With modern technology opening up all kinds of big opportunities for marketers, it can be easy to think that all you have to do to get a brand off the ground is pay for a certain service and then sit back. However, there are still various basic tenets of good marketing strategy that need to be addressed. Here are just a few essential factors in any marketing strategy.
Make it Personal
Long before anyone had heard about SEO and PPC, personalisation was a central part of marketing. With the huge emphasis on marketing automation, keeping your efforts personal is a little more challenging, but certain fundamentals still manage to prevail.
In order to reel new customers in, and retain them once they’re buying from you, making your marketing personal is no longer an option, it’s a rule!
While marketplaces like SEOClerks can help to link you up with services that will give your marketing efforts a more personal touch, you should still be taking initiative yourself, and outlining a plan for personalisation in your marketing strategy.
Personal touches which stimulate better emotional connections can vary from brand to brand, industry to industry. However you go about it, it needs to happen!
Content is still king
That adage “content is king” has become so commonplace, that it can often be hard to take it seriously. However, I assure you that content marketing is still extremely relevant, and should make up at least part of your marketing plan, regardless of your industry or size.
The main issue surrounding content marketing is that it can be very strenuous to manage in-house, and very expensive to outsource completely. When it comes to the content you want to put out, it’s essential that you determine how much your in-house team can manage, and when you should pass the work on to an agency.
If you’ve got someone on your staff with a couple years of graphic design experience, then leverage your skills. If no one at the company has a real flair for words, then outsource your articles and web content to a copywriter.
Wherever possible, apply strategies that will save you time. If time and resources are tight, don’t make things worse for yourself by trying to build everything up from scratch.
Build partnerships
Marketing partnerships can be hugely effective in stimulating a marketing campaign, and building strong alliances. For one, when they’re collaborating with another entity, businesses tend to put out a better standard of content.
Furthermore, marketing partnerships are cheaper to establish, see results more quickly, and will expose your brand to a much wider audience.
If you’re running a restaurant that specialises in organic food, for example, and there’s an independent grocery with a similar focus in the area, you could set up a referrals deal with them.
Some businesses will be more flexible with their partnerships than others. However, if there’s any room at all for collaboration, I strongly recommend that you explore it. Planning for a partnership can pay off massively in the long term.