10 Marketing Strategies to Win in 2018
1) START BLOGGING
In a digital environment where we're inundated with a constant flow of information, creating authentic, valuable content that stands out from the crowd and offers something real to your consumer is essential to lasting success. One of the most effective ways to become a thought leader in your industry is to start taking blogging more seriously. You should aim to produce one solid blog post a week, with the option to pepper in more if you have special announcements, deals or time-sensitive material to share. Be mindful of how many “extras” you pepper in to avoid being the object of the “unsubscribe” button.
NEED HELP: Starting a blog, writing awesome content or editing the material you already have? We know a thing or two about blog life.
2) CREATE AN AUTOMATED EMAIL CAMPAIGN
If you don’t already have one or more automated email campaigns in place, now is the time to take email marketing off your manual to-do list and work on strengthening your “set it and forget it” approach. With 2018 just around the corner, creating a plan now means getting the most out of your database from quarter one to the end of the year. Here are a few simple steps to get the wheels turning:
Define the campaigns you should have in place (retargeting campaigns, cold lead campaigns, referral campaigns, testimonial campaigns, this-or-that-specific-type-of-customer campaigns, etc.)
Build out your contact lists for each campaign
Design your email template
Write your content
Schedule your content
Sit back and let the magic happen
Don’t have time to tackle building ALL the campaigns your business could benefit from in one fell swoop? That’s okay, one at a time is better than none at a time.
NEED HELP: Strategizing, designing or building your email marketing campaigns? We’d love to chat about programs we love, design plans and how to engage your audience with valuable content.
3) HOST TRAININGS & WEBINARS
If you’re a business owner, chances are you have an established expertise in your industry, and chances are you could figure out a few valuable nuggets from your vast area of expertise that your audience would love to learn more about. Coaching and training, especially via an online platform, is a rapidly growing lead generation and revenue producing activity and one you’re likely not utilizing enough in your business. Grow the crap out of your email list by offering a free webinar on a valuable topic or put together a step-by-step guide or training packet that educates your audience around a point of interest or point of pain {something they want to learn more about or something they struggle with}. Giving value to your audience for free creates trust and positions you as the “go-to” person should your consumer want to learn more, buy a product or service or figure out how to get started with something.
NEED HELP: Coming up with seamless presentation materials for your webinar or building an eye-pleasing guide or training packet for your audience? Contact us today.
4) CREATE & SCHEDULE A SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN
Having a plan of attack for your business’s social presence goes a long way in helping you build influence without wanting to pull all your hair out. First, you’ll want to decide which platforms are most effective for your business. This means evaluating where your ideal audience is spending most of their time. Once you’ve decided which platforms are right for you, do a little research on what types of posts are most effective on which platforms {we’ll give you a little hint: Facebook users love video, Instagram users love inspirational and personalized messaging and Pinterest users love a good list}. Now that you understand HOW people are consuming content on your platforms of choice, it’s time to build out content so you can set it and forget it. Aim to build out content for all your social media platforms one month in advance, this allows you to get ahead of the “last-minute” effect while still keeping you current with relevant topics and conversation threads. Once your month’s worth of posts are built out and ready to go, use a social media scheduling tool {of which there are many} to schedule each post throughout the month at the optimal days and times. This will allow you to ORGANICALLY pepper in additional content as desired or needed without sacrificing your consistency.
NEED HELP: Formulating, designing, writing and learning how to execute your social media strategy? Let’s get plan-y with it.
5) INCORPORATE VIDEO ACROSS PLATFORMS
Video is the single fastest growing digital marketing tool of our time; don’t get left in the dust. Start planning scripts and incorporating video throughout your marketing campaigns via email, social media and on your website. This can mean videos of your face saying things {“Hi, Johnny Fantastic here, thanks so much for subscribing to my email list”}, utilizing a video creation service like Animoto or GoAnimate that use animations, text and music overlays to get a message across or making useful how-to videos where you teach your audience how to do something. The possibilities are vast, so assess the places in your marketing where video might make the most sense and then get to work. It’s also worth noting that live video is also highly effective in gaining mind-share with your audience so, you maaaaaay have to get over not being much of a camera person this year if you want to jump on that train.
