According to Wikipedia, “marketing” is the process of communicating the value of a product or service to customers for the purpose of selling that product or service. The key words in this definition are “the process of communicating value” and it is this process that differentiates great marketing from good marketing. Unfortunately most businesses have been negligent to the dramatic shift of how buyers access information to make a purchasing decision, especially in recent years. Hopefully in this article I can shed some light on making that journey from good to great marketing.
To begin with, let’s look at the two main marketing types that are available to most businesses today. We have “traditional media” comprising of mostly print and TV, that is declining at a rapid rate, and we have “new media” that mainly include your digital platforms such as your website, app, social media presence and search engines.
There are however many challenges when it comes to marketing through new media channels. The main challenge is the lack of information that most businesses have of new media and how it can translate into more business. Sure, there is a lot of information out there, but it is overwhelming and without a focus and strategy you are simply in the dark. The first step therefore is to set specific goals and KPIs to measure those goals.
The question however remains; what exactly is working in today’s world of new media? According to recent research done by Forrester, when you present a marketing piece to an interested buyer, it results in the buyer researching 3 pieces of content related to your business online. Thanks to smartphones and wonderful data plans, buyers can do research immediately and make decisions much sooner. Now from a marketing perspective it is crucial that when that research is done by the interested buyer, you are able to “get found” online and leave a lasting positive impression.
If you join the dots, you will notice that the strategy is quite simple. It goes back to what powers the web: CONTENT. To sum it all up, if you create compelling content for your organization and present it well on your website as well as on social media channels, then search engines will love that and bring your website rankings up. This will give you more prominence in search results and when research is done about your business or about your industry, you are much more likely to get targeted traffic. We have solved the first piece of the puzzle.
The next step is to convert that interested visitor reading your lovely content in to a lead. To do this, it is important to direct the visitor to a sign up form that would deliver them extremely useful information. If the information is highly targeted to your audience, they will enter their details and submit for access. This second piece is lead generation.
Once the lead is generated there needs to be emphasis put on nurturing the lead. Giving your target audience irresistible information that they would enjoy and look forward to. Nurturing your leads is a crucial process in developing trust and credibility, and can be very effective especially if you are a brand that is not well known. By nurturing your leads you are building their consideration of your service and enforcing their intention. This final piece ensures that when they evaluate you as an industry expert, you have already established that and they are ready to make a purchasing decision.
In conclusion, great marketing requires a different mindset. In order to achieve great marketing results you need to adapt your marketing efforts to the behaviour of your audience. It requires less selling and more marketing because in todays world you are dealing with an informed buyer.
This article was originally published in the December 2013/January 2014 edition of the Business View.
