It’s that time of year again, the gym is packed, the inside of your fridge looks like a farmer’s market and you decide to be fiscally responsible by bringing lunch to work. Ode to the joy of making New Year’s Resolutions.

Heading into 2016, in addition to your personal resolutions there are several marketing and communications goals that every brand should implement to help boost brand awareness and drive growth throughout the coming year. Here are our top 6 New Year’s resolutions for 2016:

1. Extreme Makeover: Brand Edition - Is your brand looking a little dated? Is it failing to capture the exciting work your company is doing? If you’re answering yes, it’s time to begin evaluating a strategic rebranding initiative. This can include updating or changing the company messaging, logo, website, marketing collateral and social media content, to appeal to the current market and consumer.
2. KYC (Know Your Customer) - Over the last year, your audience may have changed and realizing this early on will help your brand to position correctly. By reviewing who your current and potential customers are and what they hope to achieve from using your services, will set your company up for success in the coming year.
3. Social Media is So in Style - LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook continue to rise in popularity and new social platforms like Snapchat, Periscope and Instagram are becoming useful tools for brands to reach their target audience. It is important to maintain strong and creative content across your current social media channels, while expanding your presence into innovative and new social media. Marketing for a financial brand is different because of the regulated nature of the industry and it is important to disseminate information in an appropriate and thoughtful way. Use social media to push out original content and relevant and appropriate news in your space, engage with your followers and to connect with influencers and thought leaders in your sector to help drive brand recognition.
4. Get Out of That Box - In the New Year set your sights on being more strategic and think outside the box when it comes to your media relations and marketing plan. What media outlets do your prospects and clients consume on a daily basis, for work and pleasure? Do they spend their time reading major publications or trades? Do they prefer print or digital, broadcast or radio? In addition to targeting the traditional mainstream media, consider using emerging media platforms, such as Podcasts, which are becoming a cost effective way of getting information and thought leadership to journalists and the industry at large. Understanding your customer’s preferences and the entire media landscape is crucial for your communications efforts - and ultimately sales goals.
5. Say it with Authority - Original and interesting content helps brands set themselves apart from the pack. Reviewing key trends, bringing to light new information and commenting on current events with authority, will establish your brand as an informational source for current and prospective clients. If you already have a blog make sure your content is prominently featured and updated regularly. If you don’t have one yet, we strongly recommend you make one. One key to making your blog a success is to prepare content topics well in advance. Another is to promote the blog across your social media channels to increase engagement. Keeping up with a blog is a full time job, a trusted partner to assist with managing, writing and posting can make all the difference. It is good to be heard, but great to be valued.
6. #WebGoals - More often than not, your company website is your prospect’s first impression and a potential client can very easily be turned off if the website is unresponsive, poorly designed, disorganized or not up-to-date. Working with a partner to evaluate the SEO and responsiveness of your website will help to improve functionality and inbound lead generation.

Determining your New Year’s resolutions is the easy part, keeping them is much harder. Luckily Cognito understands that marketing for finance brands is different and we can provide creative, result-driven solutions for your marketing and communications challenges. Let us know how we can help you keep your resolutions this year.