Read an article on the subject of developing a successful marketing strategy, and you will get the top-ten Google result answer, which is usually a bunch of nonsense about keywords, Google trends, and goal setting. This article guides you through the issues you will come up against as you develop your online marketing company. These tips are based on experience rather than being based on whatever articles Google has splattered across its first page.
Trial and Error Testing
Where one would be tempted to relegate this tip to tip number 7, under the guise of, “If you don’t succeed, try, try, again.” one would strongly suggest that you go into the entire marketing process with a mind to trial and error testing. It shouldn’t just be a floating philosophy; it should be the linchpin of your process and overall success.
Your focus shouldn’t be on success because the internet marketing services don’t experience success, any more than a beating heart achieves success. And, just like a beating heart, your job is to make it as strong and efficient as possible. Do not focus on success or a monthly target. Instead, focus on finding what works, and then building on it. That way, as the marketplace evolves, so does your strategy.
Targeting, Retargeting, and Market Research
As a seasoned marketer, you probably know everything there is to know about targeting and retargeting, and it can be quite frustrating when you know your target better than they know themselves, and yet the rotters still won’t buy from you.
One could whine and moan about implementation problems, or conversion metrics, but your real problem is probably a misunderstanding about the state of your targets. This misunderstanding leads to problems when new marketers confuse successful metrics with their marketing campaigns.
For example, there is an ad for a car, showing the car with price and financing terms. The marketer runs the same picture ad across blogs, their website, social media, and emails. Yet, the same ad only receives actionable leads from emails. Every avenue targets the same people, but for some reason, it is only the emails that generate leads. How is this possible when the target audience who receives the ad is the same?
The problem is the state of the target. Somebody who opens an email for your ad is more likely looking for a car. Whereas when that same person is searching Facebook or a blog on car parts, they are not looking for a car. They are not in a ready state for car buying.
Do your targeting research, but also consider the state of your target when they see your ad and use these assumptions to temper your campaign.
Creating a Baseline
Some call it creating a baseline interest, another call it laying the groundwork and others call it priming the pump, but it all pretty much means the same thing. You put out a bunch of hooks and see which fishes have a nibble.
Ideally, your starting content should be disseminated across free or cheap platforms, and it shouldn’t have anything controversial or brand-breaking. This is not an area where shocking for dramatic effect is a good idea. Do not confuse your preliminary marketing with guerrilla marketing, especially since guerrilla marketing is often very expensive.
In this case, the goal of your digital marketing strategy is to promote your website, or your product, or your brand. You aim to try out a few of your marketing methods, a few of your ads, and a few of your ideas to find out which generate interest and to see if any generate sales. Do not rush your campaign by throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks, but feel free to be as creative as you wish.
All Roads Lead to Contact or The Checkout
No matter which element of your marketing strategy you are working on, you must make doubly sure that your target audience has a clear and guided way to contact your company or buy from your company.
Possibly the worst offenders for this are people who advertise on YouTube and Instagram. On YouTube, there are double ads, and people who watch the first ad and have no idea where to buy the product because the display ad on the YouTube page is always for the second ad.
As for Instagram, there are video snippets people can create that last a set amount of time and then disappear. They often feature a “Swipe up” request. However, many advertisers have people swipe up to a profile or to nothing, which leaves the viewer high and dry with no idea how to find the product, or where they can contact the company selling them.
For every piece of marketing content, ask yourself, how is your target audience going to get from the point of contact to your website or checkout.
Sell Steak and Not Sizzle
The only people who need to sell a sizzle are people who have poor quality steaks to sell. Going over your key selling points and incorporating them into your advertising may seem like schoolwork, but it is a valid direction in which you can take your marketing. Keeping it simple doesn’t mean you have to compete on price or performance. Keeping it simple is often the best way to drive a digital marketing strategy over the long term.
There is an old scene of the Muppets where a bunch of frogs is trying to come up with a sales slogan. They offer their lofty slogans, talks, and propaganda. Then, Kermit comes along and says, “Ocean Breeze Soap Will Get You Clean.”
The joke was that marketers are so caught up in sales that they have forgotten how to explicitly state profit. Despite being a slang joke about an exaggerated online marketing company, the point remains today. Keep it simple, state your key selling points and product benefits, and let people decide for themselves.
Your goal is not to win every customer in the world, your goal is to build relationships with your customers, and the best starting point for this is honest, simple, and direct communication.
Drop Call to Action
A call to action is a great way to inspire people to take action. Sadly, adding a call to action almost certainly weakens your message. At the end of a BMW ad, they don’t have the words “Buy Now” running across the screen. When Gucci throws its models on the catwalk, they don’t have signs saying, “Sale Now.”
Get your message across. Build interest, but don’t be bothered by a call to action. People are not fools, and you tell them that by acting it will not happen.
Establishing a Sales Funnel
Why is this tip the ultimate tip? Shouldn’t this be an integral part of your internet marketing services? Even though sales funnels are important, they are more of a late-stage production.
Regardless of the power of sales funnels, you will capture more buyers and followers with your sales funnel with the methodology already explained in this article, especially if you are a small company.
If you run a large company with a lot of online influence, your sales funnel is like a highway that moves an excessive amount of traffic to junctions and toll booths that ultimately is relevant to the sales platform. Although your sales funnel may drive traffic to your website when you’re a small company, your sales funnel isn’t your biggest deal maker in most cases.
It happens in almost every case that you run campaigns on your website, on blogs, on video websites, forums, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, etc. You run your campaigns, and for some reason, there is only one platform, marketing method, or advertising that performs more. It is possible to set up a sales funnel based on this method/platform/advertisement, but you often find that what you are doing is already good enough.
However, even with the sales funnel not being the driving force behind your digital content marketing strategy, you should still plan and implement it. Consider how each user interacts with your brand from the first meeting to your checkout. You can set up a sales funnel for each point of contact if you wish, but be sure to implement all of the other points/methods listed in this article before building and honoring your sales funnel.
