Mid-Year Business Review: Business and Marketing

by | Jun 6, 2022 | Blog

Mid-year reviews help business owners assess their targets and goals. A quantitive assessment of business goals is a great way for businesses to determine what strategies are driving the business and which are derailing plans.

Conducting a value assessment requires time and planning. Sales, marketing and producing reports need to be collated. A team needs to be assembled and given tasks. Deadlines need to be set. A mid-year review needs to be planned so the information that is extracted has meaning. Assessing and understanding your quantitative and qualitative information can help your team to determine the goals and strategies that work best for your business, or even what major changes need to be made to secure the future of your business.

Business Goals

Your business goals are milestones that help give your company momentum. However, goals need to be measured and assessed to ensure that they are suitable for the environment, success and direction of a company. A mid-year review is an optimal time to assess strategies.

Businesses change and evolve for many reasons. The pandemic had a major impact on businesses worldwide, in positive and negative ways. This dramatic example of how quickly businesses needed to change is uncommon on a large scale, however, it is common for industries to have sudden and unexpected shifts that require businesses to reassess their goals.

Consider the following:

  • What milestones have you accomplished so far?
  • What milestones have you missed?
  • Are your initial goals still relevant?
  • Are there any new priorities that require goal setting?

Strategies and Methods

Taking stock of what is working well and being honest about what isn’t is as simple as reading the numbers honestly. For some businesses, a marketing campaign for a new product might not be converted because of poor marketing strategy. Perhaps a branch of your developing business takes time to become successful but is draining company resources and putting the business in danger. If you address these things early, you can correct them with realistic targets.

Cash Flow and Budget(s)

All businesses have some things in common. Assessing the following is important in any industry and any business model, be it B2B, B2C, online, brick-and-mortar or even P2P.

  • Are you on track to meet your target income?
  • Are your expenses being managed appropriately?
  • Is it time to raise your rates?

If you discover on the assessment that your budget is not adding up, consider reducing your business expenses, revamping your products and services or adjusting your marketing. Look for hidden expenses that could be mitigated, such as customer service personnel, lawyer retainment fees and advertising – which can be outsourced and managed using BPOs.

Marketing

Marketing is essential, so a strategy that is easy to quantify benefits your business. While many sales and marketing teams will show qualitative evidence for their work, if the quantitative data does not support the storyline, it is time to strategise to secure your business.

Mid-year assessments of marketing plans are essential for understanding how you can move forward in the coming 6 months, which for some businesses are their busiest period, while for others they are the slow period. Depending on your industry, the end of the year can be a make-or-break time for your business. Taking stock of your marketing for the year so far can determine the duration that marketing needs to take for the coming 6 months of the year.

One of the easiest ways for a business to assess its marketing quickly is to perform a SWAT  (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) test. This simple assessment can help marketing teams to define the areas that need improvement and which areas require a deeper assessment to understand.

Current State Assessment

A current state assessment is a way to compare the present with the past using data. Compare marketing data and analytics with stated goals and objectives to determine if milestones and targets have been met or missed.

Some key metrics to consider are:

  • Conversion rate
  • New or qualified leads
  • Website traffic
  • Customer reviews

This broad overview of your marketing plan will reveal if your sales funnel is working, if you are addressing pain points in meaningful ways or if your message is reaching your intended audience at all.

Be Creative

Your marketing plan should read as a roadmap to success. For some new businesses, this can mean a total overhaul; of the customer persona and recognition of a failed attempt that could be saved with some creative thinking.

There are many markets that require a nuanced approach to sales and marketing. Digital marketing strategies require a higher level of engagement and consistency than traditional marketing. Content, engagement and updates must be delivered on a regular basis, or customers who are seeking your services will question the legitimacy (or life) of your business. In B2B or B2C, you must have an online presence that is connecting with audiences at least monthly.