Start the new year with a fresh social media profile, for your personal and company LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instaram accounts.

• Update your headlines and key bullets.
• Make sure your settings are appropriate for your goals.
• Take time to review your network, reconnect with important contacts and choose influencers to follow.

A current and focused online presence will support your communication efforts in the coming year.

Take advantage of the holiday lull to start 2019 off right. Take a mini-retreat to assess your personal and department successes for 2018, and to develop your plan for the new year.

If you can, take an informal day offsite, at a coworking space, library or other quiet locale. If you can’t spare that much time, find an hour or two a day in a conference room or working from home, where you’re free from telephone calls, emails and interruptions.

No, we’re not recommending a return to “Valley Girl” speech peppered with “likes.” But an analogy, or comparison of a well-known and powerful example to your subject, can be the perfect choice to get a new process or concept across in just a few words.

For example: The iPod is like having your entire CD library in the palm of your hand. Our new widget for medium-sized manufacturers is just as transformative. It consolidates all your most important engineering files in a single device.

There’s a time and a place for everything—including when your customers buy and use your services. Maximize your marketing efforts by understanding the seasonality in your industry.

Determine when budget cycles, fiscal years, annual events and other activities ebb and flow, then align your communication efforts with these critical events. Match lead generation with triggers like budget cycles, and customer education or loyalty-driven campaigns when product usage spikes.

Swamped by marketing tactics and ad hoc requests? Struggling to create a plan—or stick to it? Regain control with one simple question: “What is the objective?”

Next time sales or management (or even another marketer) asks for an unplanned activity, turn the conversation from tactics to strategy by identifying the goal of the request. Start with why there’s a perceived need, not what the solution is.

Then, evaluate whether the new tactic is the best way to meet the objective, and whether it’s more of a priority than your planned campaigns. Be prepared to suggest alternatives that may better reach the goal

Don’t let a positive news article, viral video or customer testimonial go to waste—especially if it occurs unexpectedly. Set up a communication template in advance so you’re ready to share good news with your target audiences—ideally, within 48 hours of a public relations success.

Plan where to post news coverage on your website and social media channels, and when to use email or “push” communications to get the word out to prospects, customers and internal stakeholders.

We all collect data as part of the lead nurturing process, but are you really using it? Look over your online forms, analyze your marketing database and speak with the recipients of this information within your company.

Find out what’s absolutely essential, then pare down your online forms so they’re fast and simple for respondents to complete. The less you ask, the more inquiries you’ll generate.

Want to gather good information to support your marketing strategy or campaigns? Ask your question correctly.

Use open-ended questions to gather qualitative information and personal impressions:  “What does your process typically involve?” or “How would you describe the impact of our product on your business?”

Use closed questions to gather quantitative data and easily compare responses:  “Do you prefer email, telephone or mail communication from us?” or “Which one of the following choices is most appealing to you?”

Business-to-business content is chock full of lists: services offered, product features, customer benefits and more. Make your content more digestible—and memorable—for customers by grouping long lists of items into sub-categories, with clear category names.

When there’s no logical way to present your lists, always alphabetize your content to make it quickly searchable for your audience.

Creating a campaign takes time—but few outside the marketing team really understand what the process entails. Take time to educate key stakeholders—especially sales—about the steps involved, the time required, and why they exist.

Go a step further and meet proactively on a quarterly or monthly basis. Identifying upcoming needs and goals can reduce the number of “urgent” project requests and keep marketing plans on track.