You’ve probably made some New Year’s resolutions for yourself – exercise more, eat right, spend more time with family. But have you thought about your resolutions for your small business? How about resolving to be more strategic about your marketing?

If you’re ready to get serious about your small-business marketing, here are four important steps you should take:

Look at what’s worked in the past.

If you’ve been doing a good job of tracking your marketing efforts, it should be easy to go back and see what worked. Did you get a boost in sales after you sent out those postcard mailings? Did that trade show result in enough qualified leads to justify the cost of attendance? Make a list of all of your marketing efforts from 2011 – from sponsorships to newspaper ads – and rank how effective each one was. If you think there are changes you could make to make the activity more effective in the future, make a note of it.

Put together a plan for the future.

Now that you know what worked last year, put together a plan for 2012. Break it down by month or week, whichever helps you best stay on track. List what products and services you want to push; who the target market is for that product or service; and how you’ll reach them.  Remember, repetition can be good when it comes to marketing (it creates brand recognition for the consumer), so don’t be afraid to copy last year’s efforts.

Examine the look and feel of marketing materials.

Once you’ve decided what tactics you’ll use, review the materials you use for each tactic. Look at your business cards, email marketing pieces and direct-mail pieces. Are they modern and professional-looking? Do they look cohesive? Do they truly reflect the image you want your business to reflect? If not (or if you’re not good at judging things like that), it might be time to enlist a professional graphic designer, like the ones at your local PostNet, to clean everything up.  

Follow your plan.

When you’ve put together your marketing plan and budget, stick to it! Don’t be swayed by convincing sales pitches or great “bargains” on advertising. While it’s still OK to try new things, make sure you thoroughly vet them first and make room for them in your budget.

Here’s to a 2012 full of successful marketing efforts!