Marketing is the process of bringing an idea, product or service in front of a buying audience. Marketing focuses on a customer's wants and needs so companies can identify who might purchase their product to attract those customers to the business.
In this article, we discuss 10 different marketing strategies that can help you attract new customers and retain their loyalty.
What is a marketing strategy?
A marketing strategy is a series of steps or actions taken by a business to increase sales, grow a brand or to feature the value of the product, known as a value proposition. A marketing strategy appeals to the customer and aims to make them want to learn more about the business or its products. To appeal to the customer, a business needs to understand who the customer is and how they make purchasing decisions. With specific goals in mind, companies can design a marketing strategy to reach them. Developing a marketing strategy generally follows an outline of steps to reach the goal.
The AIDAR model shows how a marketing strategy works:
Awareness: The act of creating attention for the brand or service through various mediums
Interest: The step of generating interest to encourage buyers to want to know more
Desire: Creating an emotional connection to the buyer so they want the product or like the brand
Action: The step when the buyer picks up a brochure, calls to learn more or makes a purchase
Retention: Once someone becomes a customer, the business turns its focus to satisfy the customer so they return and perhaps refer the company to friends and family.
Building a marketing strategy
To reach customers and build a company's brand, a business sets goals according to what they want to accomplish with each marketing strategy. Goal setting includes knowing the company's value and targeting the ideal buyer. Marketing strategies build timelines and measure the success of the strategy to determine its return on investment (ROI), which can factor into whether or not the strategy is implemented again. Using the process of SMART goals helps define the strategy and specify the goal.
For example, a coffee company is launching its new flavor to coincide with the holidays. Here is how it sets a SMART goal to grow sales:
Specific: The company wants to gain 1,000 new customers.
Measurable: The company wants to accomplish this by the end of the year.
Actionable: The company determines where its advertising will be most effective.
Relevant: The product is holiday-themed, and the launch is scheduled for November.
Time-bound: A specific timeline lets the company aim for a particular outcome and adjust the goal as needed.
How is a marketing strategy different from a marketing plan?
A marketing plan sums up the ideas for what a company wants to accomplish, and the marketing strategy makes up the components of the plan and puts it into action. Marketing plans detail specific strategies to reach the company's goals and contain the timetables for when certain marketing strategies will take place and details the logistics of marketing campaigns.
Marketing strategies inform the marketing plan and generally have longer lifespans because they contain value propositions and brand dynamics that don't change much over time. Strategies cover a range of mediums and venues where a business might find the people it appeals to and defines how the business might convert that person to a customer.
Marketing strategies to attract and retain customers
Here are 10 common marketing strategies companies use to reach more customers, encourage repeat business and build brand loyalty:
- Leverage social media.
- Start a blog.
- Maximize search engine optimization (SEO).
- Create a call to action (CTA).
- Engage influencers.
- Build a mailing list.
- Create an affiliate program.
- Engage customers with chat.
- Host webinars.
- Develop customer personas.
- Leverage social media
Social media Marketing offers many attractive ways to connect with customers. A business can post photos or videos about its products or communicate through comments or messages. Social media provides an environment where customers can learn about the business or its industry. Engaging with customers builds brand loyalty and elevates customer service.
Example: On Monday, a coffee company posts a video of its coffee-making process, and on Tuesday they announce a new coffee flavor and encourage customers to stop in one of its shops for a taste test. On Friday, the company engages with customers online to get their thoughts on the new product.
Read More :4 Tips to Help Your Business Generate More Clients via social media
2. Start a blog
Blogs provide content on a website or product page that helps a customer make a buying decision or to learn more about a service. Blogs may be updated daily or weekly, depending on the goals of the strategy, and posts ideally create value and build authority. Some companies may feature guest blog writers who confirm value or educate customers. Sharing blog posts across social media or similar outlets expands the audience and potential customer base.
Example: Dr. Parker's psychology practice plans to implement a new therapy technique. The doctor wants her clients to understand how it works, so she starts a weekly blog post that goes into detail about the technique. Once a month, Dr. Parker features posts by prominent psychologists for different points of view and reader interaction.
- Maximize search engine optimization (SEO)
Keywords or phrases are typed into a search engine to locate a particular subject or answer a query. Web browsers are designed to search those keywords or phrases on websites or articles and present results to the user. Effective search engine optimization SEO can not only place the company at the top of search engine results, but it is also a powerful way to segment and target customers. While keywords and phrases are valuable, companies must also create engaging content that offers value.
