Image courtesy of: wjodkykfiny

My approach to New Year's resolutions this year was born out of two observations: firstly, New Year's resolutions always plummet into obscurity before February dawns; and secondly, currently, all I ever do is work. So the solution? Treat my new year's resolution like work.

My resolution this year is a common one: to lose some weight. I've had this as a "pseudo-resolution" for a few years now, but it's never really stuck. But this year, I'm determined to make it work, as I know so many of you are. So I'll be following the lessons I keep trying to instil in clients, and will use marketing mantras as my guide to a leaner, meaner me.

Here’s how you can use lean marketing tactics to help keep your weight-loss resolutions:

ONE:

There's an adage around the office, and in the larger realm of digital marketing, so true that it's tired: you can't manage what you can't measure. Applied to weight loss, it's about actually monitoring the stuff you put in your body - not just in your head, and not just a note on a scrap of paper reading apple, pasta, coffee... but an actual log, kilojoule by kilojoule, of what you're consuming.

As you log each and every morsel, you observe, and you learn, just like you do when devising and observing a marketing campaign. What you may find are some sneaky little devils that you didn't think were that bad snatching precious chunks of your RDA (recommended daily allowance). When you're plotting this against kilojoules burned, it's just math: if you want to lose weight, kilojoules in < kilojoules out. The same in marketing, it’s just math, so start measuring. And like everything in digital marketing, there's an app for that (a few, actually).

TWO:

Get agile. This doesn't mean you need to have the contortion skills of a yogi. It means get on with it. Being a planner and master procrastinator, I'm doubly inclined to plan my resolution’s (campaign’s) execution forever, with endless reams of research and timelines and calculations, attempting to develop the optimal way to do it. The problem with this is that it never actually gets done. So, instead of spending a month of the year researching every possible facet just start. Start eating better, start moving more. As with marketing, if you're logging it every day, you can correct the course as you go since your own hard data will give you better insights than any amount of reading could provide.

THREE:

There's often talk of support groups when it comes to resolutions like weight loss or quitting smoking. Undoubtedly, it can help to learn from others who have been through, or are going through, similar experiences, but remember this one caveat: don't measure your progress against competitors. In the weight loss game your 'competitors', I suppose, are other people trying to achieve the same goal. By all means, observe them. Learn what you can from them, but keep in mind that you're a unique snowflake and what works for 'Betty at the gym' might not work for you. This is a marketing tactic I find vital. The best measure of success is against your own prior metrics, and if you followed the first tip, you're sorted on that front.

FOUR:

An extrapolation of ignoring the competition is actually figuring out what works for you, in a way that makes you happy. You need to connect with your target market (you, in the weight loss context). If you follow a prescribed regimen blindly, you're going to lose your audience (again, you), which means before you know it you're off the wagon and face deep in a malva pudding. So if the thought of exercising alone is depressing, sign up for an aerobics class. If sports make you cringe, buy a hip hop routine dvd and drop it like's it hot in your lounge. If you can't bear a week without chocolate, give yourself a few squares in exchange for a spinning class. If you can make the market (you) happy, and satisfy the brand objectives (weight loss in this case), you've got a winning formula.

And that's it! Easy as low-carb, non-fat, aspartame-loaded pie. Do you have any other suggestions to help with following through on resolutions, that you can give a marketing-related spin? Let us know in the ‘Make a comment block’ below.