Maintaining a strong and engaging online presence is necessary for a small business in Summit County. In a community where tourism plays a significant role in driving success, staying current, relevant, and fresh online ensures you're always capturing the attention of potential customers.

The new year is the perfect time to ensure that your digital footprint reflects your business goals and values, setting the stage for a successful Q1. In the following, I'll share a few practical tips to revitalize your social media and online presence and set the foundation for your best year yet!

1. Start with a Social Media Audit

Audits aren't just associated with tax season. They're also essential to ensuring your social media content is always top-notch. Take a good look at your most successful posts over the past year (you are monitoring how your posts perform, aren't you?). As you uncover the types of content that received the most engagement, consider focusing on similar content for next year, as it clearly resonates with your audience.

Equally important is to identify the underperforming posts and understand what isn't working. Take note of the posts with low engagement so you avoid creating similar, less effective content as you plan for Q1.

Has your business recently changed its business hours, location, or service offerings? You'll want to ensure that your profile details reflect any changes you've made. Don't forget to check your links and contact information—you don't want to lose any business because someone can't contact you!

If you're just now establishing a social media presence, my small business social media guide will come in handy!

2. Give Your Brand and Online Image a Refresh

Consider refreshing your profile photos and cover images, which will bring a fresh look to your social media profiles. Aim for visuals that align with any updates you may have made to your branding for the new year.

It's also essential to ensure your brand and logos are consistent. Consistency strengthens brand recognition, so take a moment to ensure that your logo, colors, and fonts are cohesive on every platform (including your website) so your customers can quickly identify your brand.

To ensure that your website is accessible for everyone, consider using alt text for images and updating your font and color choices to make them clear and contrasting. Not only does doing so improve accessibility, but it also makes your brand more inclusive!

See my list of 6 Questions to Ask for an End-of-Year Brand Check-In to ensure you have what you need to keep your brand on point for the new year.

3. Continue to Engage with Your Followers

Engaging with your followers must be done faithfully to keep your customers loyal and make them feel heard and seen. It also shows you're engaged and responsive as a small business owner! If you have yet to respond to particular messages, now is the time. Also, clear any messages you've already responded to or are no longer relevant.

Showing gratitude also goes a long way in making your followers feel appreciated. As the year wraps up, thank your loyal customers and followers for their support. You can easily do so with a short post celebrating your community!

4. Tidy Up Your Website and Google Business Profile

Just like you want to clean up your social media profile to ensure everything is current and working correctly, you want to ensure your website is up-to-date, loading quickly, and mobile-friendly. Remove outdated or seasonal content and update key pages like the About, Services, and Contact sections.

Your Google Business profile is often a customer's first impression of your business, so you must ensure accurate hours, address, phone number, and services. Update photos and respond to recent reviews to show your business is active. And if you don't already have a Google Business Profile, now is the time to create one!

If your social media platforms or website don't already display your customer reviews, this is an excellent time to ensure they do. Positive reviews are a powerful tool for building credibility, bringing you even more business. If possible, give recent customers a direct link to leave a review.

5. Create a Q1 Content Strategy

One of the best ways to ensure you have great content at the start of the year is by outlining your goals for Q1. Are you aiming to increase followers, engagement, or sales? Setting clear goals will help guide your content decisions and measure success.

Once you outline your goals, you can create a content calendar filled with the themes and campaigns you want to focus on that align with those goals. A calendar helps you plan your content in advance, saving time and reducing last-minute stress. It also helps maintain a consistent posting schedule, which can increase engagement.

6. Explore New Tools and Trends

The digital marketing world is constantly evolving, and so should your business! As we gear up for the new year, consider new platforms or features that align with your business and resonate most with your audience. If your audience is active on new platforms like TikTok or Threads, or if there are new features on Instagram or LinkedIn that could be interesting or helpful, consider testing them out in Q1.

If you haven't already dived into creating video content, the new year is your golden opportunity as it increasingly engages audiences. Experimenting with short-form videos on Reels, TikTok, or YouTube Shorts could bring a new level of visibility to your brand, allowing you to be your true, authentic self and have some fun while doing it!

Last, but not least, consider investing in tools to help you automate your business and analyze its online performance. Tools like Hootsuite, Buffer, or Later can streamline your social media management, while Google Analytics and platform-specific analytics help you understand what's working. See my blog post with 17 Time-Saving Tools and Apps for Small Business for more helpful resources.

Cleaning up your social media and online presence is an effective way to start the year strong and put your small business in a position to thrive! For more guidance on refreshing and revitalizing your digital presence for the new year, contact me today, and let's chat about it!

In the meantime, make sure you stay connected via my free newsletter!

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