Because the first two weeks of January are a slow ramp-up period for marketing, setting quarterly goals can create a false sense of falling behind. Instead, establish separate monthly goals for January, February, and March to maintain team momentum and morale.
The first two weeks of January are a poor time to test new marketing initiatives. Audiences are distracted and catching up, leading to historically lower engagement. A failed test during this period may not accurately reflect the tactic's true potential, as evidenced by email click-through rates being 30% higher in late January.
A simple yet effective tactic for the new year is to update successful, date-specific content from the previous year. Changing "2025" to "2026" in titles like "Conferences to Attend in 2025" is a low-effort way to create timely and relevant assets that are likely to perform well again.
In the first two weeks of the year, audiences are mentally overloaded and have very short attention spans. Marketers should adapt by using concise copy, shorter subject lines, and generous white space in emails and social posts to align with the audience's desire for easily consumable content.