Building brand awareness, generating traffic and converting to sales are always big on any business owner's list. Being successful at them on a regular basis is another story. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when building your marketing strategy.
- Don't Compromise on Design: Because everyone wants a big slice of the pie, it is more and more important to have great design, especially knowing that people take 3 seconds to make up their mind when they visit your website. Spending money on design is money well spent and will generate favorable returns.
- Content is Royalty: Generate content that is educational, entertaining and inspiring consistently and regularly and you will build a network of loyal followers. Make it a commitment for at least a year and watch your viewership and engagement trends on the rise. Include great BLOG posts with short paragraphs (5 to 6 lines max), and include in them the option to sign-up for your newsletter.
- The Google Algorithm Nightmare: Stop worrying too much about adjusting to the latest Google algorithm. Instead, build the best website with the most relevant content to your audience and Google will be on your side. Once you reach 30,000 unique visitors on your site monthly, start spending money on paid advertising.
- Optimize link building: Find popular platforms in your industry that are always looking for news and connect with them regularly asking them to feature you. It's a very inexpensive form of PR that reaps great rewards. The more links back to your site, the better Google ranking.
- Cherish Email Marketing: Email is still the #1 channel people use no matter what. Everyone has to check their email every day. Post early morning, mid afternoon and just before people go to bed at night. Don't give the baby away with the water. Share just enough information to tease your audience and send them to a landing page to convert them. Then watch your open and click rates. 30% is a great open rate and 20% a great click through rate. Also make sure to not include more than 3 links in your email message, so you don't trigger SPAM alerts. Finally, verify that you are sending your email from a dedicated IP address (something to check with your email provider).
- Use infographics: Why? Because they are some of the best website or landing page traffic generators. The ultimate recipe is to post one every week. If you can't do this right away, start with one a month and work towards the weekly post goal.
- Social Media: You do not need to be everywhere. Just like a Chinese menu, pick 2 and be the best on these two, taking into consideration that Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn still perform better than all others. Have a solid content schedule that will educate, entertain, inspire and most importantly engage your audience.
Great marketing comes from great creativity, and great creativity comes from a solid sense of observation and from the confidence that you can think big and achieve bigger. It all starts from a well thought out roadmap that is constantly evaluated and adjusted. A/B testing works wonders when you are trying to figure out the best avenues for your product or service.
Then always ask yourself if the juice is worth the squeeze. And once your juicing techniques are proven, rinse and repeat.
#branding #marketing #strategy #success
Well done Catherine.