3 Ways to Kickstart Your Marketing Strategy
Marketing Strategies For Any Industry
A new year should mean a new marketing strategy for your business, right? Possibly — but the best ways to drive traffic to your business might not be as complex as you think. I always recommend that clients not bite off more than they can chew and instead focus their energy on what they have the capacity for while letting our team at Mane Impact handle the rest to maximize their impact.
Regardless of the particulars of your business or audience — your marketing strategy should always be designed to address your audience’s needs. So without further ado, here are 3 universally useful ways you can kickstart your marketing strategy.
1. Build a Killer Content Strategy
Content is still king of the marketing jungle, and your business will inevitably fall behind if you’re not creating. If the internet is oversaturated with generic and unhelpful content, how can you make your content stand out and drive impact? Craft a robust content calendar that is highly targeted for your audience. Put on your audience’s shoes and identify what questions they’re seeking to answer. Then, produce content that offers those specific solutions. Make sure you’re also incorporating proper SEO strategies to help the right people find your content.
Plan your content weeks (or months) in advance as much as you can. Build a diversity of formats into your calendar so you can meet people wherever they are in their customer journey. Consider including blog posts, infographics, videos, and podcasts in your strategy. Play along with trends when applicable, adapting them to be relevant for your business. Then analyze the data to see where people are engaging the most.
At the end of the day, though, the value you add to your customers is always the most important. Your content will best resonate with your audience to create sales when it’s adding some kind of value, whether that be knowledge, humor, or a product — getting your unique message to regularly interact with your audience is key to building a successful marketing plan.
2. Harness the Power of Video Marketing
Video marketing has continued to rise in importance, value, and ROI year after year. The numbers speak for themselves:
- According to a study by Oberlo, Video marketers get 66% more qualified leads per year.
- Wyzowl found that 82% of people have been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a video.
Incorporating video content into a marketing strategy can be intimidating. Initially, it sounds timely and expensive. But don’t be discouraged; there are simple ways you can introduce video into your content strategy without draining yourself or your resources.
1. Outsource your videos, especially if you’re looking for long-form content. This isn’t for everyone, but it’s the easiest way to take something off your plate.
2. Utilize short-form content. Smartphones can be such an underrated tool. Use your phone camera to shoot videos for social media and email marketing. Anyone can start feeling comfortable in front of a camera with practice.
3. Explore ways to livestream and build real-time connections with your audience. This can be an opportunity for people to see behind the scenes of your business or ask questions. However you slice it, make sure you’re creating content that makes viewers want to tune in until the end.
Click here to for more tips on how to simplify your marketing strategy.
3. Add Sustainability Practices Into Your Marketing Strategy
The rise of sustainability awareness isn’t something to gloss over. Studies have shown that consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable products and services. What does this mean for the marketing industry? It means that sustainability is moving into a position of no longer being negotiable if you want a thriving business. Unfortunately, this rapid growth has also introduced an era of greenwashing, where companies create a false perception of environmental responsibility. Don’t just say that your company is environmentally sustainable, start taking steps to become sustainable, even if those steps are small. Your audience will appreciate the effort and transparency, and you will be doing good for the planet and people.
Sustainable marketing can show up in many aspects of your business:
- Choose a green website hosting company.
- Partner with organizations like Urban Green Lab to educate yourself on how to make your business more sustainable.
- Align your company values with eco-friendly practices.
- Research ways to reduce carbon emissions in your industry.
- Strategically decrease and niche down in your print marketing to both reduce waste and increase your number of qualified marketing leads.
- Create products made from sustainable materials.
- Sell products in sustainable packaging.
And the list goes on! Pick one or two sustainable areas to start focusing on that feel attainable. Start small and add more once your foundation is established.
Marketing Strategies to Scale Your Business
Every business should have a focused and strategic marketing plan that guides its content and development decisions. But not every business needs to engage in every facet of marketing to grow and scale.
What are the best marketing moves for you? Contact Mane Impact today for recommendations on how marketing can take your business to the next level.