It seems we’re all looking for that elusive holy grail when it comes to marketing. As of this morning, Google returned 257,000,000 pages for the search term “market effectively.” Now, unless you are brand new to the marketing game, you can probably guess that the returned pages agreed on a few basic marketing principles:
- Know your customers
- The power of search
- Make yourself known
- Build your brand
The dawn of the internet has made it that much easier for brands to communicate and interact with potential customers. However, it’s important not to lose sight of the basics. The art of marketing is still the same. You just have more tools at your disposal to make it work.
Know Your Customers
So, who is your customer? Who is that person who can take a brand from zero to hero? Who are the people who will come back to a brand, time and time again, if the marketing and offer is right? Without knowing who this person is, there is no way you can market effectively. Customer profiling is important for any business. It helps you to target your marketing with precision so that it is relevant to your prospects, and persuades them to do business with you.
It’s one thing to have a list of names and contact details. That’s a great start, but when it comes to truly “knowing” your target audience, you’ll need to dig a little deeper. That means rooting out their habits, passions, dislikes and likes. It means measuring their behavior and tailoring your marketing effectively. It also means no more hit-or-miss marketing, as you’ll have all the necessary data you need to develop meaningful and effective marketing campaigns.
The Power of Search
No matter what you have to sell or offer, there will ALWAYS be a segment of the population searching for it. For this reason, you must include search as part of your marketing plan. To integrate search effectively into your strategy, you must first know your customers. Who are they? How are they searching for your products or services? Are they using specific search terms? What do they want? How can you make their life better?
By analyzing what your target market is searching for, how they search for it, and their ultimate goal, you can match your marketing content against this search data.
Make Yourself Known
There was once a time when marketers would take the one-and-done approach to marketing. That is, they would use one method of marketing to target the entire audience. This may have been through a newspaper ad, a flyer or, if they had the budget, a spot on TV. Once the campaign was over, the marketers would simply move on to the next campaign.
Things are different now. When you have so many marketing channels open to you, it’s wise to use a multichannel approach. Sending out an email to your mailing list? Include your Facebook link at the bottom. Publishing a new blog? Send it to your mailing list and publish it on your social media channels. If you’ve got something great to share, sharing it far and wide will ensure it reaches as many prospects as possible.
Build Your Brand
Creating a new and vibrant brand is a challenge which requires consistent messaging across marketing channels year after year. Your brand will outlive products and convey a uniform quality, credibility, and experience. Branding also has an interesting impact on internal corporate culture. It is amazing how employees will live up to the standards represented by their brand. Most business owners make the mistake of thinking they must have their brand built and finalized before they start doing business. Building a brand is a gradual never ending process that is constantly evolving alongside consumer needs and market trends. Consistent and relevant marketing is essential to ensure brand continuity and recognition.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to marketing effectively, there are not millions of solutions, and there is no holy grail. Traditional marketing methods still work as effectively today as they did a decade ago. Following the simple rules above will help you to reach the right audience, and convert prospects into customers.
