How to Simplify Your Marketing
One of the problems in the marketing industry is the obsession with fads, buzzwords, and fluff. Go to some digital marketing blogs and you’ll smacked with unproven and untested theories and ideas that, on the surface, sound great but will not be applicable to your business. The truth is that digital marketing is not a series of tactics or ideas or buzzwords/slogans. The truth is that digital marketing, at the end of the day, is a journey. It’s a journey because you are taking your web visitors from the “open” to the “close”, regardless of what strategy you use.
Your marketing should go like this:
Attraction (acquiring visitors to your web site)
Conversion (where you begin to convince the prospect to buy from your company)
Close (the point where the sale is made, and the interaction after the sale)
Any method or strategy that you use in your marketing needs to adhere to that frame. You are taking your web visitors on a ride—one that you already planned and mapped out.
When you attract someone to your website—whether through SEO, paid ads, or whatever—you need to give them a reason to stay on your site and to stay in your circle. Businesses that understand marketing will know that they have to “hook” someone who may be on the fence about their company. You “hook” someone by giving undeniable value. This value can come in different ways: blog posts, newsletters, “freebies”, incentives, discounts, loss leaders, white papers. Marketing, in and of itself, has a sleazy, shady reputation, due to all of the underhanded and commonplace sales tactics of years past. Your marketing has to combat that. You don’t have to subscribe to the “in your face” marketing school of thought. Giving value before the sale will give you more fans, with more loyalty. Don’t think in the short term, because you will only get short-lived results.
When someone completes the action that you wanted them to—buying from you, signing up, whatever it may be—you are successful. But the journey doesn’t end there. The marketing should continue after the sale. This is done several ways: offering new products to your customers, telling them to share info on your company through their social networks, asking them for testimonials or reviews, and continuing to provide undeniable value.
Your website is all-important
Having a stellar website is absolutely essential for being successful in your marketing endeavors. The website is the centerpiece, the nucleus. And it is probably the most important web asset that you’ll own. Your business Facebook page, twitter profile (or anything else), is not technically owned by your company. Though you definitely should pursue social media success, just know that your website is the most important asset, and that it should be at the center of your digital marketing.
Figure out how you’re going to attract visitors to your site
Fine-tune your methods of attracting visitors to your website. You need to consistently acquire new customers to your website. There have been several posts on this blog on the best ways to acquire new visitors. Test our suggestions out, find what will work for your business, and then fine-tune it.
Cover all of your bases
Do not depend on solely one or two methods of attracting new customers. As you find success and your marketing budget expands, try to add more methods to your arsenal. Approach marketing with the mindset that anything can happen. For example, let’s say you’re a business that depends entirely on Google search traffic. If Google dramatically changes their algorithm overnight, and since nearly all of your traffic is search engine based, then you did not cover your bases. It is never a good thing to be left vulnerable in your marketing.
Metrics do not lie
A common mistake that business owners make is allowing their own biases and opinions to seep into their better judgment. This is a surefire way to drain your budget and derail your marketing success. Metrics like… The amount of visitors you receive to your website (and where they come from); your bounce rate; the customer acquisition cost ; the lifetime value; the amount of people who actually buy from you; the length of time it takes them to buy from you
Metrics will keep you honest. If you are not painstakingly measuring your results, you are not marketing properly. When you operate based on your metrics, then you can find your weaknesses and your strengths, and you will be equipped to take your marketing to the next level. Follow your metrics, not your gut.
Digital marketing is a scary terrain for many business owners. But if you keep it simple (Attraction-Conversion-Close), then it becomes a whole lot easier to understand. Your implementation will go much smoother.
