Everyone’s marketing challenge is different. However, there are some principles and practices that are almost universally applicable to any organization or situation. Here are some simple ways to be much more effective and efficient in your prospect and customer engagement going forward, regardless of the scope of your outreach.
- Look at marketing as an opportunity, not an obligation
If you’re running a small business, marketing may not be your favorite cup of tea. But if you’re treating it only as a necessary evil—putting out ads, emails, or social media posts with content that doesn’t make an effort to get people intrigued or excited about you, why bother?Develop your marketing materials as if you’re having a conversation with your best friend. Show your audiences how well you understand them and how great a relationship with you can be. In your online communications, look for any opportunity to share something worthwhile with your customers—a unique offer, a link to an enlightening article, or even an image or video that reflects your outlook or sense of humor.
- Start every marketing program with a plan
This seems obvious. So then why do so many businesses have marketing programs that are haphazard and lack any clear strategy?If you have a multi-channel marketing program, it’s easy to be overwhelmed keeping it in motion or to get distracted by new challenges and opportunities. You need to develop a plan, well before your program launch, that provides a clear roadmap of what you’re working toward. It should establish a realistic budget that can accommodate your goals. Outline a schedule for how and when you disseminate your marketing messages. Designate who is going to be responsible for managing each component of the program. In other words, your plan should be in place before any ad, blog, tweet, or radio spot sees the light of day.
- Forget trying to do everything
Resist the temptation to get on board with every new communications app or social media platform. Unless you’re certain you can establish consistent follow-through and content development with each one, you’ll quickly find your resources spread too thinly.Think about what your audiences uses most. What social media networks do they favor? Do they respond to emails? Will traditional print advertising or direct mail work? Also keep in mind that you don’t have to generate everything from scratch. It’s perfectly fine to share/call attention to content from others or to repurpose your own recent content.
- Segment your customers
In our personal lives, we have close friends, friends we see occasionally, acquaintances, and so on. We treat each group differently, with those who mean the most to us receiving more attention than those we’ve only met recently. Make sure you take the same approach with your customers. Create different profiles for each type. For your best customers, send them a special reward every now and then to remind them how much they mean to your business. Keep your lists up to date so you know who’s loyal, whose business is tapering off, and who the promising prospects are, and take action with each group accordingly.
- Think mobile
Your website and online messaging today is seen primarily on a tablet or smartphone screen—not on a computer screen. Recent data shows that approximately 70 percent of all email and social networking takes place on a mobile device. As such, it’s important that your website, emails, banner ads, and any other online marketing is designed with that in mind. Be sure your website incorporates responsive design (so it adjusts seamlessly between desktop and mobile screens). Use single column copy for easier reading. Keep messages direct, avoid long paragraphs and small font sizes, and use large, easy-to-click buttons.
- Be patient and flexible
While there are boatloads of metrics that can be associated with customer response activity, it’s still incredibly tough to accurately predict what will appeal to your audience. Carefully crafted marketing efforts with tested creative and messaging can sometimes go unnoticed while last-minute ideas can at times pull in far better results than you ever imagined.Whatever your results may be, pay close attention to patterns and trends that you think are driving customer activity (or non-activity). What type of content seems to work? Are there certain days of the week or times of the month that draw more engagement? What content format (blog, ebook, video) seems to be more popular? Tweak your content approach and presentations and give them some time before you reassess and adjust again.
Like any endeavor, you won’t get things perfect right away. But by keeping these half-dozen fundamentals in mind when you’re planning or executing your marketing program, you’ll put yourself in better position to strengthen those relationships that lead to more purchase activity, loyalty, and referral business.
For more information on getting the most out of your marketing and branding programs, take a look here.