A brand New Year’s resolution

To keep your brand in condition, apply these 6 principles of a sound and sensible workout routine to help you achieve lasting results.

Now, a couple of months into the year and with spring just around the corner, are you keeping your “promise” to improve your workout routine? Are you hitting the gym 4 times a week, or does your treadmill need dusting? Has your weight rack become a coat rack? Did your personal trainer forget your name again? According to a 2009 studyabout 78% of New Year’s resolvers fail before the year is over.

A new year marks the dawn of new opportunities, just as a new launch or initiative does for a brand. To reach your New Year’s goals, you need commitment (a sense of purpose) and dedication. Treating your brand as you would a New Year’s resolution can help you obtain the results you desire.

6 Tips to Keep a Brand New Year’s Resolution

1.   Have a plan. “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Think about your tactics, messaging, and the results you want to achieve. Whether you want to slim down your waist or bulk up your sales, proper planning will help you on the path to success.

2.   Don’t try to accomplish everything at once. It’s not reasonable to expect results from one all-inclusive, full-body workout, and the same can be said for your brand. Rolling out ads, sell sheets, banner ads, websites, and all other tactics in one day isn’t feasible—and it won’t work. Effective branding requires multiple touch points delivered over time to your audience.

3.   Don’t leave everything until the last minute. Great, you didn’t overexert yourself in the beginning, but now your cousin’s wedding is a week away and you still haven’t shed the pounds. Don’t let your national sales meeting creep up the same way! Always think long-term.

Tip: Involving your agency early and often can help you to successfully execute a brand plan throughout the course of the year. After all who besides yourself knows your brand better than your agency does?

4.   Start small. Pique interest with your most basic selling point and lose the frills. Tease out your bigger picture with one key idea, and work up momentum as you go. Your body doesn’t lose weight all at once, and neither will your audience respond to messaging overload.

5.   Keep it interesting. Too often the resolution to hit the gym gets boring, and people get discouraged when they don’t see immediate results. Explore new and interesting ways to flex your brand muscles and mix up the routine. Employ a multichannel approach that includes video, web, and print to keep your audience engaged.

6.   Believe in it. Results are possible and probable if you have confidence throughout. If you don’t believe things can change, they won’t. Tangible change starts when you know that change is possible through hard work and determination.

Don’t let your brand fall into the disappointing resolution statistic. Keeping sight of your goals throughout the year can help you transform your brand vision into a sales metric reality! It just takes commitment.

And even if you’re saying “maybe next year” to your favorite jeans, you can still be proud of your brand right now.