At the start of 2015, I had big goals for the year ahead. I was starting a new SEO gig with Propertyfinder.ae and was moving client side after many years with agencies. I figured I would have more time to focus on improving my digital skillset and further enhancing my career. I set out 5 digital marketing goals for 2015 and here’s a debrief.
1. Join Instagram and actively use it. Aim to get 500 followers by year’s end.
I joined on 1 January 2015 and actively used Instagram. I love the platform and wish I had joined sooner. As of 3 January 2016, I have 238 followers. Less than half of what I had aimed for. Not bad considering I’ve been posting up all sorts of random things. For the most part, I’ve avoided pics of meals and selfies – though there’s a few in there for good reason! It’s been quite random so it’s hard to say what my feed is totally full of. I initially went nuts with filters but found that after a while, filters tend to ruin a lot of photos.
My plan for 2016 is to grow this following to the 500 follower mark, just for the fun of it. I am thinking of creating other accounts to target specific interests like Islamic Art. But we’ll see.
2. Use Pinterest more often.
I didn’t really follow through with this. I did use Pinterest again and pinned a few things but never got round to fully organising boards or using it on a regular basis. I found it to be a slower version of Instagram and that’s largely why it has not been a priority. I don’t think it will feature much in 2016 either.
3. Get at least 1 more certification during the year.
I admit to not finding the time to renew my AdWords certification or obtaining the Analytics one. I did go through some HubSpot training but am yet to be fully Inbound Certified. My time management for further training has been weak as I’ve been enjoying my new job and the vast improvements in work life balance that it provides. In 2016, I intend to make good on this and hope to achieve all relevant certifications!
4. Design a mobile friendly website from scratch – for the fun of it.
I got lazy with this and never launched anything but I have been reading up on how this can be done (in the various methods available) so I really have no excuse to do this! I have some website projects I plan to launch in 2016 so this will be a great place to start.
5. Get a lot more involved with A/B and MVT testing.
