A Guide to Thriving in the Year of the Rabbit

The Lunar New Year arrives a few days from now! We’ll be welcoming the Year of the Rabbit, which is believed to be the luckiest zodiac animal. With a promise of prosperity, peace, and longevity, B2B marketers are advised to invest in businesses and hop into every opportunity with zeal and vigor.

This 2023, this annual event that’s also known as Lunar New Year or Spring Festival will fall on January 22nd. There are many ways that B2B brands can maximize their efforts as a new business year is ushered in.

But first, let’s learn more about this occasion.

The rabbit, in Chinese culture, has the distinctive trait of waiting for the ideal opportunity to move before leaping into action. The said animal represents luck more than any other animal in the zodiac.

In the zodiac origin story of the Great Race, all the animals who would later become zodiac animals had to compete in a river race. The rabbit hopped nimbly over the water, hopping from one stone to another. The rabbit appeared to be losing the race halfway across, but he was fortunate enough to catch hold of a floating log, which subsequently swept him to shore.

For the B2B marketer, this Year of the Rabbit, or the Water Rabbit to be exact, opens new opportunities not just to increase revenue, but also to recalibrate and reset business strategies. Chinese tradition holds that the year of the rabbit is a great one for negotiations and getting good bargains. That’s why we should bring those lucky aspects close to us this year.

And just as how the Chinese New Year brings forth warm wishes of good fortune for family and friends alike, it also marks a fresh start and a chance to reach both our personal and professional goals.

Start the year strong by setting SMART goals

Setting goals for a new year is nothing new for people and businesses alike. Together with the anticipation of a fresh year ahead and the recitation of the very cliche “New year, new me” mantra is making a list of your New Year’s resolution that (we know) works only if careful planning and commitment to that plan are done. Nonetheless, we’re still hopeful.

But… Did you know that 80% of New Year’s resolutions already fail by February? That’s a lot of abandoned goals in such a short period of time. And besides, only a handful of 9.2% of individuals feel that they’re successfully achieving their resolutions.

What are SMART goals?

A SMART goal works as a help guide goal setting. It’s an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable Realistic, and Timely. Simply put, a SMART goal integrates all of these factors to help focus your efforts and boost your chances of success.

It can be easy to fall into the traps of broad and lofty goals. When such goals become difficult to keep or attain, they can be depressing. All of this may be prevented by being “wise” about setting goals. When deciding on a new objective for your company for the coming year, consider the following:

How specific is this objective? Is it too general?

How will we know when we’ve accomplished our goal? How will it be assessed?

Is this an attainable goal? Is it difficult enough while remaining attainable?

Is this a good objective for our company? Is there evidence that it is a worthwhile goal?

When will we need to complete this task?

In this article, we’ll go over some practical ideas that can help you leverage your strategies to their full potential. We’ll help you gain the momentum you need to start strong in 2023. Are you ready to tick off your list? Here we go! Let’s begin by setting these attainable goals for your business.

Budget well, and plan accordingly

Okay, first things first. What does your 2023 marketing budget look like? Establishing clear strategies you’d like to pursue is good, but making sure that they’re realistic and feasible with your budget matters as well.

You can weigh the risk you’re taking by analyzing your 2022 revenue. Sort out your budget with the help of a trusted marketing budget calculator. Doing this can assist you in allocating your money to different marketing channels like SEO, PPC, and social media, to name a few.

While you’re calculating the figures, don’t be afraid to consult industry research. It can help you ensure you’re investing in the right places and on the right track. Who knows, the insights might generate ideas for developing more agile plans for 2023.

Revisit your brand strategy

Focus is the key if you want to succeed in B2B marketing. Remember that every move you make should be in line with your brand strategy. However, there are some scenarios throughout the year that can throw you a little bit off course- like product launches, surprise announcements, and company changes.

To stay on track, you need to review your current goals and strategies to ensure that you direct the right efforts toward your goal.

Searching for quality B2B leads? Discover our services.

Time for tool auditing!

Marketers have a wide range of tools to choose from in terms of support and leveraging their functions, but their success lies in choosing the right tools for your brand.

Ask the following questions:

Is everything functioning as it should?

Are you utilizing everything on a regular basis?

Is it possible to combine activities using more efficient tools or resources?

Is there something you’ve always wanted to try?

Conducting a comprehensive audit will help you find areas where you may be wasting money or where you might spend it more efficiently.

Make sure your SEO is up and running

Customer experiences start with search intent

Investing more in online channels in this digital era can give B2B lead generation companies the additional boost they need to stay connected with their customers in a consistent manner.

