Dear business owners and leaders we feel you — it’s almost the end of the year. You might feel like you are running out of runway to do all the things before 2024 closes. But don’t panic! Here are a few pointers to help you prioritize and set your business up for success next year.

Marketing Planning at the End of the Year

Need a short list of what to do to start your next year in marketing off right? From a marketing perspective, check these off the list:

• First, set your marketing goals.
• Then, define strategies to align with those goals.
• Next, define or redefine your target client or customer. Remember, you are probably not your target audience, and your business cannot be all things to all people. Focus is key.
• Make sure content strategy for January is defined. Outline your content calendar to get a jump on organizing and posting when the holidays end and work begins again.
• For social media and blogging, develop your copy and create the visuals for your posts now, and get them queued up and ready to go January 1.
• Email marketing for January means developing your content now, and the creative that is aligned with the content so you’re ahead of the calendar and know what to focus on for January content.
• Overall, other marketing initiatives are worth considering. What worked this year and what other new ideas do you have for 2025? Think about where you need to be marketing-wise in the coming year.
• Set your marketing budget. Initiatives you have planned for 2025 will be determined by this. Remember, don’t waste anyone’s time on the next big idea or initiative if you are not willing to invest what it takes to accomplish that idea. Budget for your marketing as accurately as you can now.

Rev Up for Beginning-of-the-Year Business at the End of the Year

From a business perspective, have you done these things? Getting your business ready for 2025 involves your whole team. First, get them onboard with your business plan and then show them how it relates to them with these three tips:

• Share your Q1 priorities for the business and calendar them with your team.
• Set a team kickoff meeting in Q1 to set the tone for the new year.
• Focus on strengthening company culture with this kick off meeting and other types of team touchpoints, activities and communications.

Now Look Forward to A Great New Year of Success

The new year will be bright. Strap in and get things done. But you can do it. The Front Porch Marketing team is here to help. Let us make 2025 the best year yet for your brand and business.

Continuing on in our Rocker Spotlight series is Front Porch Lil’ Rock Maria Gregorio, who will share her insights on her own career and her experience on the Porch.

What is the biggest misconception about marketing today?

People want quality marketing for very little money. Cheap and great quality don’t really go together.

What advice would you give to someone struggling with creating a brand identity? 

Sit down, talk with customers, friends and colleagues. Have lots of post-its and pens around. Branding can be a tedious process but worth it in the end when you know who you are as a company and what you stand for.

One of the biggest lessons you’ve learned throughout your career?

Keep learning and growing. If it looks like you can’t grow or learn in your position, its time to look elsewhere.

What does good marketing look like?

Responsive, meets the customer where they are, makes you smile.

If you could be anywhere in the world right now where would it be?

My parents’ house in the Philippines.

If you could go to dinner with one person living or dead who would it be?

My grandpa (deceased).

If you could describe yourself in three words what would they be?

As the Front Porch Lil’ Rock nickname hints, I am short, funny, and quirky.

What is your favorite thing about FPM?

No commute! Seriously though, that we get to do interesting, creative work for great clients.

Tell me about a major milestone in your life?

When my husband visited me in college, Memorial Day Weekend 2001. We have been together ever since.

In what ways does the team at FPM have aligned values?

I think we’re all straight shooters who want to do great work and do right by people.

Your goals for FPM?

Grow the business and continue helping small businesses achieve their dreams.

How would you describe the culture at FPM?

We are a fun group who work very hard and genuinely like being around each other. That’s not something you see every day in other workplaces.

How does FPM differentiate itself from other marketing companies?

I think that judging from our quirky titles and the name of our company, people can tell that we like to do things a little differently. It does sound a little “folk-sy” but we just want to do great work for companies we believe in.   

Fun fact?

I have never lived in one place for more than four years. (military brat/railroader wife) And I used to do acting competitions in high school. I liked playing the villain 😈

Marketing insights are ever changing in the year 2020. Front Porch Marketing is nine this month! To open our celebration, we thought it would be fitting to look at nine marketing insights to help grow your brand and top line. Are you on track for steady, long-term growth?

