Have you ever wondered how the term telemarketer came to be and why it ended up with a negative connotation? Once upon a time, most marketing was done in an in-your-face way, being very persistent—and very pestering—refusing to be ignored. People used to screen their calls a lot for largely that reason. So, if you were wondering how to market your business, this may not be the best way to go.
These days, we are seeing a decrease in those methods of reaching out—in fact, modern marketers are not picking up the phone as often nor sending as many of what we called “cold” emails when seeking to start a conversation. Even though we are indeed trying to get people’s attention, we want to be less disruptive, thus a bit more strategic and behind-the-scenes. Our focus these days should be on inbound marketing.
We like this because our clients and their customers like it better—essentially it lets them come to us by offering valuable or interesting content, content they actually might want (and not asking for things from them right away for the sole benefit of the business). Below are things you’ll want to keep in mind when learning how to market your business in times that are ever-changing. By following current trends, such as maintaining a digital presence, you can stay on top of latest trends, get noticed, and grow your customer base.
Strategy
The Internet is a behemoth that becomes more and more saturated with individuals, businesses, and information every single day. So instead of just jumping blindly into the abyss, really think about how to market your business. Put together a plan. Decide what you want to do, what kinds of things you might want to tell the world about your company, when, and how often. Think of including components like the following into your campaigning:
Blogging
If someone is looking for advice on a topic, or for a certain product or service, you want to make sure your company is appearing in some of the top results. If you offer the help people need, they will not need to look elsewhere—your business will become the go-to if what you’re saying is valuable. It’s a way to educate potential customers on your industry (and ultimately the goal is for them to be hooked after reading and keep coming back to the authority for more).
Content Offers
Similarly to blogging, these will offer some sort of information to the reader whom you want to become a future customer. They can take the form of white papers, e-books, webinars, anything you can think of that might be enticing to a reader and make them want to click, taking deeper look into your business. Tip: Links are powerful—be sure your calls-to-action lead as many people to these offers as possible.
SEO
Optimized site content will help you stand out in a sea of other marketers. It’s all about keywords, and by doing a little research (you can compare with what competitors and industry leaders are doing) you will be able to find some good ones. Tip: You may have noticed that when typing a topic into Google, it suggests related phrases. These often make for great keywords to sprinkle throughout your content.
Social Media
This is a big one. With the numbers of people on social media in the billions—we’re not kidding here—it’s well worth it to grow your presence. The best thing to do with social is to open multiple accounts, create them in a way that they stay consistent with your brand (design, language, etc.), and assign someone on your team to keep on top of scheduling and frequency of activity. An inactive page is almost worse than not having one, and people will notice.
Landing Pages
Web pages with forms provide yet another chance to both boost SEO and gain valuable relationships. The goal with most landing pages is to add names, or leads, to your contact list. Once you know who might be interested in your products or services, you can reach out to them in your email campaigns, and they will be more likely to read it rather than being annoyed since they are the ones that signed up!
Analytics
Last but not least, don’t just stop once you think you’ve got a good handle on things. Your business is a living thing and you cannot give up on it—marketing is not meant not be a one-and-done. Once you have set up everything exactly as you like, you need to check up on results and progress, because it’s about what your customers want, not just what you want. See what is working and do more of that. See what is not working and change it. Measuring is critical, and without it, what was the point of learning how to market your business in the first place?
