Today is Friday the 13th! It is mysteriously considered one of the scariest days of the year by many Americans. And while our marketing department’s intense research has yet to pin down exactly why it is considered the unluckiest day of the year, theories and superstitions still abound.
Whether or not you believe in all the superstition surrounding Friday the 13th, at some point or another you may have thought your marketing was jinxed. Low email open rates, nonexistent social media engagement, or a failure to generate leads? Whatever the reason, here are a few tips to help you break any spells that have been cast on your marketing.
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1. Know yourself and your mission.
Knowing your marketing department’s mission is tantamount to knowing it’s very identity. It is your guiding star, and it can help you and your employees understanding exactly why you exist. Everything you do and say should be built around your mission statement. It has to fit, compliment, and justify your tagline. And your ad campaigns should explain exactly how you intend to accomplish the goals of your mission.
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2. Know your audience.
Knowing your audience is the most basic and important part of marketing. It is critical to every marketing campaign. You audience determines which channels you use, how you design your advertisements, and even your copy. If you don’t know your audience, your campaigns might still get impressions, but they’ll lack conversions.
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3. Listen to your audience.
Channels such as social media and blogs allow you to carry on a conversation with your audience, instead of just using it to broadcast your messages. You have a real opportunity to hear what your audience is saying. By being present in multiple channels and staying in touch with your audience, you can understand what kind of content resonates with your audience.
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4. Create a great client experience.
Client experience is more than just purchasing a product and calling or emailing a customer service representative if something isn’t working properly. Instead, it is the full experience from website design to purchase experience all the way to continued product support. And it needs to be excellent for every client. Repeat customers are at the heart of every business, and you need to make sure your client experience is exceptional.
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5. Diversify your marketing channels.
There is an old saying, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” This definitely applies to marketing. Relying on one channel for all of your marketing is risky because you put yourself at the mercy of that channel’s success or failure. Your entire business becomes reliant on luck. Invest time and money into multiple channels, i.e. print, digital, social media, content, email, and etc, to minimize risk and maximize success.
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6. Integrate your marketing channels.
Using a number of marketing channels to broadcast your message is great, but they all need to be integrated. Disjointed advertisements that don’t reinforce your messaging can hinder your marketing rather than help it. Individual marketing channels need to work in tandem for a full campaign to generate better results.
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7. Use marketing plans.
If you are going on a big trip, you don’t just hop in the car and start driving. You look at a map and get directions and plan your route. Marketing plans are similar, and one of the most vital parts of the business world. Developing a plan is a way to overcome your shortcomings and increase your business’s income. It also allows you to be proactive, instead of being reactive.
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8. Use inbound – not just outbound- marketing.
Traditional forms of advertising are still effective, but you need an inbound marketing strategy too. Traditional media, such as television and radio, are becoming more niched and segmented in their audiences. Inbound marketing techniques, such as content marketing, social media, and email marketing, are becoming more and more effective in pulling your audience to you. Inbound marketing helps you establish yourself as a reliable source of information and a thought leader in your industry.
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9. Be consistent in your branding.
Consistency in your branding establishes your presence both online and off. There are more platforms than ever to convey your brand message, meaning you have to try harder to ensure that you remain consistent. A cohesive brand message across all of your channels helps to give consumers a clear idea of who you are. Successful branding doesn’t happen overnight, but consistency is key.
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10. Support your sales team.
Your sales representatives need to be armed with well-written and correctly designed sales presentations and collateral. You have the resources and deep understanding of your branding and mission to create powerful and effective sales proposals.
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11. Analyze your analytics.
You need to track all of your efforts and establish metrics to define your success. Discovering bounce rates, tracking ROI, and creating a lot of spreadsheets are all necessary for discovering gaps in your campaigns, or to find ways to improve your marketing process. It’s definitely not the most glamorous part of marketing, but it is undeniably necessary if you are going to be successful.
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12. Know when to cut your losses.
Just because you like something, or have always done it this way, doesn’t mean it is effective or providing a positive ROI. Sometimes things just don’t work out, and that is ok. Identifying what does or doesn’t work is integral to building more effective campaigns. When a part of your campaign doesn’t work out the way you want it to, it is time to cut your losses.
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13. Have the right team for the job.
You have to be prepared to supercharge your marketing by having the right marketing team in place. Without a doubt, it’s important to have the superstars that will go the extra mile and rev up your marketing, but it’s also important to have the right role players to help round out your team.
Hopefully these 13 tips will prevent you from feeling like it’s always Friday the 13th in marketing.
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