With January at a close, it’s important to look back on the first month of the year with your business’s 2017 goals in mind.
That said, because January is often either a very slow or a very busy month, there are several uncommon signs of success that you can look toward to understand more about how your business is doing.
Take a few minutes to look back at your month and see how your feel (and how what the numbers reveal) about your business’s accomplishments in these areas so far.
January is often a month where your customers come out in full force, whether they’re looking to form new healthy habits or focus on becoming the best versions of themselves. It’s also the time where they chat about their resolutions and goals to their friends – who often are looking to make some changes of their own.
That said, January is a month where customer referrals are often a big winner for small and large businesses alike. The number of referrals can often overshadow the bigger picture here: turning those referrals into repeat customers.
Take a look at your referral or rewards program and see how many of your referral offers have converted your prospects into repeat customers. Is there a definitive drop-off point that you’re seeing, or is your referral offer converting like a dream?
If you’re not seeing a lot of repeat visits from customers, try sending out some targeted marketing (or even 1:1 phone calls) to see how you can get those customers to keep coming back now that they’ve taken advantage of your offer.
January often lends itself to very specific data points: new customers, new sign-ups, and other money-making numbers. That said, oftentimes your social and email followings take a back seat, since they aren’t as qualitative and don’t produce immediate results. We’re here to tell you not to overlook these numbers.
Email newsletter signups, social media followers, and page and video views are more important in January than perhaps any other month. Your prospective customers are looking for new ways to augment their year, whether that’s by signing up for a new gym, trying a new spa treatment, or taking a new class. And with everyone on their phones these days, social media and email are often their first points of contact for inspiration.
Take a look at your new contacts, whether through Facebook or email. Are they higher than your monthly average? If this is the case, your January marketing efforts delivered, and your next course of action is to determine how to convert those new followers into customers.
Spend your February developing targeted email campaigns and specific social campaigns focused around getting people through the door – you could tell the story of a new customer that accomplished X with you in January, or send out a special offer for a February “customer love” campaign.
How are you capitalizing on and measuring the successes of 2017 so far? Let us know in the comments below.
