No matter how strong your marketing strategy may be, you must consider that customer behavior is in a constant state of flux, subject to changing, sometimes capricious customer wants and needs, changing competitive options, and changes in the marketing channels consumers watch. What attracted and engaged your audience yesterday might not necessarily have the same impact today. It is important, then, that you are open to the idea of constantly tweaking and bettering the way in which you market your business if you want to take your marketing to the next level.
Here are four ways you can take your marketing to the next level and ensure you’re always ready for changing customer demands of the day.
Try different things
Sometimes the marketing strategy you employed successfully just a few days ago begins to plateau or even decline in terms of outcomes. If you’ve seemingly made no progress with your marketing endeavors recently, you shouldn’t be too quick to dismiss the possibility of trying different things. Times change and with them, so should your marketing strategy and continuing on the same path may lead to ever-diminishing returns. Take a new approach when it comes to the way you advertise your business, i.e your message, channels, and implementation, as this may help you to finally resonate with your target audience.
There are many different forms of marketing for you to try, so you never have to worry about exhausting your options in this instance. For example, give network marketing a go. As detailed by Toni Vans marketing consultant, this form of advertising entails you taking your marketing message straight to your customers — in some cases, this means taking it straight to their doorstep.
To succeed as a network marketer, you must:
- Choose your audience wisely (who is going to appreciate you taking the initiative and bringing your marketing campaigns to them, and who is going to deem it ‘pushy’?)
- Showcase the fact that you genuinely believe in what it is you are promoting
- Leverage the power of the web and be attainable on it at all points
Make use of your ‘404 pages’
It is inevitable that you will have lost pages or broken links somewhere on your website. These are commonly known as ‘404 pages’ and, though not ideal, they are not the end of the world. One of the main reasons why they are not as disastrous as some people believe them to be is because they can be transformed into advertisements. Make use of your 404s in this sense, as, not only will you generate more leads, but you’ll also show yourself as highly innovative.
When customizing your 404s and transforming them into advertisements, leverage the power of a call-to-action, as you never want to produce ad copy without trying to close the deal. Instead of displaying a message like ‘address not found,’ post something along the lines of ‘‘this page is currently unavailable, but be sure to head here for our most up-to-date content.’ Go above and beyond in this instance, and offer prizes and special deals for the customers that just so happen to find their way onto your 404s.
Another strategy, although the two aren’t mutually exclusive, is to use the 404 pages playfully, making fun of your own humanity in not producing perfect content. This strategy helps forge a bond between your company and visitors, it lightens their mood, and reduces any residual annoyance they feel at being denied the content they wanted.
Ensure your emails are engaging
Email marketing is a great way to take your marketing to the next level. But, beware. Your customers are bombarded by hundreds of unsolicited emails every single day. To ensure your messages don’t get lost in the mix or, even worse, end up in the Junk box, find a way to stand out from the crowd. One way to do this is to place personalize content by using customer names in your email subject lines. This grabs a subscribers attention right away and, if nothing else, boost your email open rates.
To ensure you capitalize on this increase in open rates, make sure that the rest of your email content is just as engaging. Make sure all responses that you make via email come from a real person, as this is a simple and effective way to engage directly with your customers. Automating your responses will just make your customers think you cannot be bothered with them. If you allow this feeling to permeate your email marketing program, you’ll push your customers away and into the waiting arms of your competitors before you know it.
Link your content to authority figures and influencers in your field
No matter what market space you occupy, there are authority figures and influencers in the same space. And, harnessing the power of these influencers acts as a recommendation of your brand when they link to branded content whether on your website or social networks. In fact, influencers have more authority than the brand itself, since consumers recognize that brand marketing isn’t always unbiased.
Influencers are individuals or other companies that have attracted an expert reputation for themselves in your market or have a large following of folks who view their brand as valuable. Think Kim Kardashian and her ability to move products in the beauty and music spaces. In order to showcase the fact that you are or can be just as established in your industry as they are, you need to find a way to link yourself to them.
An easy way to do this is to call out and engage influencers on social media whenever you post a status or upload a photo by simply using the ‘@‘ along with the influential figure’s handle or using a hashtag to call out to them using links to a specific piece of content you want them to share. This will not only showcase the fact that you are a part of your market, but will also show that you understand your field — it could even help you land a fair few followers, too.
If you want to take your marketing to the next level; put the above advice into practice. Dare to be different, and think outside the box in order to retain those customer numbers and see loyal clients return.
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