The ongoing pandemic has presented businesses with multiple marketing challenges. Strategies have been restructured, product launches rescheduled, content rewritten, and budgets revised. In fact, global ad spending will likely decrease more than $17 billion and spur marketing budget cuts of 24% in 2022. However, the right marketing strategy will make it that much easier for your business to emerge on the other side of this once-in-a-lifetime event intact, fully operational and in the black. To help you weather the storm, especially if you’re on a tight budget, here are the 4 top marketing areas to focus on to help you get the most out of your marketing dollars.
1. A Strong Website
As is often said, first impressions are of the utmost importance. With the huge growth in online content and virtual experiences due mostly to the pandemic, that means it’s no longer your storefront customers see first; it’s your website. In fact, you have roughly less than a second to make a good first online impression. So if your website is slightly flawed, outdated or difficult to navigate, customers will move on quickly to the next company and think less of your business.
It begins by having a positive visual experience. A good website is visually polished, easy-to-use, intuitive, loads quickly and makes it easy to purchase goods and/or services. With today’s modern technology, bringing that to life is simple. The challenge lies in portraying the right message to your audience. It’s important they quickly grasp who you are, what you stand for, the type of business you operate, but mostly, that you grab their attention. It’s therefore vital that you know your key audience and what they’re looking for.
One additional suggestion: it also helps if your website is mobile friendly, meaning it loads on all portable web-connected devices within three seconds or less, has a flawless user experience design on these devices and can be navigated with ease. Proof in point: according to a study performed by Statista, approximately half of all internet traffic comes from mobile phones. So by not being mobile friendly, you lose half your audience.
2. Organic SEO
Everyone wants to be first, especially when it comes to Search-Engine-Optimization (SEO). But how can you get your company further up the page? There are a few things you can do. First, you can launch a Pay-per-click (PPC) ad campaign. PPC jumps you to the head of the line, but you have to pay every time your ad is clicked. This is the quick and easy solution, but it basically just pays for people to visit your website, rather than users finding it organically.
Which brings us to the second part of SEO, and most important: establishing Organic SEO. It starts with the creation of original content posted to your blog, website, social media and other components of your online presence to steer web traffic your way. The next step is then to mix in targeted keywords and key phrases at the optimal keyword density rate of 0.5% to 3% throughout your content. But to then to take it further, truly comprehensive on-page SEO requires the use of such keywords within online text including page titles, meta descriptions and H1 tags.
It’s all about the long game when it comes to SEO, which can be tough to digest if you’ve got a tight budget. But be patient and start sooner rather than later, building relevancy and authority. Then you will find organic SEO is the gift that continues to give, guiding that much more traffic to each component of your online business.
3. Social Media
With more than 50% of people worldwide on social media, marketing your business there is a no brainer. You can connect with prospective and current clients, bolster brand awareness and advance the bottom line. But it’s important to be thoughtful about where you interact—you don’t need to be on every single social media platform. For example, a financial advisor wouldn’t regularly post on Instagram. Instagram is a highly-visual media platform, and their target audience wouldn’t go to Instagram for advice. So target the platforms that appeal to your audience.
Once there, it’s important to be active! Interact with your followers, regularly update your status, and share helpful information. Also make sure to respond to posts and questions relatively quickly, even if they’re negative. It will motivate users to then follow and further interact with your business if they feel listened to and heard. They will also see that you are responsive and care. Plus, the best of the worst might even give your business ideas for areas where you can improve!
4. Email Marketing
Though email marketing is stereotyped as outdated and ineffective, the truth is it works quite well if employed in a strategic manner. Email marketing begins with compiling a list of emails from those who visit your website and also those who visit your business in-person. Seize the opportunity to collect email addresses, gradually build your email list and it really will boost interest in your value offering. Just make sure you gain the contact’s permission to send marketing emails to them.
However, it’s important to note that most people are unwilling to sign up for email messages as they do not want to read sales-oriented messages. This is precisely why it is in your best interest to provide some form of positive reinforcement for those who sign up for your email messages. So primarily, it’s all about the content. Provide your audience with useful and helpful content that piques their interest and they will continue opening your messages and maybe even spread the word to others about your business.
You can also provide your email newsletter subscribers with a discount, a free e-book, an inside look at your newest products/services coming through the pipeline or something else of value and they will be that much more inclined to provide their email address and read your messages. Connect with your email newsletter subscribers at least once per month, providing informative, insightful and helpful information and you will gradually guide them from the top of the sales funnel down to the bottom, where they become paying customers.
Contact Front Burner Marketing Today
In this day and age, every dollar you dedicate to marketing has to make the maximum possible impact. Focusing on the marketing musts is a good place to start. Front Burner Marketing is here to help craft your company’s marketing strategy development and implement that strategy. Reach out to us today to learn more about our services by dialing 440-829-8831 or by filling out our convenient online contact form.
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