{"id":1195,"date":"2019-04-02T13:33:48","date_gmt":"2019-04-02T17:33:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cacpro.com\/first-quarter-wrap-up-lets-see-how-we-are-each-doing\/"},"modified":"2025-04-10T15:56:32","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T19:56:32","slug":"first-quarter-wrap-up-lets-see-how-we-are-each-doing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cacpro.com\/insights\/first-quarter-wrap-up-lets-see-how-we-are-each-doing\/","title":{"rendered":"First Quarter Wrap Up – Let’s see how we are each doing!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spring has sprung (according to the calendar, at least) and April is upon us. For businesses, this also means a rapid end to the first quarter of the year; the optimal time to review the preliminary results of your annual marketing strategy. As much as we would love for a marketing strategy to be self-sustaining; a \u201cset it and forget it\u201d feature, it needs to be routinely checked up on and updated for the latest trends, data, and practical tools.<\/span><\/p>\n

More specifically, it means we should begin asking questions like: Are we making progress toward the goal? Is it still visible? What are we doing to stay focused on the most important initiatives? What (if anything) has changed in our market? How do we need to respond to those changes and by when? Who is responsible for implementing these changes?<\/span><\/p>\n

First, let’s see where we are. Here are some easy ways to gauge how you\u2019re doing:<\/h2>\n

Review Your Goals:<\/b> Even if you didn\u2019t write goals down, this is the time to think through what you wanted to accomplish in 2019 and evaluate what you have and have not. Are there reasons you did not hit specific goals? Learning from the first three months, should any goals be adjusted or removed. <\/span><\/p>\n

Monitor Social Media:<\/b> While numbers are, of course, a concrete way to measure your progress, positive feedback from your followers is a great way to measure success as well. Consider posting specific questions regarding how your ideas are resonating with your fans. Asking a broad question like, \u201cHow are we doing?\u201d probably won\u2019t get the traction as you hope. However, asking \u201cWhat do you like about X Marketing Campaign?\u201d probably will garner more honest feedback as it invites direct feedback.<\/span><\/p>\n

Check your analytics frequently:<\/b> As we said, numbers are concrete and don\u2019t lie. Compare the past few months to this time last year, or the last quarter of 2018. If you aimed to write more content, even something as simple tabulating the posts that you have written this quarter versus how many you wrote the prior quarter will show how well you have done.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are 3 Marketing Trends to watch in 2019 to boost your results:<\/h2>\n

SEO: Featured Snippets<\/b><\/h3>\n

Every business owner and marketer wants to rank higher on Google, but often don\u2019t know where to start. Google is continuously changing and updating its algorithm, and more often emphasizing paid ads taking up most of the search results. At the core of Google certain things will never change. This means Google still and will always prioritize giving people immediate response results to the things they are asking or looking for. Google is more of a service, not so much a product. Thus, by creating content that comprises of info that your customers are asking or looking for, you\u2019ll drastically increase your chance for ranking higher to capture that relevant search traffic.<\/span><\/p>\n

One way Google is updating it’s SERP (Search Engine Results Page) is by showcasing more featured snippets. A featured snippet is a <\/span>type of rich snippet<\/span><\/a> that is featured as a query result at the top of Google, and most of the time is answering a specific question.<\/span><\/p>\n

This article by Moz covers the core details about Featured Snippets<\/span><\/a>: what they are, where they are shown, and types of snippets included. Most snippets are formed as paragraphs that are held on an article page that succinctly answers a question from Google in paragraph text form. These make up 82% of the total snippet results.<\/span><\/p>\n

Make sure to give this content a page for itself on your website. Additionally, make sure to set up the proper technical SEO aspects surrounding that content and your site, so Google\u2019s standards optimize it. This long-form article on Search Engine Journal discusses how to research then create content for Featured Snippets. We\u2019d suggest taking some time to read and review it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Key Points:<\/span><\/h4>\n