As we prepare to say goodbye to 2018, the timing is perfect to concentrate our attention on developing a solid plan for success in 2019. That means you need quality prospects in your pipeline and a comprehensive marketing plan. Here are five tactics to help you drive performance.

1. Start small with a very precise target market, then expand.

Disclaimer: this means the number of leads in your pipeline will likely be smaller than normal. However, you’ll work toward gathering analytics that will enable you to cast a wider net to catch even more quality prospects. You’ll do this by capturing critical data about your highly targeted prospects throughout their journey – think: who, when, where, what. By focusing your energy and resources on identifying and speaking directly to a smaller, highly targeted pool of prospects, you’ll have the tools to develop a better long-term and broader reaching strategy.

2. Respect your prospects’ time and privacy.

Global data privacy laws are being deployed, and they bring with them significant consequences for companies that don’t comply. It is essential in today’s digital world that your prospects and your loyal customers have transparency when it comes to how you will respect and protect the information you gather on them. Have a policy and make it available. Adapt a permission mindset and always use an opt-in option for building your database.

3. Collect useful data.

I know this seems like an odd strategy, but it isn’t if you consider that a recent survey by DemandGen Report showed that on average more than 35 percent of the data in existing databases is unmarketable and can’t be used. That’s a waste of time, energy, storage, and money. Use 2019 as a fresh start and clean up your database, purging “junk” data like invalid addresses, duplicates, non-compliant, and unstandardized prospect information. This process should be done regularly. It will help improve your targeting results and save you money that can be used for other revenue generating initiatives.

4. Pick up the pace.

We live in a “now” society. If it’s taking you several days to respond to a lead, you’re taking too long and risking losing a qualified prospect. Start the new year by identify ways you can route your data faster to respond more quickly. At this stage, it also makes good sense to take a look at the stages in your pipeline to see where changes can be made to shorten and streamline the prospects’ journey to a sale.

5. Measure your results.

Success means different things to different people. Make sure you have agreed upon metrics to measure success. This means you want all the key players to agree on the key performance indicators (KPIs), what technology or tools you’ll use to measure performance, and how this information will be shared. Remember, there is no such thing as bad insights. It’s very valuable to know what’s not working in addition to what is.

The new year is right around the corner. It’s the perfect time to get started on making sure your revenue marketing strategy performs and delivers in 2019 so you meet or exceed your revenue goals. These five tips will get you moving in the right direction.