service if they refer a new customer. For more ideas on customer loyalty and retention programs, check out this blog post.

How do you set up a customer loyalty or referral program? Start by taking your list of hot leads and send the information to them via email. If you don’t have a list of hot leads, you can start with the list of people who you sent Holiday or New Year cards to or just send an email about the program out to your entire contact list.

Facebook is also a great way to advertise a loyal customer or referral program. Read about Facebook marketing here.

9. Snow Day Marketing

Much of the United States is covered in snow in January. Love it or hate it, you can’t stop it, so use it to your advantage! For example:

• Daycares can by can provide safety tips for playing or dressing children in the snow.
• Contractors, construction and snow removal companies can write about about winter hazards in the home – carbon monoxide detectors, salt versus sand for ice and snow, or how to winterize drafty windows.
• Hair salons and spas can have a special deal when a big storm is predicted such as paying based on the inches fallen – $28 if it snows 28 inches is a great deal for both the customer and the quiet salon!

Keep your customers up to date on snow closings and delays on your social media pages!

10. Clean Out Your Inbox Week

Take advantage of Clean Out Your Inbox Week and go through old emails. Remember those emails you “starred” but likely never followed up on? If you’re like me, those are ideas that you sent to yourself while you were trying to fall asleep or names of people who you met and wanted to connect with at a later date.

Take the time to go through those emails – you could come across your next new customer or genius idea!