5 Resolutions for Digital Marketing Success
The new year is here, and already January is chugging along. So, what’s your marketing plan? Are you going for “business as usual” or will you finally take advantage of all that digital marketing has to offer?
If you want to draw new customers or keep the ones you have happy, you need to focus on at least these five things:
1. Keep up with technology.
This is probably the most difficult, yet most important action listed here. Make sure you have technology gurus and geeks within easy reach in your company– ideally within every department.
Be ready to add more interesting and useful technologies to your operations and marketing mix. Cashless payments, QR codes, augmented reality, geotargeted coupons and promotions, 3-D digital displays for advertising, more personalized and interactive online advertising– the list goes on and on. Be ready to adapt quickly if that’s what your audience demands.
2. Be consistent and true to your brand.
With all the social media channels you’re on and all the different forms of online (and print) advertising you do, it’s easy to feel a bit scattered. That’s okay if you personally feel that way, but your audience should be hearing one clear voice from your company.
Yes, having a presence on different social networks means taking a different approach for each network. Your message and tone should be modified based on the audience who is there and the context of the site. But, having a strong brand means that all those approaches still have the same underlying voice, even if the tone and message are different.
Your goals still stay the same. No matter how big or small your social presence is, you still must stick to your mission. Be true to your company and your customers.
3. Provide interesting, original content.
Using blogs and social sharing sites, give people information they want and can use. Like Steve Jobs used to say, give them what they don’t even realize they want. Be original. Yes, content curation does have a purpose and an audience, but focus on ways to provide relevant, original content, drive interaction and keep your voice.
Say more with photos and videos. Photos and videos, when chosen carefully and done well, keep people on your website and other social networks coming back. Keep this in mind:
- Over 90 billion images have been uploaded to Facebook.
- Video is the most responded to posting on Google+.
- YouTube has become a vital part of marketing for many types of companies, ranking second in visits among all social networks.
- Video and graphic applications will become increasingly important for tablets and smartphone users.
4. Listen to your employees more.
Your employees are already on social networks and fully understand what appeals to them and what doesn’t as customers. Use their expertise, even if they’re not in your marketing department. Find people most excited to spread the word about your company and empower them. You can always teach marketing, but you can’t teach personality and enthusiasm. Take advantage of that when you find it.
Create a social media policy that drives engagement as opposed to stifling it. Policies and codes of conduct are important, but they have to be put in place delicately and with sensitivity toward freeing up barriers to social media engagement.
5. Build valued relationships with your customers.
Do these four things above well and number five becomes easy. Remember, relationships and communication go two ways. Give your audience relevance and value, and they will trust you and want to engage with you more. From this interaction, you will get valuable information and advice from them as well.
Two crucial factors:
- Be where your customers are. Do some research and social listening. Find out where your customers hang out and where they’d be most likely to welcome your presence.
- Speak their language. Many business people think you have to use jargon and multi-syllabic words to sound smart. Not true. You want your customers to understand you, and the easiest way to do that is to communicate clearly and simply in words they use and understand.
Most importantly, don’t try to do it all. New social networks pop up all the time. That doesn’t mean you have to be on them. And not every new technology will be suitable for your company to adopt.
There is no one-size-fits-all prescription. Above all, when deciding which social media channels to be on or which technologies to use, you must always go back to your goals and objectives and understand who your audience is, where they hangout and what they want.
Whatever you decide to do, be sure you have the resources to do it well.
Good luck and cheers to a successful year!
