Archive for May, 2022

How to Handle Your Business Marketing In-House

Countless marketing strategies have proven to work for companies worldwide. But if you’re like most business owners, you don’t have unlimited time or money to spend on building a juggernaut marketing department of new employees.

Fortunately, you don’t have to. As long as you and your team learn marketing basics, you can develop effective strategies that take your company to the next level. Defining your goals and target market, identifying what your customers want, and utilizing online marketing are just a few ways to set your team up to flourish. Below, we’ve outlined the fundamentals of any successful marketing strategy.

What Are Channels?

You will often see two terms related to marketing: “channels” and “messaging.” In the simplest terms, a marketing channel is a tactic or platform you use to communicate your marketing message to your target audience. It will help to understand that all successful marketing is built on the foundation of determining your audience’s needs and wants, identifying the appropriate channel for each target market, and effectively distributing your message.

What Are the Best Channels for Our Company?

There are many channels that you can use for your marketing message these days. While that is a good thing, it can also make it challenging to choose the proper channels. Among other factors, your marketing budget and your team’s abilities will influence which channels you utilize.

Choosing marketing channels comes down to frequency and reach. Frequency is how often your message is distributed, while reach is the potential size of your target audience. For a combination of channels to be effective, a channel must reach your target audience and you must broadcast your message frequently enough.

As discussed, there is no shortage of potential channels to consider. You will likely want to focus on digital solutions like:

● Social media marketing
● Internet marketing
● Copywriting
● Email marketing
● Graphic design
● Webinars
● Search engine optimization (SEO)

If you’re creating webinars, consider starting a YouTube channel to showcase them. Personalize your channel and videos by using a YouTube banner template to create a banner that incorporates your brand and logo.

Don’t count out the possibility of print marketing working in your company’s favor. Many companies still benefit from using traditional channels like billboards, telephone poles, and community bulletin boards.

What Is Messaging?

Now, to our second marketing term. Marketing messaging refers to how a company communicates its value to its customers. You will use messages to inspire feelings and emotions through words and phrases, which your target audience will ideally associate with the products or services you offer. The way you craft your brand messaging will influence the effectiveness of all your marketing channels and vice versa.

How Can We Craft the Right Messaging?

Your first consideration when developing messaging that will positively impact your company is your target market. Take time to research and identify your customers’ needs, and speak to those needs through your message. For example, many companies prioritize these qualities when crafting their messages:

● Comfort
● Usability
● Affordability and value
● Functionality and longevity
● Style
● Peace of mind
● Sustainability and ethics

The second consideration is the channels through which you will send your messages. You may need to tailor each message to the specific platform you are using according to the conventions of that platform and how customers engage on that platform.

Is Our Marketing Strategy Working?

Finally, it’s best practice to evaluate whether or not your marketing strategies are regularly working. There are a few practical ways to gauge the impact of your efforts:

● Using data and analytics tools.
● Sending online surveys to your target audience.
● Organizing focus groups.
● Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs).

If you have decided to become your own marketing department, learning the basics of marketing channels and messaging is essential. The information and advice above can get you off to a strong start. But keep researching to learn more tactics and platforms that can help you turn your small business into a marketing powerhouse!

Improve your social media strategies and get more customers by working with social media specialist Patrick Clarke!