Communicating your business in the right way has never been more important. It’s not just about broadcasting lots of messages, you need to get the content right.
The most important thing to remember when you’re marketing is that it’s all about customers. You can have all the adverts, blogs and websites in the world, but if you don’t have anyone to sell to, then there’s no point.
It’s vital not to get bogged down in thinking about B2B and B2C, algorithms, platforms and any other technical aspects that come to mind. At least not at first. The key to good, successful marketing is to understand that you’re selling to people. You’re not selling to a computer algorithm, you’re selling to a human with emotion.
If you can break through the business talk and reach people at a truly personal level then you have a much greater chance of them listening.
So the next question you may be asking is: how do I do this? Here are my top tips for modern day marketing communications:
1. Know Your Customers
If you want to reach someone at a personal level then you need to know who they are. The worst thing you can do is make assumptions, so here you must do your research. Start off at a basic level. Who are your products and services aimed at? Gender, age, profession etc. Then think find out what these people like, where they spend their day and what their expectations are. Without knowing key facts, you’ll never be able to target your marketing accurately.
2. Develop your brand story
Everyone is in business for a different reason and we all have our unique take on what we do. Tell that story. Show that your business is run by people. It’s not so important if you’re the market leader or the best in your field or you’ve won seventeen awards. Your audience cares about what you are going to do for them, how much it will cost and why they should have confidence in you. If you tell your story then you let them in. That’s a great place to start a trustworthy relationship.
3. Show your personality
So few companies do this, but all of the successful ones nail it. Give your company a tone of voice, a look, a feel. Is it a cheeky chappy or a formal voice of authority? Funny or serious? If your company was a person what would they be like? Think about your company as an entity in its own right. You will give it a life that will help you communicate better.
4. Be consistent
It takes someone about 7 times of seeing something before they really notice it. If you constantly change the way you present yourself then that message will never sink in. So whatever you say on your website, say it in your brochures, say in on social media, repeat elements of it in your blog. Smack that message home and give the world a chance to truly understand it. Copy and paste is a marketer’s friend.
5. Whatever you do, follow it through
Have you ever had a situation where you’ve seen an advert for something and then you get to the shop and they haven’t got a clue what you’re talking about? Or what about when a company says check out our website for more details and there’s not one word about it on the website? I see this all the time and it’s because people don’t make a plan and follow it through properly.
Make sure that your messages are consistent across all of your activity. That’s in term of tone of voice (don’t be humorous in an email and then deadly serious on your website), wording and images (don’t use different ideas across different media), and how you tell people in your own company about it. Make sure everyone understands what you’re doing and, very importantly, why you’re doing it.
6. Choose your channels carefully.
There are three words to always abide by in marketing: be purpose driven. If you don’t know why you’re doing something then why are you doing it? Don’t do any marketing because someone told you it was a good thing to do or one of your competitors is doing it.
The best place to start is at the end. Decide what you want to achieve and then only choose the appropriate channels that will help you achieve it. If you’re selling to people who never use social media then it would be madness to spend all your time on Facebook. Don’t just create a video because you think it might get you noticed. Create a video because it’s the perfect channel to get that well though through message out there. And definitely don’t write a blog if you have nothing to say. If you’re not interested in writing it then I’d place money on the fact that no one will be interested in reading it.
7. Be engaging
There’s evidence to suggest that you have about 8 seconds to grab someone’s interest in our busy, media centric world. That means you have to be engaging from the outset. Don’t bombard people will irrelevant messages just because you think it will get your name out there. It will most likely have the opposite effect.
It sounds crazy, but the less you sell the more you’ll sell. So don’t broadcast sales messages, perhaps be a thought leader instead and make your clients think about a world where they don’t use your products and how awful that would be. Get involved in the community and show you care. Show off your expertise through case studies or by giving things away for free
Engage with others who can support you, like trade publications and affiliate websites. Reach your customers in more imaginative ways.
Marketing isn’t easy, and that’s why it’s so important to have a plan and to do things effectively. If you’d like more advice and guidance on marketing your business, please get in touch.
