A great marketing strategy is what sets you apart from your competitors. If you can nail your strategy – understand all of the key metrics that will show people just how powerful your brand can be – then you’ll start to build an unstoppable presence for yourself in your industry, and people will turn to you when they need what you’re providing. Of course, the perfect marketing strategy isn’t simply going to occur to you overnight. You’ll need to be clever, dedicated, and diligent if you want to succeed. Here’s what you’re going to need for the perfect marketing strategy.
High-quality content
A great marketing approach is nothing without something to market, and that’s where constructing high-quality content comes in. Your content should be informative, entertaining, and succinct; it shouldn’t waffle or bore the reader because boredom and frustration are fatal to engagement. You can also reach out to third-party services to help you build good-quality content; a great link building agency can mean the difference between mediocrity and excellence in your content approach.
A social media strategy
Digital marketing needs social media. It’s a simple fact of life, so the quicker you build a social media presence, the stronger your marketing approach is going to be. Set up channels for yourself on all the major services: Facebook is still important despite being a relative dinosaur in the social media world, and you should also be on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, among others. Even YouTube counts towards your social media strategy, so if your business is video-friendly, make sure to set up a YouTube channel too.
An understanding of your brand identity
In any marketing campaign, your brand identity is what you need to bring across more than anything else. Think about what your brand represents. Try to use three words to describe it succinctly. An example might be Apple, to which you could ascribe the three-word description of “innovative, luxury tech”. Try to do this with your brand, and then bring across that philosophy in all of your marketing materials. Analyse and evaluate everything you create from a marketing perspective, and if it doesn’t bring these values across, rework it until it does!
An understanding of your demographic
Different demographics don’t respond to marketing tactics in the same way. What works for older people won’t necessarily work for Gen Z. For example, Gen Z tends to favour authenticity and an ethical approach, while these factors may not be as important for those who belong to older demographics. Make sure that you conduct thorough market research in order to understand exactly who is using your product or service, and tailor your marketing approach to match that demographic.
A customer-facing approach
Customers quickly become suspicious of brands that they don’t feel have their best interests at heart. This becomes apparent if you aren’t responding to customer comments and if your customer service is bad (that is, if you take a long time to respond to complaints or queries and if your customer support staff are belligerent or indifferent). Emphasizing customer service will go a long way towards building a great digital marketing strategy.
Communication
Talking to your customers to discover exactly what they want from you is an excellent way to augment your marketing strategy. We don’t just mean when they’ve got problems; reach out to them when there’s nothing special going on and ask them what kind of things they want to see from you. Using the answers you get – from email surveys, direct communication, or followup questions – sculpt a more effective marketing campaign and address their concerns. You’d be amazed at how much this can elevate a marketing strategy from merely ordinary to truly excellent.
Realistic expectations
The scope of your business and your goals should figure heavily into your marketing campaign. For example, let’s say you decide to engage with an influencer to promote your brand. Reaching out to an influencer that’s beyond your reach – or, indeed, one that doesn’t reflect your brand’s core values – could damage your chances of building a successful marketing campaign. Speak to your social media team (or self-reflect, if you’re a solo venture) and ask what they think would be within your grasp.
Analytics data
Your marketing campaign isn’t going to go very far without robust analytics data. You can use Google Analytics to find out how your content is performing, but there are also a wealth of other analytics tools out there that can provide a more in-depth look at your content’s performance. You can use this analytics data to help you sculpt your future approach when it comes to marketing. Focus on what’s doing well and be harsh with yourself by ditching the stuff that isn’t working.
Knowledge of SEO
SEO rules the roost when it comes to marketing. In essence, SEO responds to how well your content is optimized for Google, the platform on which most people are going to find the content you create. If you pepper your content with relevant keywords, you’ll do better in the SEO field. There are other factors, like keeping your sentences brief and including images, but keyword inclusion is the main factor. Use Google Trends to discover what keywords people are searching for in relation to your topic, then make sure you include those keywords wherever possible.
Of course, there’s no such thing as a “perfect” marketing campaign. Even still, we think these tips will help you to build something that’s effective, compelling, and full of the potential for high ROI if you implement them. What tips have we missed? What are your favorite marketing strategy hacks?
