- Here are some marketing strategies businesses can use to achieve desired goals.
- These strategies are capable, and skilful unison can bring exponential results.
Small businesses suffer from resource crunch, and these 11 marketing strategies can help level the field and allow them to capitalize. If not through resources, small businesses can include these strategies in their marketing campaigns to scale their brand and boost sales, awareness, and engagement.
With technological advancements, digital platforms have emerged as credible resources that businesses of all sizes can leverage. Data suggests that as of 2023, 2.14 billion people prefer shopping online through e-commerce, and around 93% of consumers check online reviews to make purchase decisions.
Here are 11 vital marketing strategies that, if used correctly, can help businesses achieve desired results.
- Strategically Establishing a Digital Presence
- Engaging and Understanding Your Target Audience
- Intelligently Involve Networking Strategies
- Foster Community Engagement
- Use Compelling Content Marketing Tactics
- Gamification and Interactive Content
- Use Experiential Marketing
- Explore Guerilla Marketing Tactics
- Brand Ambassadors and Cross Promotions
- Work on Public Relations
- Strategic Partnerships
If used strategically and intelligently, these tactics can help businesses of all sizes to gain desired results.
- Establishing a Strong Digital Presence
Establishing a solid digital presence is a great marketing strategy focusing on building a positive and reputable online identity for the brand and yourself. As consumers increasingly rely on the internet to find information and make purchasing decisions, having a solid digital presence allows them to connect with this online audience and influence their perception.
Your website can be your digital headquarters, and it must be user-friendly, visually appealing, and optimized for mobile devices. Around 73% of users appreciate mobile-friendliness, which helps them trust a business. Hence, brands must ensure that the website provides valuable content relevant to the target audience.
Next comes search engine optimization (SEO), which is about optimizing the website and online content to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). It puts your website, products or services higher on search results when users search for them. Better SEO ranking can be achieved by keyword research, strategic content creation, building backlinks to your site, etc. Over 80% of people tend to click on the first few links, and only around 2-3% go to the second page; this shows the importance of SEO.
Social media platforms are a great way to connect with your target audience on a more personal level. Businesses can choose the platform frequented by their target audience and create engaging content to communicate with them. Content could be informative blog posts, eye-catching visuals, interactive polls, etc. Social media platforms can help build loyalty and customer service if used correctly.
- Engaging and Understanding Your Target Audience
Even the best product or service is only possible if the audience connection is enough. Hence, it’s essential to establish a connection with your audience, especially those who truly benefit from your offerings. You can do this by conducting deep audience research, creating content tailored for them, and establishing two-way communication.
The first step is understanding your ideal audience. Segment your audience according to their demographics, such as age, income, location, etc., and know their interests, pain points, online behavior, etc. Marketers can use available social media listening tools and surveys to gain relevant insights. Data suggests that 80% of consumers tend to do business with a company that provides personalized experiences.
After understanding the target audience, tailor the content to resonate with them. For example, they can provide blog posts to address their specific challenges, social media content to reflect their interests, and email campaigns segmented by demographics. Audiences appreciate these tailored offerings, and they help in positive brand perception.
Marketers can also go beyond simply broadcasting messages and work on encouraging interaction with the target audience. It can be done by social media polls, Q&A sessions, live chats, and promptly responding to comments and messages to foster a sense of community. Data says that 78% of customers expect brands to respond to social media messages within 24 hours, making two-way communication more critical.
- Intelligently Involve Networking Strategies
Remember, marketing is not a solo act. Hence, businesses must build strong network connections to amplify their brand’s reach and influence significantly. It can be done through strategic partnerships with complementary companies and industry influencers. Relationships can be built through industry events and online communities.
Businesses can build strong relationships with complementary businesses. They can partner with ones that offer non-competing products and services but cater to a similar target audience. Seventy per cent of marketers say that co-marketing partnerships are an effective way to reach new audiences.
Furthermore, they can identify and connect with influencers with a strong following within the target market. Partners can collaborate on content creation, social media mentions, and joint events to leverage their reach and credibility. Data suggests that influencer marketing generates an average ROI of $5.20 for every $1 spent.
Industry events can build relationships, and marketers can attend trade shows, conferences, and meetups relevant to their field. This allows them to connect in person with potential partners, customers, and thought leaders. Data suggests that 84% of marketers say attending industry events is a valuable way to generate leads.
Participation in online forums, social media groups, and industry discussions can be valuable. Marketers can share their expertise, engage in conversations, and work on building relationships with potential customers and collaborators brands might not have found otherwise.
- Foster Community Engagement
In today’s competitive digital landscape, consumers crave connection and belonging, and this marketing strategy taps into this desire by building a loyal community around the brand. Basically, it’s about creating a space where the audience can feel valued, heard, and connected to each other.
Depending on the target audience, brands can create a platform, a dedicated online forum, a social media group, or even a physical location. However, brands must ensure that the platform is user-friendly and fosters interaction. They can offer exclusive content, host Q&A sessions with industry experts, or organize events relevant to audiences’ interests.
Marketers can run contests, polls, or discussions to encourage members to share their thoughts and experiences and encourage participation. Statistics suggest that customers connected to a brand are three times more likely to recommend it to others. Plus, brands with stronger communities see a 19% increase in customer lifetime value. Brands like Harley Davidson, Sephora Beauty Insider Community, etc., have capitalized on this strategy.
- Use Compelling Content Marketing Tactics
Today’s marketing landscape is already saturated with content, and surpassing the competition requires a strategic approach. Marketers must invest in creating high-quality content capable of connecting and attracting the target audience, educating them about the brand and ultimately converting them into loyal customers.