NEED HELP: Writing a script for your marketing videos? Let’s make you sound awesome.
6) START ENGAGING YOUR AUDIENCE
Increasing audience participation increases the likelihood of creating actual revenue-producing relationships with your sphere as well as the likelihood of a referral. So, what are some good ways to get your people to engage with your marketing?
Giveaways: Require a response, a post, a call, ANYthing active in exchange for a giveaway and you’ll see people engage with your offer in a way that creates natural conversations, reconnections and new introductions.
Run a contest: Running a contest is a GREAT way to get something specific {and perhaps something difficult to get} from your audience. You can raffle off tickets to a sporting event, a cool product from your line, a wine tasting for two or anything else attractive to your sphere in exchange for a testimonial, a share of some kind about your company, an email address to grow your list or a sign up for a training or event, whatever suits your purpose.
Start a post-a-thon: Social media influence is super rad because it's one of the most organic ways to grow your base of loyal fans. Create a fun “post challenge" and ask others to share their own photos or videos or start a hashtag challenge around something meaningful or entertaining and award the best responder with a gift certificate or some other prize.
Ask for input: People love sharing their opinions. Use open ended questions in your social media posts and your engagement will go up exponentially. Questions like “What’s your favorite...?” “What was the best....?” “What was the worst....?” “If you could....?” are much more likely to get a conversation started than a static statement.
NEED HELP: Creating content around your audience engagement activity? We’ll help you get ‘em talking.
7) PLAN & BUILD YOUR MAILERS
If your company benefits from print marketing, simplify your life by creating a twelve month plan for each piece you’ll be sending throughout the year; then build and execute as much of the plan as possible so you can simply “press send” each month. This is most effective when used in tandem with strategy about what your audience is most influenced by at different times of the year. For example, a real estate agent would want to play to the market’s seasonality and a clothing retailer would want to cater their pieces to both seasonal styles and extra enticements for times of the year when people are more likely to be shopping.
NEED HELP: Building and executing your yearly mailers? We’ve got experience and will travel.
8) START A YOUTUBE CHANNEL OR PODCAST
With almost 500 billion videos watched on YouTube every single day and 42 million Americans listening to podcasts every week, 2018 is the perfect time to take advantage of this traffic. YouTube videos are highly effective in the form of storytelling, entertainment and education {how-tos} while podcasts are a fantastic space to discuss changes in the industry, address frequently asked questions, express opinions on a relevant topic, conduct guest speaker interviews or give valuable series information {The Six Steps to __________: Part 1}. Research shows that video and audio consumption are up, up, up and predicted to rise even more in the coming year.
NEED HELP: Refining a video/podcast script or building a YouTube channel bio? Let's pow-wow.
9) STOP IGNORING YOUR WEBSITE
According to the Global Trust in Advertising Survey conducted biennially by Neilsen, branded websites are the second most trusted advertising source behind direct recommendations from a person the consumer knows and trusts. That means, if you’re not spending time building, updating and bringing your website into the 21st century {or God forbid, if you don’t have one at all}, you are missing a HUGE opportunity to gather and retain online traffic, build credibility in your industry and create visibility around your business. This is a digital age, my friends...websites are the new business cards and yours needs to read well and be rooted in current styles to keep you in the game.
NEED HELP: Building or updating a website? We’re running a New Years special, drop us a line today to get the deets.
10) PLAN MARKETING EFFORTS AROUND POSITIVE REVIEWS
With such a saturated market, consumer mistrust has become a natural byproduct of selling ourselves or our products online. As a result, we’ve seen the importance of client/customer reviews steadily increasing across all industries. A fantastic way to feed into the growing influence of testimonials and reviews is to plan specific marketing efforts around customer feedback. Whether that means inserting a testimonial focused email into your email marketing campaigns, planning a physical mailer that focuses on past client experiences or stylishly promoting reviews via social media, letting your sphere know that people are loving your product or service is a highly effective way to increase your credibility and influence.
NEED HELP: Implementing reviews in your marketing strategy today? Let’s put your fan base to work.
Want more entrepreneurial advice, tips and tricks to accelerate your business?
Sign up for our email list here.
{We only send the good stuff.}