Hidden Marketing Gems – Tried and True Marketing Tactics that Work
The ever-changing algorithm is always creating new trends and technology that we may feel the need to try to stay ahead of the curve. That may feel tiring but a reshift is to consider that digital marketing is like fashion, there will always be new trends but to define your unique personal style it’s about finding the key staples that you want to incorporate into your life.
So here are some key marketing staples that are often overlooked because it’s no longer the new thing to do. They will always support your business no matter how the new algorithm affects your social media reach.
Emails = First Party Data
Email marketing is not only a great way to have first-party data but also one of the most direct ways to continue the conversation with your customer.
The biggest question to ask is “Why is someone choosing to sign up with their email?”
Nowadays people are more aware of how they want to give out their information so your content must be worthy of value for example:
- A downloadable that they want to read such as the latest report or how to guide
- You’re providing great food for thought content that they want to have land on their inbox to inspire their day
- You’re keeping them up to date with the latest info
- To keep up with upcoming sales that you’re offering
As a marketing nerd, I thrive off of knowing the latest trends not to just stay ahead of the curve for my clients but so I can continue studying how the industry is evolving. So I willingly allow my inbox to receive up to 30 emails per day from a variety of marketing resources so I can get a lay of the land.
What does your ideal customer thrive off of when they want to connect with you via email? Sometimes even though they want to connect with you and learn from you, they may want it in nugget reminders on social rather than through their email. Giving your customers the option also creates a pool of more actively engaged potential customers that will convert into new customers.
Automation for emails or messaging
I recently had a conversation with my beauty stylist, she was overwhelmed with the new brand coverage that she’s received. While it was great brand awareness, she felt like she wasn’t able to respond to all of the DMs that came her way that often feel like redundant info.
Her biggest question was “Why are they asking me these questions when it’s clearly written on my website?”
It’s because we as human beings are usually being pulled in multiple directions and it’s easier to ask someone directly rather than trying to dig it up ourselves. In the past, extroverted people would immediately call the business and introverted people would prefer to search through the website to find the info so it was imperative for businesses to make sure they were found and shown in the correct light. The rise of direct messaging services with businesses opened up the ability to directly speak to a brand for both extroverted and introverted people because they can text and get replies over time. However, what that means for businesses is that social media managers and the business owners themselves are now put at the forefront of customer service.
There are ways to mitigate the overwhelm though and help you optimize your business through automated messaging and emails. Creating saved replies, out of business hours replies, the automatic threads will let you not only solve your customers’ questions without overwhelming you but also lets you tap into the technology and capture the digital data of the sales interaction that you may not get through in-person interactions.
It’ll let you pull specific language that you find resounds with your audience while also seeing potential gaps or opportunities in your marketing that you can optimize more on when it comes to creating more one-way style communication threads via automated emails that are more designed as the planting of seeds conversations that will invite your customer to contact you back and then you can pass it onto your customer service/sales team.
Groups
At the beginning of 2020, groups became the forefront of engagement for Facebook and many other tools because as a society we wanted to socialize when separated from in-person events. However, since that time, there have been many groups that have started and failed because they weren’t able to ignite an actively engaged community.
However, when done right, groups in the form of Facebook groups, Slack, Mighty Networks, Patrons, Discord, Twitch community, and more can be very fruitful ways for brands to build relationships with their fans.
Groups are different from your online community overall. Your online community is a reflection of the community that you are cultivating as a part of your influence to create the impact you seek in your business. Groups are the most active form of your online community because it’s where your audience gets to know each other.
It’s how musical artists are able to turn passive listeners into raving fans when they get to connect with each other in the community behind their unified love for their artist and what the artist stands for.
The key questions to ask as you’re starting to cultivate your group is:
- Why would someone want to connect with other like minded people in this group?
- How can we as the host serve our community and foster conversations?
- Is it more of a space where someone can learn and connect with others who are in the same journey and eventually become our customers?
- Or is it more a space where our customers and future customers can come in and discuss larger topics and get food for thought?
- How often are we expecting members in our community to be actively speaking?
- What type of conversation threads would they need to chat more on?
Based on these key questions, you’ll be able to decide logistically where you want to be hosting your online group. Not every brand needs to have an online group but if the conversations naturally occur below in the comments of your posts it may be time to consider one.
Events
Events have taken a very different approach but creating intentional ways where groups of people can get together and connect with each other whether in person or virtually is one of the best ways to grow a business. Before the pandemic, there have been so many different events that are available that it can sometimes feel overwhelming. I’m sure that many of you like myself have welcomed the freedom from obligations.
As the world shifts into more in-person or hybrid events, as future event attendees, it’s up to us to decide how we want to be a part of these events and our intention on cultivating relationships through these events such as:
- Am I seeking to be a part of the event because I want the knowledge from the speaker or am I seeking to be a part of it to connect with the people? Depending on how you answer that then the format of the event whether online or in person will great affect your attendance
- What is the end goal that I am seeking to get out of this event? More contacts or knowledge?
This is the most important question that any business event planner is considering when creating events. You can curate an event calendar for your business to include a variety of in-person and online events to serve your community from creating PR events for influencers to gatherings for your customers. If hosting an event seems like too much bandwidth, consider being a speaker or moderator at existing conferences and panels. It allows you to be a part of the events without needing to be the host.
Where to begin?
If you have been reading to this point you’ll notice that many of the questions that I ask start with “Why do someone choose to cultivate their relationship with you in this manner?” If you’re trying to decide which part of the marketing funnel you’re looking to grow, this question will help you navigate where you think your customers are growing.
No matter what you decide, it’s about trying one thing and testing to see if it aligns. If you are curious to explore, feel free to contact me directly.
