Marketer’s New Years Resolutions for 2012

As 2012 looms ever larger, many of us will inevitably indulge in a bit of navel gazing. We will look at our flaws, faults and failed ambitions, and resolve to do better in the future.

So here’s what I propose: Forget about it. Get your eyes off that last 10 pounds and on to something more important. Many of the resolutions we make end up on the cutting room floor by February, anyway. This year, why not focus on something besides your waist size?

You’re a marketer–and a good one. Become a better one. Here are seven resolutions for 2012 that could take your marketing skills up a notch and make you Chief of Awesome.

Write these down. (Seriously. Get a pen.)

1)  Be social, but be interesting about it. You Facebook, tweet and blog–super. Now tell me the last time someone commented on or re-tweeted something you said. What separates you from the masses on social media is content. Be interesting, provocative and memorable in 2012, or just be.

2)  Focus your efforts. If everything is important, then nothing is important. In other words, you can’t have 15 top priorities in your marketing strategy and expect to be effective. Narrow priorities, focus your efforts and bring home the bacon.

3)  Make social media work for you (not the other way around.) Recently a survey by Demandbase and Focus that indicated that a company’s website was the top online source of new sales leads and seven times more effective than social media. Since then, the web people and social media people have been duking it out. Aren’t the two integrated? Social media drives people to your website where they can convert into a sale or a lead, right? Use social media as a means to an end, not the end itself.

4)  Write one thought-provoking idea. “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” Steve Jobs. You don’t have to be brilliant every day. But one day this year, whether in a blog, a Facebook post, a Tweet or even an email, write something innovative and original. The world needs more idea-makers and innovation.

5) Simply put, try something new. Just one.

6)  Breathe in, breathe out. Creative thoughts live in the middle. In other words, be mindful of the present. Focus on what’s in front of you, right now. Don’t worry about the future, don’t regret the past–concentrate on now. When your mind gets uncluttered, you open up all kinds of room for innovation and creativity.

7)  Simplify. Marketing is complex, yes. But it doesn’t have to be complicated. Simplify your marketing efforts.