Strategic Marketing Tips for 2018
2018 is the year to become more strategic in your marketing efforts. You are going to encounter stiffer competition than before because the population of both online and offline businesses is growing dramatically. As a result, only the most creative, innovative and resilient business will make it. Although you are not going to reinvent the wheel in terms of marketing, it is important to remember these 8 critical marketing tips to help you stay ahead.
1. Strategic alliance
A strategic alliance can be defined as a formal arrangement between two companies. This is used to develop the strengths and meet the business needs of the companies involved. For instance, a graphic design company can partner with a digital marketing company to enhance customer the needs of the customers. This also leads to more sales as a result of cross referrals.
2. Develop apps
Develop an app if your business can benefit from them. For instance, Uber has an app that makes it easy for customers to find a taxi and make reservations. Apps are very useful for the business and the customer.
3. Reach out to influencers
Make a list of key influencers in your local community and target market and send them a discount or free sample for your services. E.g if you own a store that deals with spare parts, you could target garages and send them free samples or offer discounts for your products. Your generosity will get them talking.
4. Video is a powerful new marketing tool
Be proactive in your marketing. Film yourself offering tips, strategies and showing someone how to do something. Make explainer videos about your products and services and share on social media. We create memorable experiences through video. Click here and see how can you engage your company using video as a marketing tool.---> Video Production and Design on Demand
Local Advertising
5. Use local leader newspaper
While you wouldn’t be betting that you will get a return on investment on those little local ads in local newspaper, they could be good for some businesses such as motor vehicles and apartments.
6. In-store signage
Use in-store banners and posters to promote your products and services or announce your value proposition. You could close a lot of sales using this method if you are getting a lot of people who are making inquiries or right in the edge of buying something.
7. Street banners
A small business on a popular highway can use a street banner to market a product. You can attract a lot of attention from people walking on the street and develop a connection with you potential customers.
8. Online Directory Listings
There are many online directories for Australian business to consider. They can also help you to be found in search engines.
Examples of online directories in Australia include:
Directory
White Pages
Sensis
Yellow Pages
True Local
Business Listings
Local
9. Establish processes that are customer friendly
Take a great look at your processes and structures and try to find if there are structures that are too rigid and which can be potential customer service roadblocks and eliminate them. Establish your company as one that is easy to deal with.
Why Online Marketing is Essential for Your Business
Online Marketing is Essential for Your Business
Are you thinking that the business world has become so competitive that it has almost reached the limit of competition? The bad news is that it is not about to. You are still going to witness more rival business set-ups opening operations and more websites designed to sell the product you are selling being created. Just imagine that whatever line of business you are; whatever industry you are in, there are thousands, sometimes millions of others offering the same product as you are. What do you think will make a customer to choose you over others offering the same services or products? In this century, it is suicidal for any business owner not to have an online presence. It is part of the strategies of remaining relevant and being competitive, as well as attracting new customers, globally.
Why Being Online Matters
It doesn't matter whether you have been in business for the last five decades or you are just starting out. The internet has actually leveled the playing ground for both the big boys and the small fish; in other words, when a customer is looking for a product online, it doesn't matter who is selling the product. What matters is whether the customer is able to find your site and can trust you. Essentially, those businesses which are not yet online are in for a big trouble because sooner than later, they will be out of business if at all they aren't already.
You need to get noticed through Search Engine Optimization
If you are online, the biggest headache is getting noticed. You cannot afford to be ignored if you want to make a fortune online. As they say, creating a website is the easiest part-the hardest part is pushing your site as far up the search engines as possible. Remember, for very niche, there are millions of other individuals, and businesses who are scrambling to get noticed in the search engines.
That is why you need a professional marketing company to help you reach your potential customers. Search Engine Optimization companies are doing a wonderful job to assist businesses undercut competition by pushing their sites up the search engines. Otherwise, if you just create a site and sit back and relax, you are not going to see substantial number of unique page views from your site. Does this explain why many people who created blogs and website with anticipation of carrying home a fat AdSense check are left disappointed?
Optimizing your site isn't a simple-one-day-event as some optimists think. It requires skills, dedication, professionalism and patience for you to succeed at it. Therefore, it is important that you get a professional SEO company to pull your site out of the murk and make it recognizable in the local or global search engines. It is time to let a SEO expert company perform search engine optimization for you as you concentrate on your core business.
