Effective marketing strategies are a fundamental part of growing any business, with the pressures of day to day work, hitting client deadlines and making the next sale, it is easy to see why many companies struggle to find the time to think strategically.
If you don’t already have a marketing strategy in place, it could be the best investment you make in 2019. By carving out some time to think more holistically and longer-term about who your ideal customers are, and the most cost effective ways to reach them, you’ll rapidly accelerate your business growth. You may also see new opportunities or revenue streams that you hadn’t previously considered.
Effective Marketing Strategy Components
The most effective marketing strategies typically encompass:
- Goal Setting – It is important that you don’t embark on marketing initiatives just for the sake of it. You should set out clear goals from the beginning, stating what you want to achieve and by when. For example, you might want to increase revenue by a certain percentage, increase sales of a particular product line, or appeal to a new audience.
- Target Audience – Identifying your target audience, or more specifically your ideal target customer will help to inform every other decision you make in your marketing strategy. Many companies use “personas” to make sure everyone in the company understands who they should appeal to. I.e. Your perfect customer might be John, a 65 year old retiree, who enjoys golf and reads the Daily Mail newspaper.
- Tone of Voice – Whether it is a conscious decision or not, every company will have a certain tone of voice that carries through to the customer. Taking time to consider this upfront will ensure that you speak consistently in a manner that appeals to your customers. Following on from the example above, how would you tailor your language or message to appeal more specifically to John?
- Marketing Channels – There are a number of different channels that you can use to engage with your audience, each with different benefits, costs and timeframes. You should select the best combination to help you achieve the goals you outlined at the start.
- Paid – Paid ads on search engines or social networks can get you good visibility very quickly, but come at a cost.
- Organic Search – Content marketing and SEO will help to ensure you rank well in the search engines, giving you a steady flow of traffic over time. This is also a really good way to engage your audience and share you messages with them.
- Social – Today almost all businesses benefit from having a presence on social media, where they are interact with their customers more directly. With a range of different social networks it’s important you understand which platforms will be most beneficial and give you direct access to your target audience.
- Email – creating an email list of past and prospective customers, who agree to receive your email marketing communications can be great way to get your latest news or product offerings directly in front of your target audience.
- Analyse and Optimise – Modern digital marketing methods are so effective partly because of the wealth of information you can collect about how well they are working, allowing you to tweak your approach in real time. This involves closely monitoring your analytics, building on what works, and making changes to the things that don’t.
Effective Strategy – The AsOne Way
At AsOne we have been working with clients for well over a decade, designing marketing strategies that help to propel them forward, opening new revenue streams and attracting new customers. While the specifics of each strategy will differ, there are a number of common principles that we apply, allowing us to craft cohesive plans for virtually any company in any industry.
Our approach has always been to look at digital marketing as a component of a broader digital business development strategy,
For more information on how our experience of crafting effective marketing strategies could help your business thrive in 2019, don’t hesitate to get in touch and speak to one of our experts.