Example: A sporting goods company is having a sale on bicycles and creates content about the sale using specific keywords. The company researches keywords and phrases related to bicycles and chooses the most popular among them to use throughout its content.
Example keywords or phrases for the bike sale:
- Bike
- Cycle
- Bike shop
- Bike sale
- Bike discount
- Cycle gear
- Create a call to action (CTA)
A call to action is a prompt for the customer to ask questions, follow up, learn more or make a decision. A call to action may be in the form of a question, an offer, a suggestion or to create a sense of urgency.
Examples:
- Sale ends Tuesday, get yours now!
- Get this free report when you join our mailing list.
- Ready to learn more? Click here!
- Partner with influencers
Influencers are primarily social media people who have gained a following or audience they appeal to. Companies may partner with influencers who match business goals or strategies. Influencers may promote a product by using it, wearing it or by telling their followers about it. If the company's products and sales systems are in place, influencers can help create value through direct experience to influence buying. Influencers that fit the company's niche can help the business reach more customers.
Example: A company that makes hiking boots follows a popular person on a social media platform. The person has many followers and shares photos and posts of the many places she goes hiking. The company approaches the influencer, and they make a deal where the influencer gets a free pair of boots in every style the company makes if she agrees to wear the boots and talk about them in her posts. She tags the company's social media account and recommends the boots to her followers. The company now increases its number of followers and can boast the positive first-hand experience of the influencer.
- Build a mailing list with email marketing
Building a mailing list can help a business offer incentives to its customers or encourage them to return. Email marketing keeps the company in front of the customer while the company can segment lists to target specific customers. If a sporting goods company is launching the latest in-line skates, it may partition its lead list to target a certain demographic, such as 18 to 24-year-olds.
The automation of emails means you can connect to customers right away through personalized messages and offer them something for their time. Mailing lists alert customers to sales or promotions, share tips on using a product or provide education on its industry.
Example: Customers can be persuaded to sign up for a newsletter by offering a value proposition:
- Receive my free report
- Sign-up and get our eBook
- Subscribe for a 20% discount coupon
- Create an affiliate program
Similar to partnering with influencers, affiliate programs mean your customers do the selling for you. An affiliate is someone who receives an incentive for every sale or referral to the business that comes through their website, social media platform or similar avenues. Affiliates get people talking about the business and may greatly expand how many people learn about the products and services.
Example: A coffee company searches for bloggers and influencers who fall within its niche and pitches its affiliate program. The coffee company might send its affiliates samples to try for their review or recommendation. Each time a customer clicks the unique affiliate link, both the blogger and the company gain from the relationship.
Read This : How to combine your SEO and affiliate marketing strategy: 5 top tips
- Engage customers with chat
Having a chat feature is a great way to answer customer questions or solve problems right away. Customers may use chat to learn more about a service, troubleshoot a product or ask a question about delivery times. Some modern chat features can transfer the chat right to the customer's device, so they can leave the company's website but not the conversation.
Example: A consumer's vacuum just stopped working, so she visits the company's website to locate a phone number or documentation to troubleshoot the machine. Once on the website, the customer finds a chat feature that enables her to message a representative right away. The customer is thrilled to find out her vacuum needs a new belt and the chat representative has already arranged to get a new belt to her by the end of the week. The customer's problem was solved immediately, and excellent customer service kept the chat connected until she was satisfied with the outcome.
- Host webinars
Webinars are typically web-based learning or information sessions. Webinars may be used as an onboarding tool for new employees or to introduce a customer to the business. They are ideal for focusing on a single idea to present it across several platforms. Webinars may include a question and answer session or end with a call to action.
Example: A company has launched a new garden tool and creates a series of webinars around the product. The first webinar explains how the tool will make gardening easier, the second webinar offers tips for using the tool and the third shares photos or videos of customers using the tool. Each webinar offers a coupon for 20% off the purchase of the tool.
- Develop customer personas
Personas define who the customer is, what they like and lend insight into their buying patterns to serve them better. Companies that sell a product or service ultimately need a customer to make a purchase. Through the research of their ideal customers, companies can develop existing personas to personalize their service even further.
Example: A surfboard company designs a board that is longer than most and suited for people over six feet tall. The company creates a character sketch of its ideal customer to define its marketing efforts. The company updates details about their ideal customer as they come into focus:
- Over 6 feet tall
- 18 to 25 years old (updates to 18–35-year-olds when the company discovers many customers are over 25)
- In college (or recent graduate)
- Loves the beach
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