The end of the year is traditionally a time of purposeful thought and self-reflection — even for businesses. For those B2C businesses looking to improve their efforts in the coming new year, reflecting on what went well and what didn’t during 2021 is a good place to start. For guidance on what areas to focus on more specifically, consider the following eight recommendations.

What’s one thing B2C businesses should be reflecting on in Q4 to help improve their efforts and ready themselves for the next year?

1. Ratings and Reviews

B2C companies should reflect on customer feedback — specifically the ratings and reviews they receive online. If a problem continues to persist, it’s a sign that changes need to occur to solve the problem quickly and efficiently. This will allow B2C companies to prepare for next year. – Jared Atchison, WPForms

2. Sales-Specific Strengths and Weaknesses

Business owners and marketing teams should reflect on their sales-specific strengths and weaknesses during Q4. In most cases, this is the busiest time of the year, so you need to be on your toes. When you can identify what you’re doing right and where you can improve, you can create an honest assessment of your business that can help you throughout next year. – Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights

3. Google Analytics Data

At the end of Q4, I recommend reviewing your Google Analytics account so you can see how customers engaged with your blog throughout the year. I’ve found that seeing data from the entire year helps us figure out what our customers expect from our brand. We use this information to brainstorm future content, products and features. – John Brackett, Smash Balloon LLC

4. Social Media Marketing Strategies

B2C businesses can improve their business efforts by creating more streamlined social media marketing strategies. Social media is an excellent tool that businesses can use to build brand awareness, drive traffic to their website and encourage sales. Putting more effort into optimizing social campaigns and content can greatly boost your conversions. – Stephanie Wells, Formidable Forms

5. E-Commerce Competitiveness

Make sure your e-commerce can compete. This holiday shopping season, don’t expect a big return to brick-and-mortar retail. If you have a retail B2C firm, you have to make sure your e-commerce integrations are working smoothly and that the UX/UI is seamless. Otherwise, your prospects will bounce to your competitors who do have these key integrations perfected. – Amine Rahal, IronMonk Solutions

6. Business Spend

In 2020, some businesses had a little more money they had to spend and did so through growth or systems upgrading. In 2021, that extra spend could have caught up and they needed to conserve a little more. Heading into 2022, we need to look at getting back to the normalization of business spend outside of the COVID chaos. – Marjorie Adams, Fourlane

7. Customer Goals and Pain Points

In my experience, reflecting on conversations that occur through your customer support channel can help you enhance your business. This is particularly true if you’re reviewing customer feedback and concerns after Q4. I suggest talking to your team members so you can learn more about your customers’ goals and pain points, which can help you fine-tune your marketing strategy for next year. – John Turner, SeedProd LLC

8. The Holiday Sales Season

Many significant cultural and e-commerce-related holidays happen in Q4. You need to focus on getting prepared for the holiday sale season and wrapping it up successfully so that when you do enter the new year, you’re doing so with a fresh start after having had what was, hopefully, a solid increase in sales and customer engagement. – Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner