How To Improve Your Marketing

According to a Deloitte report, marketing budgets comprised 10.6% of a company’s overall budget in Fall of 2023. But before we start spending all willy-nilly, we need to evaluate what we’ve been doing in order to create a stronger plan that will allow us to be more focused, successful, and better utilize our budget moving forward. We have our marketing basics down - storytelling, social media, flyers - so how do we level up? Below are five areas to focus on that you may already know about but haven't implemented yet. Get to it!

1. Diversify Marketing
“Marketing is an investment to build your brand and your business. As any financial advisor will tell you, you should hedge the risk by diversifying your marketing channels.” (forbes.com) In other words, make sure you’re doing more than just one type of marketing.

When was the last time you sent an email (still a leader in advertising) or did a direct mail campaign? Stop relying on one form of marketing because it is the most popular and start taking advantage of other routes to engage with existing customers and attract new ones. This will provide multiple methods of exposure for your brand to be seen numerous times while increasing levels of interest. You will also learn more about how your audience consumes information, allowing you to better engage with them in the future.

As always, make sure what you’re providing is meaningful so the recipient has a reason to interact with you.

2. Paid Advertising
Your social game is on point - you know when your followers are most active on each platform, you’re interacting with them (not just on your posts but on theirs too), and you’re monitoring your analytics to make adjustments.

Now it’s time to turn to paid advertising to extend your reach. It’s no surprise that “social media platforms are tweaking their algorithms, making it clear to brands that paid promotion is a must if you want to get visibility.” (constantcontact.com)

To learn how to get started with Paid Advertising on any of these platforms, check out their dedicated pages: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, TikTok, Threads (not yet available).

If you decide to go the Paid Advertising route, you now have the option of how you want your ad to look. “Unlike traditional advertising, which is designed to interrupt and stand out, native advertising is designed to blend in and promote your brand to a new audience who might otherwise never learn about you.” (blog.hubspot.com) Below is an example of two Paid Advertisements on Instagram as seen on PromoCorner’s feed. The left is a traditional style ad while the right ad feels more native while scrolling.

3. Brand Advocates
Don’t underestimate the power of word-of-mouth marketing. Someone’s comments (positive or negative) can have a huge impact on a brand or product, especially if they’re held in high regard. So start using this to your advantage.

Here are two ways you can do this.

1. Influencer marketing is nothing new, we’ve all seen the videos of someone saying why they love X, Y, or Z and how it has changed some aspect of their life. This type of marketing is typically a paid service where you hire someone well-known to use your product and then provide a review, typically making sure they hit specific bullet points you provide them.

2. User-generated content (UGC) is exactly what it sounds like, content created by users of your product/service. This free endorsement is a strong case study for why others should purchase your product/service. Just reach out to the creator and ask permission to share before posting. “According to Statista, 70% of brands believe that user-generated content gave them a better connection to their users during 2023.” (amsive.com)

4. Offline To Online
If you have a booth at a tradeshow, include a QR Code on your signage or handouts to make it easy for your client to sign up for your newsletter, follow you on social media, or register for a webinar. You have now turned your offline presence into an online one.

A fun tactic to urge online interaction from an offline experience is to use teaser marketing such as a “to be continued” campaign. This will cause FOMO, and we know curiosity is a strong emotion. Share the beginnings of a case study, how your client was struggling and the various solutions you offered, but to find out how you saved the day they have to visit your website - either a dedicated case study page or the product page where you have your case study included.

You can also encourage clients to join your exclusive closed Facebook Group during your next meeting. Let them know it’s the only place they’ll receive exclusive offers, sneak peeks, and can provide feedback or product input. It’s like Patreon without the fee.

5. SEO
It’s time to double down on your SEO to help your business become more discoverable online. Start by combing through the data you have and note any queries your visitors search and use this information to create articles, guides, short videos, or even social content that answer their questions.

Another way to help your SEO is by repurposing old content. If you have content that is evergreen, turn it into a new form: blog to podcast, podcast to webinar, webinar to blog. This will make it relevant to search engines once more.

As mentioned in a previous article, 3 Steps To Get Your Social Posts Seen, SEO is also extremely relevant on social media platforms. This is a quick read with three steps to help you optimize your posts and help get your content discovered.

If you’re looking for more “basic” marketing tactics, check out these two compilations of articles focused on Graphic Design, Marketing, and Social Media: Marketing Help & Marketing Online.