Before making any changes or setting new goals, take the time to review and analyze your digital marketing campaign’s performance over the last year. This analysis should comprehensively examine key performance indicators (KPIs), such as website traffic, conversion rates, click-through rates, return on investment (ROI), and other relevant metrics. Pay special attention to what worked and what didn’t.

Specific steps to consider during this review:

Conversion Path Analysis:

We lead off with conversion path analysis because this is one critical aspect that many digital marketers overlook. Examine the customer journey and conversion funnel. Identify any bottlenecks or drop-off points in the funnel and strategize on how to improve the user experience. Many digital marketers focus on the ad funnel, but it’s vital to do conversion path optimization on your website. You need to A/B landing pages and understand customer behavior once they reach your website before you do any other analysis. 

Channel Performance:

Evaluate the performance of different marketing channels (e.g., social media, email, paid advertising). Identify which channels were most effective in driving traffic and conversions. Effectiveness can be an elusive thing for marketing teams to agree upon. Too many teams get locked into last click attribution to conversions by channel. The reality is many attribution models are broken or at least less reliable in the age of cookie depreciation/privacy. The best approach to measuring channel performance is a mix of last click attribution, lift tests, surveys, advanced attribution modeling, and good old fashioned common sense when digging into campaign metrics.  

Content and Messaging:

Analyze the content and messaging that resonated with your audience. Which types of content generated the most engagement and conversions? What messaging themes were successful? You might be surprised to find content that worked on one channel may not have necessarily worked on another. Optimize your content and messaging by channel but make sure you keep your main branding theme intact for some level of continuity, especially if you are retargeting across channels. 

Audience Insights:

Understand your audience’s behavior and preferences. What segments of your audience performed the best, and which ones need improvement? Is your audience data up to date? Use analytics tools, CRM, and customer feedback to gain insights and cleanse any old data on customers that no longer engage or segments that are no longer profitable. 

Competitive Analysis:

Look at your competitors’ digital marketing strategies and assess how your performance compares. Identify areas where you can outperform or differentiate.

Budget Allocation:

Review your budget allocation for various marketing channels and campaigns. Determine whether your spending aligns with the best-performing channels and where adjustments may be needed.

Once you’ve gathered and analyzed this data, you can make informed decisions about how to optimize your digital marketing campaign for the new year. This process sets the foundation for setting new goals, refining your strategy, and identifying areas where improvements are needed. 

Thinking about next year’s strategy and haven’t considered programmatic advertising? Read this article before you write off the benefits: https://populationscience.com/dont-have-programmatic-in-your-2024-plan-heres-why-you-should-reconsider/