Is your marketing approach feeling monotonous, rendering less results, or needing a refresh? To get your wheels turning, we’ve compiled a list of marketing strategies to consider! Before spending budget on any of these methods, though, we do want to note that you should assess how these strategies apply to your ideal audience first. Some of these will not make sense for certain demographics.

All that aside, here are the strategies!

1. Email Campaign - Email is not dead. E-campaigns need to be thoughtful and bring value to the person reading it. What we love most about email campaigns is the opportunity to add the email addresses to targeted audiences in social media. You can be in the person’s inbox and on their social feeds to drive home an action. After all, it generally takes someone seven times to see something before they are provoked to action. 

           A few tips to consider:

• Don’t send too many emails. The top answer in every study on why people unsubscribe comes down to too many emails. While we aren’t going to dive into the right number of emails to send - be mindful of your subscribers. You might even try asking them how many emails they want to receive each month! 
• E-campaigns don’t have to be discounts and promotions. It could be a drip campaign, which is a series of emails that ultimately lead to a certain call to action (like signing up for an e-course, or purchasing a product) after signing up for a free download or value-added content that captures the interest of your reader.

2. Focus on Getting Reviews - 91% of consumers between the age of 18 to 34 are big believers of online reviews, according to BrightLocal’s Consumer Review Study. The same study found that the average consumer reads 10 reviews before making a purchase. Reviews will improve the way people perceive your business and the way you can grow your business. 
   

• Consider searching for online platforms that can seamlessly integrate getting reviews with your customer journey process. We’ve recently used NiceJob for a lower volume of sales business, but we have also utilized services such as Podium for higher volume clients. 
• Just ask! Sometimes, when people have had a great experience, all you have to do is ask. If you present the ask in a way such as “this really helps our business grow,” who doesn’t want to help another person or their favorite local business out?

3. Print Design - Maybe you’re thinking 2020 is not the year for print to make a comeback (COVID, anyone?) but it still has advantages, and, if done creatively, can grab the attention of your ideal audience. 
   

• Here’s an example: if your business is opening a new location, try printing out beautiful, attention grabbing flyers announcing your new location, your hours, and perhaps even a coupon code for first time customers. This will help garner attention around your new location and increase foot traffic.
  
  

4. Social media platform expansion - We always like to first recommend championing one platform on social media before moving on to another, or at least streamlining your process with a scheduling tool. Either way, it could be time to explore new platforms such as Tik Tok, Pinterest, or another one of the larger, more common social media platforms, if you’re not already on them. Unsure of which platform to choose? Read our blog about which platform might drive the best results for your business. 

5. Consider a Talk Trigger - Looking for a good read? Try Jay Baer’s Talk Trigger! It’s less of a marketing tactic and more of an operational change, but we’re going to classify it under marketing for the sake of this article. Word of mouth is still crucial to the success of businesses. Word of mouth may actually be words on a screen typed out in the comment sections of a ‘needing recommendations’ post, but it’s still a direct referral. Baer’s book provides examples of companies of all sizes that use a talk trigger. He explains to readers what it is and how they can create one for their own company.

6. SMS - It’s direct and immediate. It should integrate with other efforts such as email or even social media. Text to subscribe or gain access is an ever increasing message. Whether you need to remind your customers about their upcoming appointment and want to share types for maintenance between appointments or wish to communicate other information, SMS might be a great way to do that! 
   

• While the platform you choose for your SMS strategy depends on your specific business, some of the top platforms many businesses use include Twilio, Simple Texting, and Text Magic.

7. Ad spend - By now, most businesses are on at least one social media platform. But many have not taken advantage of the power of paid ads on social media. With the organic reach decreasing and the need for user-generated and real-time content - businesses have their work cut out for them. And while it may give you pause to pay these platforms to publish your posts more broadly, by choosing to put some money behind your content, these platforms are able to not only get your content in front of more people, but they can also make sure it gets in front of the RIGHT audience for your business.

We hope these tips have helped get you thinking about new marketing strategies or operational changes you can easily implement this next year to help your business grow and stand out from the competition. If you still feel like you need assistance with reassessing your marketing plan, contact us today to chat about your business’ unique needs!