As some of you may know, I was a guest speaker today at the BWS Live Event in Aberdeen, in an Ask the Expert session.
I thought it would be a good idea to share a few of the tips discussed at the event. So here they are, in no particular order!
What’s New in Marketing?
The answer to this question could be very long, as new ideas, apps and products appear daily, if not hourly (or it least it sometimes seems like that). So to keep it manageable here are the three main things that I think businesses should start doing if they are not doing them already.
1. Video. I seem to speak about video a lot with clients at the moment, but with good reason. YouTube is the second biggest search tool in the world, which just goes to show that lots and lots of people research and consume information using video. The great thing is, that with the boom in video blogs/vloggers, your audience no longer expects BBC quality corporate video. A quick, inexpensive but still professional video blog is all you need. While written blogs are still important and preferred by many (me included) a video can be more engaging and more memorable. Know your audience and if a fair proportion of them use video, go for it.
2. Content marketing. If you can create one great, useful, relevant, non-salesy, really valuable piece of content you are laughing. That is your lead magnet. You can then give it away in return for the holy grail of communication – an email address. Chop up the content to use in social media and blog posts in order to entice people to download it.
3. Marketing Automation. Leading on from gathering email addresses from content, it is incredibly powerful if you can automate the rest of the process. There is very clever software on the market which can send out different information to different people at different times so that everyone receives the most relevant information at the most suitable time leading them to become a customer at their own pace.
Other Tips
- Look at existing customers first before spending money on acquiring new ones. Are you communicating with them regularly. Can they get hold of you when they need you? Do you know what they need? Do they recommend you?
- Think about outsourcing some of your marketing – either the planning or the doing. That way you make sure it gets done!
- Plan your social media. Know your topic and your audience and plan content that will be of interest to them.
- Be consistent in your marketing. Little and often is more effective than sporadic bursts of activity.
If you were at the talk, what did you take away from it?