There are so many new and exciting ways to reach broader audiences today than there had been even just a decade ago. There are options that fit your specific needs no matter whether you focus on audio, video, or even written content, and all can help expand awareness.
While it may seem daunting, have no fears. The key is to make sure you have a strong plan in place and are not flying by the seat of your pants. You want to know what mediums to target, what ads and content to create, and how to better spread your message.
Having a plan already gives you a major leg up on the competition as only 43% of marketers have a set strategy in place, according to this Content Marketing Institute study. That number is lower than you might expect, but provides a great opportunity to outmaneuver the competition.
Here are some easy suggestions for how to gain that necessary edge:
THE GOAL
Let’s start with a simple tip.
You need to know what the ultimate goal of your campaign is. While this seems simple, it can be overlooked. Are you aiming for more engagements? More downloads? More sales? Acquiring more contacts? Those are all critical steps, but they will influence your plan.
Knowing what the ultimate goal will be allows for your company to direct all the efforts toward achieving this feat rather than a haphazard attempt. It identifies a vision, and helps create a clear-cut process for how to turn consumer engagements hopefully into profit.
This also helps align your company on what your message is, which can sometimes be overlooked. You need to know exactly what you’re saying with your messages. If you don’t have a clear idea, then you can be sure that your customers are not going to be sure either.
Having a clear message and plans aids with credibility and consistency.
DAY BY DAY
Having an editorial calendar will help you plan for when certain content needs to be delivered and what form it will take. It is always better to be proactive than reactionary.
Planning ahead is always critical because it allows you to take account of holidays, seasonal trends, and the frequency of your posts. We’ve all been there where we forget a holiday is coming up. You don’t want to be caught without any content around these big days.
It’s also helpful to know what is coming down the pipe at all times and not scrambling at the last second to produce a good piece of content.
Engaging, compelling content takes time and effort.
AUDIENCE
There are several elements to making sure you are doing what is necessary to resonate with your audience.
First, you need to know your audience. Where do they come from? What is their age group? Where do they land on the financial pendulum? Knowing your target customers is important.
You also want to know details about their habits. Do they buy your products at retail stores or online? Do they often complete transactions? What is their path to buying your product?
Knowing their tendencies and habits can help shape how you reach them most effectively.
TOP TO BOTTOM
You don’t want to just have content at the top of the funnel. You need to have content all the way throughout it. You can’t just cater to one set of your customers.
You need to understand their path toward completing a transaction and make sure you have content for each step in the process. Content that resonates for the newcomers all the way up to regulars. You need to make each group in the funnel feel appreciated.
Selling the value of your brand/company cannot be understated. Yes, some products are more one-time items. But, ideally, you have a product that can add value to their life.
Remember to pitch them on why this product will improve their life, not just what it does. How you market your product is just as important as what it actually does.
You may initially attract potential customers via a blog or an SEO search, but once they’re in the loop you can keep them around with mailing lists or even social media channels. Retargeting the customer can also provide that added difference that can seal a transaction.
Once they’ve made a deal, you still have to pitch them. This is why value is so critical.
THE RIGHT CHANNEL
It’s quite important to know what your audience is looking for and what you are best at. If you have a strong video, TikTok can be a great fit. If you possess strong images, Instagram is a natural choice. As we always stress here: creative and engaging content always wins out! But, remember, if your content doesn’t fit the medium, it’s OK to search for those that do.
Knowing who exactly you are targeting and the details about them allows you to plan for how to best make the experience easier for them to continue doing business with your company.
You can also use some of these mediums to post different types of content, which allows you to try different strategies and be creative with your methodology.
Knowing which medium best suits your brand also is helpful since influences are becoming more popular, provided you have the financial capabilities to do so.
CREDIBILITY
Ultimately, you need to earn your customers’ trust. They are not going to want to buy your product if they can’t trust your product or don’t trust your brand.
Becoming an authority figure on the subject is always quite helpful, especially since Google uses an E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness) scale. Rating well on this scale will help Google establish you as one of the authorities on the subject matter.
Create content that is accurate and perhaps has strong outside recommendations.
KEYWORDS AND SEARCH
You need to know the keywords that your audience is targeting, and make sure you are including this. If you’re selling a product but not marketing it under a certain keyword, you can be losing valuable customers. You have to make sure you are on the radar.
Think of what your audience will be searching for with regard to your product/brand, and be sure to include that in your strategy. This requires researching the top-performing terms that apply to your brand–Google Keyword Planner can help–and implement them into your content.
Now, this can sometimes be tricky since odds are you’re not the only product in the space and you may not win out against larger brands.
But you can use long-tail keywords that are more defined and have a narrower scope. This can give you an advantage and a way to work around the system.
FOLLOW YOUR FOES
You can’t succeed without knowing what your competitors are doing. There are things they likely are doing better than you and vice versa. So, take note! Studying your competitors also allows you to find potential areas where they are weaker or are not exploiting and up your resources.
Perhaps they have a strong campaign that did wonders. Well, there are likely little tidbits that you can use next time. Or, if the campaign flopped, you can note where it went wrong. Examine their content to see how it contrasts to your media, and what the notable differences are. Are their pieces shorter? Are they for broad or niche audiences? What is their posting frequency?
Operating in your own lane without acknowledging those around is not a strategy for success.
SO, WHERE DO YOU FIND THIS PARTNER?
Well, aren’t we glad you asked! DigiCom is a proud Facebook Marketing Partner. We’re obsessive data-driven marketers pulling from multi-disciplinary strategies to unlock scale. We buy media across all Facebook platforms and placements, provide creative solutions alongside content creation, and conversion rate optimizations. We pride ourselves on your successes and will stop at nothing to help you grow.