Key pillars of content marketing include value-driven content; the content must address audiences’ pain points, answer their burning questions, and provide solutions. It can be blog posts, infographics, videos, ebooks, webinars etc. Marketers must weave narrative into content to make it more relatable and memorable. Consumers are 22 times more likely to remember a story than facts alone.
Furthermore, they can optimize the content with relevant keywords to enhance search engine rankings and improve visibility. Regularly publishing fresh content can keep the target audience engaged and make them return for more. Statistics show that companies that create consistent content achieve 30% more traffic from repeat visitors than those that don’t.
- Gamification and Interactive Content
Today’s audiences’ attention span is rapidly shrinking, and gamification and interactive content help leverage the power of games and user participation to capture interests and drive results. It’s an intuitive way of transforming passive content consumption into an active and enjoyable experience.
Marketers can incorporate elements like points, badges, leaderboards or challenges to motivate and keep users engaged. Gamification can increase user engagement by up to 900%. They can use quizzes, polls, contests, etc, to encourage user participation and make them feel like they’re actively shaping the experience. Interactive content experience generates twice as much conversation than passive content.
They can also include a reward system to incentivize participation, offering discounts, early access to products, and exclusive content as rewards for completing challenges or achieving goals. Gamification injects fun and excitement into content, and the interactive element makes learning more immersive.
- Use Experiential Marketing
In today’s landscape, consumers crave more than just traditional advertising, and experiential marketing focuses on creating tangible, interactive experiences that connect with the target audience on an emotional level. The strategy goes beyond product promotion and fosters a memorable brand association.
Marketers must create interactive experiences that allow audiences to engage directly with the brand, products, and services. This could involve product demonstrations, pop-up shops, workshops, and even virtual reality experiences. This strategy aims to elicit positive emotions and create lasting memories, and such emotional connections foster brand loyalty and advocacy.
The strategy aims to engage multiple senses—sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste—to create a more impactful and memorable experience. Data suggests that experiential marketing campaigns are 2-3 times more likely to be remembered by consumers, and 74% of millennials appreciate the brand that provides them with an experience.
- Explore Guerilla Marketing Tactics
Guerilla marketing tactics offer a bold and unconventional approach. They utilize surprise, creativity, and low-cost methods to grab audiences’ attention and promote the brand. This marketing relies on unexpected and creative methods to stand out from the crowd, like street art installations, interactive stunts, flash mobs, etc.
Marketers can utilize high-traffic public spaces like busy streets, subway stations, or parks to maximize their reach and surprise. This strategy emphasizes resourcefulness, eye-catching visuals and clever ideas, which can be more impactful than expensive ad campaigns.
Data suggests that guerrilla marketing campaigns are 86% more effective and memorable than traditional advertising. Plus, they are cost-effective, and some campaigns might achieve viral fame for a minimal investment. For example, Dole transformed a set of stairs in a subway station into a giant piano with banana keys, encouraging people to play music and interact with the brand in a fun and unexpected way.
- Brand Ambassadors & Cross Promotions
This strategy combines two of the most effective marketing strategies and tactics to amplify the brand’s reach and impact. Brand ambassadors are individuals who embody your brand values and personality. They can be celebrities, influencers, athletes or loyal customers who authentically advocate for your brand. These individuals act as a bridge between the brand and the target audience.
Using brand ambassadors increases brand awareness by leveraging the established audience of brand ambassadors. 76% of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family, including online influencers. Endorsements from trusted individuals build trust and credibility, and they can also create content that feels more genuine and relatable than traditional advertising and can foster a stronger connection with consumers.
Cross-promotion involves partnering with another non-competing brand that shares a similar target audience. Marketers can access new audiences through a partner’s established customer base. 70% of marketers say that co-marketing partnerships can be an effective way to reach new audiences.
- Work on Public Relations
Public Relations (PR) is a capable marketing strategy that focuses on building and maintaining a positive public image for the brand. It goes beyond simply promoting the products and services and aims to establish the brand as a thought leader, a trustworthy entity, and a valuable contributor to your industry or community.
Some Key PR tactics include media relations, which develop positive relationships with journalists, bloggers, and other media outlets. This can lead to favorable press coverage and increased brand awareness. Press releases are official statements that announce newsworthy events like product launches, partnerships, or company milestones.
Participating in local events, sponsoring charities or volunteering to demonstrate the brand’s commitment to social responsibility and build goodwill. Crisis communications rely on having a well-defined plan for handling negative publicity or unexpected events that can minimize damage and protect the brand’s reputation.
Data suggests that 91% of consumers are likely to switch brands based on consumer reviews, and companies with solid PR practices generate 3X more favorable media coverage than those with weak PR.
- Strategic Partnerships
The strategic partnership leverages the power of collaboration to achieve mutual goals. It focuses on forming alliances with complementary businesses to expand your reach, access new markets, and enhance the effectiveness of overall marketing efforts.
Complementary partnerships focus on collaborating with businesses that offer non-competing products and services but cater to similar target markets. Statistics suggest that 70% of marketers say that co-marketing partnerships can effectively reach new customers.
Another tactic of strategic partnership is partnerships with industry influencers who have a strong following within the target market. Marketers can collaborate on content creation, social media mentions, and joint events to leverage each other’s reach and credibility. Technology partners help integrate your products and services with complementary technologies to offer more comprehensive solutions to customers.
In conclusion, each of the strategies mentioned above can potentially help businesses achieve their desired goals. If used in unison or as a perfect amalgamation, two or more strategies can help brands achieve exponential growth. However, marketers need to consider all the possibilities and understand the nuances before implementing them.
