Are you leaving money on the table?
It's a tough question, but one that needs to be asked when it comes to your digital marketing. Do you have an effective marketing strategy in place? If not, you could be leaving money on the table.
Consider your website to be your hardest-working salesperson; one who works 24/7 without asking for a raise or time off. It is the face of your business online - it's where prospects go to learn about what you do and reach out to start a relationship. It's your storefront, your home base, your lead magnet. It's a one-stop shop for growing your business.
So how can you tell if your site is set up for success? We like to look at both the Science and Soul of your brand.
Here are a few factors to think about to determine whether or not you have an effective marketing strategy.
Science of Marketing
The Science of marketing is about the nuts and bolts of your strategy. Consider it the structure of your home.
To get qualified leads (or house guests, if you will), you need to put the elements in place. That includes market research, business operations, and considering your marketing goals and messages.
You need to understand your target market.
Effective marketing strategies will:
Identify the Right Keywords
Keywords are the words or phrases that potential customers use to search for the products or services. You want to make sure your website includes these terms so that your site comes up in a search.
Tools like Google's AdWords Keyword Planner and Moz's Keyword Explorer can help you research the right keywords for your business.
Sync with Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is the process of taking steps to help a website or piece of content rank higher on Google and other search engines. That way, when potential customers search for terms related to your business, they're more likely to find you.
Use Marketing Techniques to Attract Organic Leads
Organic leads are prospects who find your company by searching for a product, service, or question in a search engine, rather than directly visiting your URL or clicking on a PPC ad.
You'll infuse keywords and SEO into your organic strategy.
Build (or Create) a Solid Customer Base and Email List
A viable email list is a collection of email lists with information that your subscribers have willingly provided and agree to receive emails or other forms of communication from you.
The Data is a Critical Component
The best marketing strategies work by understanding the data. Many business owners get excited about putting together marketing campaigns without first drilling down how to measure success.
In addition to other KPIs, we like to measure lead conversion rates.
The lead conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who come to your website and are captured as leads. It’s an indicator of your ability to attract the right target audience and the efficiency at which your website turns them into leads.
For example, a reasonable lead conversion rate is about 2.4%, and an optimized landing page can have a lead conversion rate of around 4%.
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Connect with Customers
Lastly, the Science of your marketing strategy should have a Customer Relationship Management system (CRM) in place for your marketing team. A CRM provides a central location where businesses can store customer and prospect data, track customer interactions, and share this information with colleagues.
It allows businesses to manage relationships with customers, helping the company grow.
There are other considerations for any marketing department to consider. It all depends on your marketing plans, target customers, products and services, and any other unique challenges you may face as a business owner or marketing manager. But these are a great place to start!
Soul of Marketing
The Soul of marketing is all about what differentiates you from your competitors. Your foundation has been built. What makes your brand special? How will you make it stand out?
When your marketing efforts are intended to attract new audiences, the soul of your brand should shine through.
Here are a few ways to do just that!
Document Your Company's Values, Mission Statement, and Value Propositions
Your business marketing plan needs to include your company's values, mission statements, and value propositions. These will serve as the foundation for an organization’s strategic plan. They convey the purpose, direction, and underlying pillars of the organization. When developed and implemented thoughtfully and deliberately, these statements can serve as powerful tools that provide organizations with meaningful guidance, especially in rapid change.
These are used to establish how people think, feel, and say about your business when you’re not around.
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Explore your Brand Personality
Brand personality is the collection of emotional, intellectual, and behavioral patterns unique to a brand and consistent over time. In short, your brand personality is how you would describe your brand if it were a person.
Like people, brands have recognizable traits that stem from how they think and feel about the world. The authenticity and consistency of these traits separate a strong brand from a weak one.
Define Your Company's Tagline
When it comes to marketing, a tagline is your business’ mantra; it tells people who you are and what you stand for in a few succinct words.
A tagline aims to create a positive, memorable phrase that sticks in your customer’s heads and helps them identify your brand and your marketing message.
Create Your Visual Identity
The visual identity is the collection of all of a business' graphic content that identifies who it is and distinguishes it from other companies. Put another way, it's what makes a business look like itself.
Your visual identity should be applied to everything your business produces, from your website and social media to marketing materials and product packaging.
Your visual identity should be unique, consistent, and recognizable. It should convey your brand's personality and make a positive impression on your target audience.
Developing a solid visual identity is essential for building a successful brand.
Often, visual identity culminates in developing a brand style guide that provides consistent instructions on how the brand should be visually represented at all times and in any situation.
Pinpoint Your Brand Differentiators
A distinguishing feature, aspect, or advantage of your product or service that distinguishes it from competitors is known as a brand differentiator. The foundation for how you establish brand differentiators is your target market.
You can’t be everything to everyone, so you need to focus on what you do best and what your target market wants most.
Some examples of brand differentiators are:
- Quality
- Service
- Speed
- Flexibility
- Accessibility
- Customization
- Price
- Selection
Your brand differentiators should be included in your marketing materials, such as your website, brochures, and product packaging. They should also be communicated in your company's sales pitch and to your sales team.
For example, Starbucks has also built a more premium brand, has stores that look more like a comfortable coffee house, has a more extensive menu, and has greater product customization.
Dunkin’ stores resemble more traditional fast-food eateries, and they offer more competitive pricing relative to Starbucks.
Successful marketing strategies include both the Science and Soul of marketing teams. If your goal is to increase leads, attract loyal customers, keep existing customers happy, drive more organic traffic, and increase market share, you need to look at both sides.
Now that you've explored whether you're set up for digital marketing success, we invite you to take our Science and Soul Marketing Assessment. You’ll find out if you’re leaving money on the table in three minutes or less.
Take it below!
