In today’s world, we consistently see things making a shift towards convenience. Cord free phone chargers and headphones, more Bluetooth connections, automatic suggestions of things you may like, you name it! One thing also heading down this path is the automation of marketing campaigns. This one is where a connection with your customers can be made and lost- all at the same time. When you have a “set it and forget it” approach to your marketing plan, you set yourself up to connect with a higher number of people yet, the connections made have a lower impact if you allow your brand to lose the personalization with the customers themselves.

The credibility of a company is a key aspect in today’s market. One thing to remember in any marketing approach is that people care about the companies they choose to associate with. What a company values, represents, its morals, all play into the trust and authenticity of the brand itself. The trust, transparency, and mission of a company is what attracts more people to a brand as opposed to just a “good deal”. Key point- today we are seeing the trend of convenience is key, but in usage not decision.

People want to see that the companies they associate with will take the time to get to know and respect their preferences by learning the who-what-when-where-why- and how that makes them a customer or potential customer. So you ask, how can you make sure your marketing efforts are positioned correctly to be as effective as possible with the highest impact? Remember these few key points throughout your marketing strategy:

Content

Make sure any content you share is brand relevant and is something your audience can connect to. Do not just produce content for the sake of having content. Quality over Quantity- ask yourself how your audience will benefit from what you are sharing. When you try to simply execute a set number of posts or emails per day or week, people see through that and it gives your brand an aura of being disingenuous.

Listen

Listen to what your audience wants! Pay attention to comments made and suggestions shared. Offer them the opportunity to fill out short surveys so they know you want to hear from them… then make sure to act on those responses.

Data

Pay attention to trends and numbers. Keep track of Google Analytics, social media, and e-Newsletter engagements to find the specific trends of your unique audience. This way you can produce the exact content that they respond to. This will also help you to see where your audience is responding. Finding out the channels where engagement is higher or lower will help you determine which areas of your marketing plan need some extra effort and how to strategically customize your content placement.

Respond

When you post on social media, do not have a drop and run approach. Keep track of social media posts and engage with your audience. Comment back, like tagged posts, mix up content on social media channels so that you are uniquely hitting all audiences. Posting during the peak days and times for each social media channel will give your content the highest reach, encouraging higher content engagement. If you have an e-Newsletter sign up, set up an automatic response thanking them for joining your list. This also provides you an opportunity to include a targeted survey or share specific information.

Personalize

When sending out group emails (or direct mail), utilize features that will allow you to include the names of your customers in either the Title or Body of your message. This will help to increase your open rates and click-through rates. If you do not have that information, set a plan in place to begin collecting it. You can implement an online sign-up form, conduct a contest, offer an additional/ personalized service- whatever makes the most sense in relation to your business goals so that you can get to know the customers who help your business grow. Customize this content and segment your email sends to various groups depending on interest and/ or services you offer. Sending information blindly to any and everyone can backfire, causing people to unsubscribe from your messaging; make sure to send only when it’s relevant and when in conjunction to similar messaging- don’t just pick the 10^th and 25^th of every month! People do not want to feel like ‘just another number’ or have more messages clogging their inbox. If your content is relevant and consistent, they will be more intrigued to read it!

Humanize

People connect with people – so show off the people who keep your gears turning! When you humanize your own brand, it increases your credibility and helps people know they can trust you. Putting a ‘face to name’ will help people connect with and remember your company. Share the names of your employees in electronic contacts, utilize social media to share internal events, trainings, and team building exercises, create a team page on your website or begin a #MeetUsMondays campaign to highlight departments or individual employees- the possibilities are endless and are a great way to not only connect with your audience but encourage internal team bonding.

These key concepts all work together to help make your marketing a success! The RISE Marketing team specializes in developing custom marketing plans based on your needs in order to achieve consistent strategies to help you reach your goals. Contact us to start the conversation on how we can help you work these key concepts into your marketing strategy.