Of course there are many other marketing strategies you can apply to grab the attention of the potential customers such as social media, email marketing, pay per click marketing, among others. For optimum results, you ought to apply all the available marketing strategies, depending on where your target customer base is located.
Emotional Branding and How to Build a Lasting Memory in Your Customer’s Mind
Emotional branding is defined as the successful attachment of a specific emotion to a brand.
At one of the Business Marketing Association (BMA) conferences in Chicago, Jay Baer asked a room full of roughly 1,000 B2B marketers, “Are you more interesting than my wife?”
Can you think of the people you have had an emotional connection with in your life? How did they impact on your life? Now think about the brands and see the common threats among them.
It is true for brands as it is for people: to break through in modern marketing, small business owners in Australia need to be more interesting and relevant in the moment.
Brands need to connect with people in the way a close friend would—through emotion—in order to build, long-lasting, and quality relationships. There are huge opportunities for retail stores to take advantage of emotional branding.
According to one research, smell is powerful when it comes to persuading someone to buy a product. Stores using certain scents in their stores have been found to have a 30% increase in sales.
A study by University of Wollongong and Murdoch University in 2012, emotional branding is becoming widely used globally. According to Dr Steve Bellman of Murdoch University’s Audience Labs, marketers are tapping into customer’s feelings to market their brands. Another study shows men who show love for their brand beer purchase 38% more beer than the average.
Therefore, emotional branding can lead to substantially more sales without companies having to rely on discounts and promotions. On the flip side, however, creating that emotional connection can be a difficult task.
How brands can connect emotionally
- By telling a story that inspires an emotional connection: according to Beth Comstock, General Electric Chief Marketing Officer, you can’t sell anything if you can’t tell anything. Every brand has stories to tell.
Example: look at this video by Google. In it, you well sense deep emotional connection with the product.
- By allow their audience to be the real heroes: imagine who emotionally connected your brand would be by showcasing how your product has changed lives. Simply give your audience a voice, a platform and face to be heard.
- By being authentic:don’t be afraid to embrace your inner geek. Remain who you are and don’t try to be like who you are not. At Bizify, we try to remain true to ourselves. We try to help startups find their feet and we intend to remain true to that mission.
- By embracing the opportunity to surprise and delight: surprising and delighting customers can be an effecting marketing strategy. Use social media and mobile to spark moments of happiness in customers and you will be surprised at its effectiveness. Coca-Cola has really perfected this art.
Other Important Branding Tips
- Creating an irresistible value proposition
A value proposition is a statement that explains what value you provide to your customers and how you do it uniquely. Establishing a substantive value proposition is critical if you want to stand above the crowd. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs loose out because they fail to articulate a unique value proposition.
Be clear on what your business stands for. What is your promise? How will you put out a consistent and passionate messages that attract the right candidate? This will also help you to hire the right people and develop products and services that are aligned with your unique value proposition.
- Be careful with launching too many brands
The big problem for many businesses is they think more brands will make them more successful but they have neither the architecture nor the capacity to manage a multiplicity of brands well. Businesses can increase profits by deleting none-performing brands. Even though revenue may fall in the process, reducing the number of brands will be beneficial in the long run.
Multi band strategies are likely to suffer from dis-economies of scale because of the hidden costs. By letting go off weak, declining and marginally profitable brands, you will be freeing resources to make your few remaining brands better and more attractive to customers. Thus, killing some brands in your portfolio may sometimes be the best way for your business to serve the customers.
- Package your products
Packaging is an important element when it comes to marketing. How you package your products can attract or repel customers. Is your packaging visually attractive through shape, color, design and does it communicate the right brand ideals. If not, it might be time to revamp the way you package your products.
- Create a slogan
Let us consider Apple for example. As they became big, they adopted the tagline “Think Different.” This was a perfect fit for their marketing strategy because a large portion of their customers didn’t want to use PC’s like everybody else. Choose a slogan that is consistent with your brand and fits your market slogan.
Take care of your staff
You need to build your reputation to attract the right staff and customers. So treat your staff well because they are one of the most important people in your business. Ex-employees are important for leads and new business. Also, reward them for not only making sales, but for being great ambassadors for your business.