One of the most efficient and important lead gen and customer acquisition channels in the industry is SEO. Here’s why: 93% of customer experiences begin with the search engine- not to mention the 14.6 % close rate compared to 1.7 % for outbound leads such as in radio/TV ads and direct mail.

SEO has been a powerful technique for ensuring that your brand is recognized by the right user at the right moment since the invention of search engines. While the search business has evolved over time, one constant remains: SEO is critical for online marketing success.

Here are some tips to help you stay on top of your SEO initiatives:

Think about search intent

Search intent, also called user intent or audience intent, is a term used to describe an online search’s purpose. As you build out your content, focus on why a user is searching for a specific phrase or query.

Consider Voice search

Voice search removes a layer of effort, enabling customers to transform voice signals into text through Automatic Speech Recognition System (ASR)

This speech recognition technology enables smart device users to search by simply speaking.

The speech recognition system will then convert spoken words into text. Then, the search engine treats the text as if it were a typical search query and returns relevant search results.

Machine learning improves over time to better grasp the natural human language and the searcher’s intent in order to surface the most relevant results. To leverage the use of this tool, opt for full question phrases in your SEO practices instead of simple search words.

Keep your local audience/searchers in mind

Local SEO is a must, especially if you’re a business that provides products or services in specific geographical locations.

Because of the change to localized search results, marketers must now focus on providing more local content. It is not sufficient to just include a few local keywords on your homepage.

To make a significant difference in your search engine results, you must create pages for each geographical area relevant to your organization. This may be accomplished by using descriptive keywords about your town, city, and state in content pieces relevant to your target audience.

Take a look at what your competitors are doing

If you want to know how to prepare for the new business year, look at what other people are doing or have done successfully. You could discover some useful inspiration on their websites or social feeds. You might realize that your content and strategies are better than theirs. Either way, knowing what your rivals are doing can help you strategize efficiently.

Personalize through automation

Here’s the thing: You can’t give your consumers what they want if you don’t know who they are. Personalization allows you to obtain data-driven insights into their preferences and purpose in order to provide them with customized experiences.

A study reveals that 80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase from brands that provide a personalized experience

Segmentation: Segmentation is the division of a market into pieces or segments that are identifiable, accessible, actionable, profitable, and have the potential for expansion. In other words, due to time, expense, and effort constraints, a company would be unable to target the whole market. It requires a ‘definable’ segment – a large group of individuals who can be recognized and targeted with minimal effort, expense, and time.

Lead scoring: Lead scoring is a process used by sales and marketing teams to assess the value of leads, or future consumers, by assigning scores based on their behavior in relation to their interest in products or services. The “value” of each lead varies for every company but is often defined by the level of interest displayed by the customer in the company during the purchasing cycle. Companies use point-based systems to classify leads or simply refer to them as “hot,” “warm,” or “cold”, depending on their past interactions.

Check out our Latest Blog: Customer-Centricity: At the Core of Successful B2B Marketing

Repurpose or reuse content

There goes the old adage “Out with the old, in with the new.” And in its spirit, it’s about time to bring in some fresh eyes on older content.

Content repurposing, or content recycling, is the process of reusing existing content and presenting it in a new format to increase visibility, boost a campaign, and expand its lifespan and reach.

As for best practices, you can update your previous posts. There may be fresh developments or suggestions you can share on a topic you’ve already written about. So, republish your previous content after making some changes and additions. You don’t have to completely revamp it (although it’s an option, too), just make sure that it appeals to today’s audience.

Try out something new

You don’t have to make massive changes in your content strategy to achieve better results overnight. Let’s face it: Your budget won’t allow you to and your time and resources are limited too.

But don’t let these hold back your curiosity. Experimentation, as long as done short and simple, can give you valuable findings to improve your strategies. Who knows, you might discover new formats and styles that’d boost your content strategy this year.

Create a poll to know what your audience wants to know more about

With a lot of content planning and corporate whereabouts in the next 365 days, you might just suffer from a brain freeze of fresh ideas.

An effective way to keep ideas steadily flowing is to send out a poll for your audience. You can ask them what they want to know by asking a daily question on social media platforms. No matter the subject or topic, make sure that it resonates with your audience.

Work with the right lead gen partner

Of course, there are a lot of things you can do in-house, but tapping into outside resources can bring in a new and refreshing outlook. Your well-planned strategies work very well as you partner with a trusted B2B lead generation provider, like Callbox.

Through this, your brand can identify opportunities for growth and development, generate the right leads, and reach your revenue targets for 2023.

In closing…

Uncertainties will still loom in the upcoming year, but adequate planning, careful setting of goals, strict adherence to your business tactics, and partnering with the right team of B2B experts can help you leap into opportunities with confidence.

Here’s to fresh starts and boundless possibilities in the Year of the Rabbit!