While digital marketing isn’t the newest kid on the block, it’s a highly dynamic environment that sees fresh strategies come up every few months.
In their defense, marketers are a creative bunch who are continuously looking for new ways to attract and retain customers.
It’s easy to get swayed by one tactic after the other, only for you to analyze results several months later and find nothing.
Are there solid digital marketing strategies with proven results you can invest in?
Absolutely!
We look at five strategies you should pay attention to if you want to scale up your business.
Search Intent Marketing
The best digital marketing strategies are driven by data.
If you can determine what potential customers look for, you can customize content and solutions to match their search and increase traffic to your site.
Search intent data analytics uses the data your company collects to provide unobstructed views of your buyer’s needs, preferences, challenges.
This helps you develop well-thought-out buyer personas and put together the right strategies to reach potential customers.
You gain leverage over what will work throughout the customer’s journey and your offerings meet the intent of target users.
Other benefits of employing search intent marketing include:
- Driving sales. Intent data adds a layer of accuracy to your marketing activities, enabling you to deliver precise information and solutions that lead to increased revenue.
- Minimizing resource wastage. Your team won’t have to shoot arrows in the dark anymore while hoping to snag a prospect. They will have a clear and well-defined path to follow.
- Improving lead nurturing campaigns. Insights from intent search data can reveal gaps in your message and help you tailor content that targets your prospects with greater precision.
Building Brand Authority
Your brand authority lies squarely on the trust you earn among existing and potential customers and their perception of your expertise within your industry.
Every touchpoint your business has with customers (through content, online presence, and social media engagements) is a platform for building brand authority.
Here are ways to build trust and authority:
- Turn your website into a credible source of authoritative posts. Every content piece needs to be factually correct, written for humans, and relevant to your audience.
- Leverage social media. Social offers unlimited opportunities to connect with customers, industry influencers, and business partners. It’s your chance to share knowledgeable content with broad audiences and address questions or criticisms openly and professionally.
- Raise your status through awards and recognitions. Seals and badges help elevate your company’s profile and make it easier for others to perceive you as an authority. Work towards getting some and display them on your site and social channels.
- Showcase social proof. Online reviews and testimonials are excellent tools for letting others know that your brand and solutions are worth the investment.
- Host webinars and other online events. Invite industry analysts, influencers, and your own team to talk about market trends, industry challenges, and possible solutions.
Cold Calling
Many businesses shun this strategy terming it “old school” which may be a good thing really since it tips the playing field to your advantage.
Cold calling is an effective tool for reaching prospects who are difficult to access through other means.
It also allows you to establish human connections, which are tough to do in a tech-driven world.
Here are tips to help you excel:
- Define your list. A long list of prospects is fantastic, but are they good fits for your business? Rather than target every business under the sun, narrow down your prospects to those that can benefit from your solutions.
- A calling guide is your ally. Put together key points, genuine questions to encourage dialogue and your end goal. Have these in bullet form for easy reading.
- Break the ice. As you research, look for something congratulation-worthy to the brand or contact person and bring it up. It shows you value the listener and may help open up avenues for conversation.
- Create an environment that’s conducive to making cold calls. Distractions disturb communication flow and you may miss an opportunity to impress your listener. Turn off your screen, set your phone aside, and focus on your calling list and the guide.
- Understand that “nos” will come. It’s easy to get bogged down by rejection and assume the strategy doesn’t work. But rather than dwell on rejection, tighten your sales pitch, maintain a positive attitude, and visualize your success.
Create Thought Leadership Content
A study by Edelman revealed that strong thought leadership content strengthens a brand’s reputation and increases the likelihood of engagement and sales.
The opposite is also true—poorly executed thought leadership may cause a potential vendor to be cast aside.
So, you want to be the brand that curates strong thought leadership content.
How?
- Know the questions your audience is asking. Talk to your existing customers, conduct surveys, and analyze questions on social channels for insights into the needs and pain points they experience. Use the insights to inform your content.
- Hone your message. Tap into your experience and industry research to dive deeper into topics. Offer genuinely valuable insights that resonate with customers and impact their businesses positively.
- Strengthen your social media presence. Participate in conversations relevant to your industry, keep up with industry trends, and post well-thought-out content regularly. It will boost awareness and help establish your brand as a thought leader.
- Find your outlets. Where do your audiences hang out? Your website and guest posting are popular ways of sharing thought leadership content. But don’t shy away from other distribution channels like LinkedIn, webinars, and podcasts, and Twitter chats.
Reputation Management
Nothing puts a damper on marketing strategies, reputation, and revenue generation like a poor online reputation.
A study showed that 89 percent of customers will publicly talk about poor service.
Negative reviews drive away existing customers and discourage potential customers from doing business with you.
In the end, your reputation and revenue suffer.
How can you manage this?
- Use social listening tools like Hootsuite, Talkwalker, Mentionlytic, and Digimind, etc to track mentions and conversations about your brand. It will help you understand what your customers think of you.
- Claim your account on sites like Google, Bing, Yelp to monitor review activities. While you’re at it, create an account with Glassdoor to see how people view your internal structure.
- Be sure to respond any time a customer leaves a review. It’s especially important when the review is critical so you can get back in good graces with your customer. It shows your audiences that you’re engaged and responsive to all needs.
- Put together a review acquisition plan. Your reputation management tactic shouldn’t revolve around putting out fires alone. Be proactive and ask happy customers to leave positive reviews. It will serve as proof that your solutions work.
- Do your part well. Great reviews come from happy customers. The best way to make your customer happy is by providing a seamless and positive experience and ensuring your solutions are of high quality.