Nine Marketing Insights to Grow the Top Line

1. Brand architecture is paramount. Think of your brand like a pyramid and focus first and foremost on the base level. You can alter the other pieces and levels as needed, but the base must remain solid and stable. Need help designing that base? Start with a branding exercise.
2. Referrals are fabulous, but how do you grow them? According to a TrueSpace and Gallup study titled the Five Conditions Assessment, slow and steady (and a tight focus on your market), wins the race. “The project’s data shows that the tighter a company’s focus on its market, the stronger its revenue will be,” according to Charles Fred, TrueSpace chairman and chief executive.
3. Be consistent with your marketing. Shift your time frame and focus on long-term ROI, not just the instant gratification that comes with getting a flier or social media post out right now. For your brand’s long-term growth potential, consistency – in colors, words, logos, etc.- is key. Along those same lines, one single marketing campaign isn’t your silver bullet.
4. Blogging is alive and well. Choose your Medium (pun intended!) based upon your target audience’s preferences and vary your content to avoid direct product advertisement only, and blogging is still a huge piece of the inbound marketing trifecta.
5. Don’t underestimate the power of email marketing. Period. As the second piece of the trifecta, personalized email marketing is a direct, inexpensive and easy way to generate leads. Want to double down and double your leads? Of course, add automation.
6. Social media rounds out the trifecta. Social media’s influence has grown so much over the past nine years. With its ability to connect brand and audience through real-time interaction, social media is a hugely successful marketing tool. In other words, it is another avenue through which consistent, organic content can “give you wings” without exclusively hacking your own product. For instance, ask Red Bull.
7. The printed piece is not archaic. Direct mail, business cards, handouts and personalized birthday and holiday cards work. There is something timeless about printed pieces, particularly if your target audience tends towards paper over electronics.
8. No matter the size of your marketing budget, you can make your mark. For instance, social media, blogging and e-mail marketing mean anyone with a dream and a solid plan can connect with others quickly, easily, and cost-effectively. Don’t let minimal marketing dollars hold you back. Therefore, use the budget you do have effectively by building the right partnerships to execute solid marketing plans.
9. Teamwork makes the dream work. On the porch, we don’t take this lightly. In other words, we truly believe that to whom much is given, much is required. Giving back to our communities and supporting each other is a cornerstone of our personal and professional lives. Of course, make it a priority to connect with those around you.
   

Thanks for NINE FINE years!

Above all, we are only able to celebrate nine years on the Porch because of our clients, advocates, friends, family and team. A heartfelt thank you to each of you – past, present and future. Of course, we love what we do and are ready to rock with you this year!

Frequently, we ask a potential client what their marketing budget is in an effort to better understand what resources we will use to meet branding and marketing goals.

And regularly, we hear, “What should our marketing budget be?”

We are already two weeks into Q1, so let’s talk about your marketing budget. Total marketing budgets are on the rise (yay!) and are at 7 – 12% of total gross revenue. If one of your resolutions this year is to grow your small to mid-size business, let’s rock.

Here are four things to remember when formulating your marketing budget:

1. Small businesses should budget 7 – 8% of gross revenues for marketing in order to compete against larger companies.

2. Track your marketing budget and results monthly – at a minimum. If you consistently track your results you will be better able to adjust your marketing spending over time to spend smarter, not harder.

3. Increase the budget for new product launches. Keep track of what you make on the product and tweak as needed to cover the marketing costs and increase profit from sales.

4. One size does not fit all. While the latest Forrester Research report projects that digital marketing spending will make up 44% of all ad spend, this number can vary depending on a variety of factors including industry, growth plans and local market.

As you create your marketing budget this year, don’t start with the tactics. Develop a defined marketing budget to support a marketing plan with measurable goals and a sound strategy.

