Investing money in marketing is often fruitful, but what happens if you’re spending a lot of cash without seeing the returns? If your campaigns are falling flat, or there are no noticeable changes in the sales data, now is the time to make changes. In this guide, we’ll share some game-changing hacks to revive an ineffective marketing strategy and help your business get results.
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Go back to basics
The first step to take when trying to turn a tired, unsuccessful strategy into a winning marketing plan is to go back to basics. The golden rules when planning any marketing strategy should be to define the target market and create an ideal buyer persona. Every move you make as part of a marketing campaign should be designed and tailored to the target customer to optimize the chances of making sales or attracting clients. Define your ideal customer and get to know them as well as possible. Speak to existing customers, use surveys, online polls and focus groups to gather information and ideas and analyze data to learn more about buyer behaviors and what makes people choose some brands over others. Establish your primary objectives for each campaign and figure out how you’re going to achieve those goals. Once you know what you’re working towards and who you’re trying to reach, the task will become a lot simpler.
Promote your brand as well as your products and services
One of the most valuable modifications you can make to a marketing strategy in 2023 is using it to promote your brand, as well as the products and services you sell. More than 90% of consumers buy from brands they follow on social media and over 80% look for businesses that align with their values. People are more interested in brands than ever before. They want to learn about backstories and company culture, and a growing number make purchasing decisions based on this information.
Social media is an incredible platform for businesses because it gives them an opportunity to advertise and sell products and services, but it also provides simple, inexpensive and effective ways to interact and engage with customers. Use your social media feeds, as well as your website blog and email updates, to talk to clients and prospective customers about your brand. Tell them all about its history and the company mission, introduce your team and let people get to know the human side of the business. Discuss corporate social responsibility and keep customers in the loop with news about projects, partnerships and donations.
Building long-lasting relationships with customers is a surefire means to increase sales and encourage brand loyalty. Statistics show that repeat customers spend over 60% more than new customers and they also play a crucial role in spreading the word and introducing others to the brand.
Capitalize on expert advice
Marketing may seem relatively simple on the surface, but it’s a very complex art. If you don’t have experience in marketing or your business lacks a marketing department, it’s wise to capitalize on expert advice. You might be able to limit your marketing budget and achieve satisfactory results by taking charge yourself, but if you use search engine optimizers or hire an agency to provide a package of digital marketing services, you stand a much better chance of optimizing ROI and improving outcomes dramatically. You can outsource marketing and pay a monthly fee for a service bundle or work with freelancers on specific projects. These options offer an alternative to hiring new employees, which is often more cost-effective.
It’s important to understand that working with a digital marketing agency or a firm that specializes in SEO isn’t just beneficial for launching new campaigns. Marketing professionals will also analyze data from previous campaigns, enhance existing strategies to ensure they align with key objectives, implement new techniques and monitor performance. Tracking progress is critical for measuring impact and learning more about specific marketing methods and channels and consumer behaviors and trends along the way.
Make decisions based on data
We have access to an extraordinary amount of data today. As a business owner, it’s possible to collect data related to everything from sales and page visits to email enquiries, abandoned carts and social media interactions. Collecting data is only beneficial and useful if you use it to improve your marketing campaigns and make decisions. Analyze data, spot patterns and trends, highlight weaknesses and issues and measure your performance against specific metrics that represent priority objectives.
If you have data at your fingertips, this will enable you to make decisions without any guesswork. You can use information to fix problems like losing web users as soon as they hit a landing page or start the payment process. Enhancing the quality and aesthetics of landing pages, adding a clear call to action and providing essential information about products and services could help to reduce the number of people exiting the site at this point. Speeding up the checkout process, scrapping registration and lowering delivery fees could decrease cart abandonment rates.
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Use customer reviews
Around 90% of consumers read online reviews before contacting a company or buying a product. Word of mouth remains one of the most influential marketing tactics. Today, it takes different forms. People still ask friends and neighbors for advice and recommendations, but they also have review sites, search engines and social media at their disposal. Positive reviews encourage prospective customers to gravitate towards brands while negative reviews can put people off before they’ve even visited a website or looked a business up on social media.
If you have high review scores and an excellent record in terms of customer feedback, integrate this within your marketing strategy. Share positive reviews and comments on your website and social feeds and use them to create posts. You can create a reel of recent reviews, share reviews from popular websites or even feature real-life customers in a story, blog post or flier.
Plan targeted promotions
Promotions can help you to drum up business and encourage people who may not know about your brand to take notice. When you’re planning promotions on products or services, tailor them to the target market. Use market research and customer feedback to learn more about what motivates people to buy and determine which types of offers and deals are most appealing. Promote sales or giveaways via channels and platforms that are popular among target buyers and upsell the deal or prize.
Social media competitions are a fantastic way to expand your online following without spending a fortune. If you’re giving a prize away, start generating excitement and hype in the weeks before the launch date, issue clear instructions and make the most of the opportunity to promote the brand and increase follower numbers. Ask people who want to enter to share your post, tag people they know, follow the account and use branded hashtags. Maintain interest by providing regular updates and reminding people of the deadline. Once you’ve chosen a winner and shared the news, start building towards the next competition or promotion to keep hold of new followers.
Understand what your customers want
Getting to know customers plays a critical role in drawing up and implementing effective, impactful marketing campaigns. Engage with clients, ask them to share suggestions and ideas and learn about what makes them tick. In recent years, consumers have become more interested in sustainability and diversity and inclusion, for example. As a business owner, you can enhance brand image and reputation, support projects and initiatives and cater to customer preferences by championing these values. A Meta study suggests that over 70% of consumers expect brands to promote and celebrate diversity and inclusivity.
Emphasize value
Many companies and brands make price the focal point of a marketing campaign. In some cases, where businesses are targeting bargain hunters and trying to offer the lowest prices on the market, this is an effective ploy. In many cases, however, people are looking for value rather than the lowest RRP. Paying less doesn’t always mean that the customer gets the best deal. Your marketing strategy should emphasize the value you offer your customers. There are lots of ways to add value for shoppers or customers looking for a service. Examples include adding a freebie with a purchase, including free or express delivery and offering gift wrapping or personalization. You could also add features or use better quality materials or ingredients. Think about what your customers are looking for and try to ensure that you offer the best value possible. This will help you to set your brand apart, boost customer retention and outshine competitors.
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Investing time, effort and money in marketing should produce results, but this is not always the case. If you’re struggling to hit targets, or your campaigns aren’t making a splash, it’s time to take action. Go back to basics, make use of data and capitalize on expert advice. Get to know your customers, learn about what they want and promote your brand, as well as your products or services. Emphasize value, share positive reviews and feedback and plan targeted promotions that will create a buzz and put your brand on the map.