Marketing in 2013
A relatively short time ago, marketing was pretty straightforward for small businesses. You could go networking, take out an advert in the local paper, maybe even send a mailshot. Nowadays that list has grown. You can still do all these activities, but also need to consider social media, online advertising, email marketing, pay-per-click ads, online lead generation, SEO, SEM, QR Codes, SMS messaging and a wide array of other “digital marketing” options.
Before you embark on a strategy of ‘better give it all a go’, here’s a few suggestions to help you focus on the activities that will be most effective for your business. Think about the message that you want to get across to your prospects and customers. Use considered content to deliver that message regularly, and to the right people. Content is the marketing strategy for 2013. Companies who write customer focused, interesting and valuable content about their industry are reaping the rewards.
Use the tools that are easily available now to deliver that content and you?re on the way to using today’s marketing effectively.
- Develop a series of stories for your industry on an aspect that has never been covered before.
- Make sure that every landing page on your website has only one call to action.
- Ask what your customers’ biggest pain points are.
- Develop a list of the top 100 questions coming from your customer base.
- Consider that maybe less content will mean more impact.
- Set a goal for 2013 to double the number of email subscribers.
- Stop doing the same old press releases and create them as engaging stories.
- Define your most valuable audience and consider a targeted print publication.
- Do an audit of all your blog posts and determine which types of titles lead to the right reader behaviours.
- Make sure your content is easy to read on both smartphones and tablets.
- Develop a customer event that doesn’t talk about your projects, but rather educates them on where the industry is going.
- Whatever you do in 2013, make sure you are telling a different story than everyone else in your industry.
Do you want to create an effective marketing plan for your business in 2013? We’re holding another one of our popular SOS Marketing Workshops on 21st March. Click here to book your place now to kick start your marketing.