The term “Pick Six” has long been associated with big success:

• In horse racing, Pick Six is a wager in which a bettor picks one horse in each of six races, leading to a big payout.
• In football, Pick Six refers to an interception (pick) being returned for a touchdown.
• In lottery terms, Pick Six refers to the big payout that occurs when six regular numbers are picked.
• In wrestling, Pick Six is a ranking system used by the Ring of Honor to determine championship contenders.

Big. Successes.

And so, in honor of our sixth year in business, we on the Porch formulated our own Pick Six … for business success, big success!

1. We’re picking Brand Architecture. It’s so important. When was the last time you really evaluated your brand? Is it due to be re-visited? We can help you look at it in a fresh way to ensure you are capitalizing on what makes you unique.
2. Number two on our list of picks: What have we been up to on the Porch? We had an extremely rewarding experience (and an absolute blast) at the PowerGen Trade Show in Orlando with our rocking client, TodoModo. Check out our blog about the experience!
3. Number three involves talking, and lots of it. What have we been talkin’ about? Maximizing your marketing! We spoke about that very thing at the Arlington Board of Realtors‘ Meeting January 27th.
4. What we are off our rocker about? The Super Bowl! The Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots will face off in this colossal battle February 5th and we know what we will be serving at our soiree: The Barefoot Contessa’s Parmesan and Chipotle Popcorn, a chili bar (seriously genius idea – thank you Food & Wine Magazine) and Iron Skillet Peach Crisp. A Texas menu if we’ve ever heard one.
5. Highlights from the Porch Team bring us to our number five pick. Our rocking’ interns, Grace and Rachel, have been an impressive breath of fresh air around here – and we are enjoying watching them weigh their next steps, as their graduation dates are rapidly approaching!
6. And our final pick: The power of the referral in gaining new clients. We are continually amazed and humbled that our Porch family continues to grow through marketing and referrals. Thank you for all you do to keep our Porch rocking!

Please keep those many referrals coming. We are so grateful. Join us on the Porch via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. Subscribe to our blog here.

Thanks, friends, for riding the sixes with us. Here’s to another wildly successful year!

Friends, it’s that time of year. The leaves are falling, there is a chill in the air and we are simultaneously looking back at our fifth year in business and looking forward to our next rockin’ year. But before we wrap up our year-long celebration of fives, we want to share these last five branding and marketing vibes from the Porch:

1. Gearing Up. Did you know that the Small Business Association suggests that as a general rule, small businesses with revenues of less than $5 million allocate 7-8 percent of their gross sales to marketing? And did you know that an international media strategy agency predicts that advertising spending will reach $179 billion in 2017? This is a 6.3% increase – the largest since 2010. Rock on with your marketing self.
2. Looking Forward. The new year is around the corner! We are fully engaged with our clients finalizing their 2017 marketing plans and budgets. We are ready for a banner 2017!
3. Rocking Our Talent. Our rocking team has it in spades! In 2017 we will continue to give our clients the very best we have to offer. Led by Julie’s second-to-none marketing vision and backed by Vanessa’s stellar branding and advertising expertise, Ann Marie’s excellence in public relations and communication, Tara’s extensive marketing and client management capabilities, Allison’s rocking graphic design capabilities, Jacqui’s blogging and wordsmith acumen and Darcey’s lead-the-charge management ensure that our clients are in excellent hands.
4. Gratitude. Don’t think we don’t know it – we have much to be grateful for. Rocking clients who are true partners, hard-working and creative team members, talented business associates, loyal friends, and loving, supportive families – we are thankful for each and every one of you! Special thanks to our PeopleResults client partner, Shelli Walker for the invitation to speak at the first ever Arlington Chamber of Commerce Women’s Alliance’s Business in a Box workshop. Gratitude!
5. Celebration. Five years. It’s a milestone. We celebrated this and more yesterday at our end-of-the-year team jam session.

Thank you, friends. Keep those many referrals coming. Join us on the Porch via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. Subscribe to our blog here.

Get ready for more rockin’ branding and marketing vibes in 2017 party people in the house.