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Today’s business landscape is eerily similar to the bazaars and markets of old, where merely being present or even offering the best wares was not enough. One needed to be loud and persistent in showing off one’s goods to the public, and so it is today. Relentless, focused advertising is really the only way to go, especially when the business is still fresh and can not be spread by word of mouth and mere reputation alone. Good marketing is practically an art form, blending presentation, psychology, and statistics all together to garner attention and customers. Without any further ado, here are 8 ways you can improve your marketing to benefit whatever business you may be in.
Do Not Forget Your Audience
Work with your audience, always at the front and center of your focus. One consequence of there being practically countless businesses all hawking their wares is that there is so much noise that most of them merely get lost in it. Screaming louder is not the way to stand out. You have to mold your efforts around your intended audience. There are so many companies offering the exact same thing, screaming the exact same things across videos and billboards and on the radio or on TV. If you are interested in television, click for more about TV advertising to find a concise guide on what and where to improve. Do research into who your audience is, and invest time into figuring out what exactly you are selling, what your message is, who is going to want to hear that message, and how you are going to reach them with it. Start from the top and carefully work your way down. Explore the analytics and data, start interviewing your customers, find out what they like and dislike, get involved in social media, speak to your audience, and constantly review and improve. Without your customers, your business serves no purpose, and this is a fact that should never be far from your mind when working on your marketing.
Keep Experimenting with New Techniques
Nothing in this world can ever stagnate for long, and marketing, effective or otherwise, is no exception. Truly effective marketing is all about experimentation, finding out what works and what does not, testing and measuring multiple approaches to discover what works best. This kind of thing is usually left to a single person, like the VP or the marketing director, to instigate, but this is not the ideal case. It should be everyone’s responsibility. The team should meet up regularly to brainstorm and find at least one new idea, like advertising through virtual mailboxes, to experiment with and apply to the current advertising model. It can be big or small. All that matters is that it is new, otherwise, you might never discover the next revolutionary idea that changes the marketing landscape.
Long-Term Marketing Plan
Have a marketing plan for the upcoming year and objectives that can be achieved as efficiently as possible. Create a plan with specific, well-defined processes and establish both immediate and long-term objectives so that everyone in the team understands what needs to be done and is encouraged to go forward and carry out the duties in a well-organized manner.
Utilize the Weapon That Is Social Media
Social media is invaluable in getting your voice and products out there, and the more active and focused you are, the more your business will inevitably grow. It is an excellent way to interact and connect with your customers and audience in a professional manner while still allowing you to apply the personal touch. Answer questions, have conversations, and build a community. However, it is vital to keep your account up-to-date and accurate. If anything in your business changes, your customers should and need to know this too, which will help build trust. Having giveaways, or little competitions with prizes is a fantastic way to encourage engagement with your business. Posting regularly will help keep you relevant, and many businesses have their own social media manager responsible purely for running their Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube accounts, which is why successful social media work keeps many companies’ accounts consistently trending.
Stay in the Loop
This can be applied to almost everything, not only in business or marketing, but it is very important here. Traditions and sticking to what is familiar and proven to have worked in the past seem like a good idea, and it can be once something new has proven itself futile. However, you should always make the effort to stay up to date on any new developments in how and what you are doing and implementing. It can be anything from a new marketing idea, or maybe a new idea for a sale, something to push your business into the public eye. You will never find a revolutionary new way to reach and attract customers if you do not even bother checking to see if there have been any new developments in the business world.
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Use “Influencers” to Your Advantage
Now, this might seem like stooping a bit low, but the fact of the matter is, the influence of… well, influencers, is a powerful tool in the right hands. G-Fuel for example, with the help of PewDiePie and many other streamers/YouTubers, has become practically a household name, their value practically having exploded since then. Millions of people, mostly young people, follow and watch these influencers, hanging on their every word, and using them to your advantage could be the catalyst for your rise to mainstream attention and visibility. The trick is not to necessarily go for the streamers with millions of followers but opt for micro-influencers with a hundred thousand followers or maybe even less. It is more about finding the influencer that fits into your niche and won’t prove to be somewhat of a jarring discrepancy when seen alongside you and your business. You will be automatically targeting the right audience. Never forget, it is not just about spreading the message, it is about spreading your message to the right consumer base. If you can do this properly, you can likely reach a rapidly growing, snowballing audience for not a lot of money invested when you consider the profit it can very easily return.
Consider an Affiliate Program
Many people do not understand and grasp the power of affiliate marketing. Associating your name with an already prestigious, successful company will help put your name on the map and into the public eye. Affiliates can add massive fuel for expansion and growth, but approaching the right partners can be a bit difficult. You want and need the bigger affiliate to take you seriously, and it will require a lot of persistence and grit to navigate this minefield and prove yourself. Do not allow yourself to get discouraged after a few setbacks. Do not allow emotions to get in the way of the affiliate. Build an affiliate program and start reaching out to any potential affiliate who will be able to assist you in climbing higher on the visibility ladder.
Utilize Email Marketing Sequence
Part of a good sales funnel is an effective email marketing sequence. These are those automated emails that get sent out to users once they have subscribed to your list, used your products, or in any other way, come into contact with your company. Use this email sequence to “build a relationship” with the subscriber by being transparent and authentic, conveying your own journey. Use the responses and clicks to segment your list. For instance, when someone has clicked on a specific link, they have clearly shown an interest in something. You are going to tag that subscriber and market to them later. If someone buys something, tag them as a buyer, and maybe send them your discounts and special offers, etc. Successfully identifying your buyers and the interests of your subscribers is vital for good segmenting. When you send out the emails, split-test them. Split test everything. You will never know what is most effective if you do not experiment and pull the trigger to find out what garners the most attention. This will help enlighten you as to what your audience responds best to, which in turn will make you a better communicator and more effective at selling to your customers.
Modern business has become eerily similar to ancient battlefields, where men vanish into clouds of dust, and you can not tell who is who and who belongs to whose side due to the overpowering noise and confusion that overwhelms the senses. So it is with marketing today, with thousands of businesses and companies merely disappearing into the dust. Do not allow that to happen to you. Have a clear vision of who you are, what your business is all about, and who you are trying to attract, and go forward from there. Use the tips given to your advantage; let yourself be seen, heard, understood, and recognized. Build a loyal consumer base that keeps returning and spreading with word of mouth, and you have already practically mastered the art of fantastic marketing.
