How to Dominate Content Marketing in 2019

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Content Marketing|How to Dominate Content Marketing in 2019Content marketing is constantly changing, and you have to readjust your strategies if you want to stay on top of the game. While some time-tested tactics will still get you results in 2019, others could actually ruin your efforts and have you all the way back to square one. In this article, we’re going to give you a few tips that will allow you to dominate content marketing in 2019.

Make Sure You Have the Basics Down

Before you go to the chalkboard, you have to take a look at your current strategy. This is the time to gather your team and look at what worked and what needs to be adjusted. Examining your content strategy will allow you to quickly see if your previous plans are still relevant today.

You also need to have a clear and documented content strategy and make sure that everyone is aware of it. In a recent study by CMI, it was shown that businesses that had a clear content marketing strategy written down had five times more chances of being successful. Conversely, only 39% of B2B marketers said that they had one.

A good content marketing plan starts with identifying the main challenges that need to be addressed and the steps that will be taken to overcome them. Some points of interests such as SEO and lead generation are a great start, and you can start forming your strategy around them depending on what objectives you’re trying to meet.

Stay on Top of Recent Trends

You also have to be able to stay on top of recent trends and make sure that you incorporate them into your strategy when possible. For instance, live video is set to take off this year, and unless you have a strategy that will allow you to engage your audience directly, you’ll miss out on a lot of opportunities. Live video and webinars are a great way to build authority in your niche and increase brand awareness.

Voice search is another major trend that you can’t afford to overlook in 2019. The vast majority of users use their smartphones to look up business-related content these days, and the advent of smart voice technology has made voice search more popular than ever. And it’s showing no signs of slowing down. That means that you’ll have to learn how to incorporate query-based keyword phrases in your on- and off-page content to take advantage of all this juicy traffic.

So, make sure that you’re aware of all the latest trends and see which ones could be the most beneficial and easier to implement. If you want to learn about some of the biggest content marketing trends for 2019, you can check here for details.

Improve the Way you Distribute

The way we distribute content is also changing and many of the channels we used to use are slowly becoming obsolete. Creating good content is all fine and well, but unless you know how to distribute it properly, all of your efforts will be in vain.

First, you have to ask some specific questions to tell which distribution channels you should focus on. How do people get to your site? What devices does your audience use the most? What are your best performing acquisition channels? What content promotion frequency seems to work the best? What’s the ideal time to push content?

These are all questions that will allow you to fine-tune your distribution strategy and get better results. You’ll be able to adjust your distribution to fit your audience’s needs and become more efficient.

Focus on Your Best Performing Channels

You should also make sure that most of your efforts are towards your best-performing channels. Then you’ll be able to test the waters with other channels. And just because all of your competitors seem to be successful on one particular channel, it doesn’t mean that you should be there as well. If your competition is killing it on Twitter, for instance, it might be because of other factors that you may not be aware of. So, keep doing what works for you, and try studying what others are doing that makes them so successful on channels that might be underperforming for you.

However, always make sure that you’re aware of new channels and set some of your time and budget strictly for experimentation. Being ahead of the curb with new channels and technologies could give you a serious edge over the competition once they catch up. Whether it’s Facebook live, AI, or Snapchat, you have to leave space for trial and error. While you may fall flat on your face with some of them, you could also be at the forefront of innovation and already be ahead of the race when your competition comes in.

Narrow your Audience Down

Narrowing your audience down allows you not only to create a tailor-made marketing strategy that speaks to them but also allows you to stop wasting time on audiences that you’ll never be able to reach. You shouldn’t try to always reach the widest audience by any means necessary. It’s much better to concentrate your efforts on an audience that has more chances of actually converting later on.

If you narrow down your niche and learn how to deliver the kind of content that makes them tick, you will waste less time and money and will be able to increase engagement and your return on investment.

You also have to constantly put your core audience first and adapt to their needs. Look at advanced data and analyze their behavior. If their needs seem to be changing, these changes also have to be reflected in your strategy. New technologies, trends, and products can drastically change your audience’s habits, so making sure that you adapt will ensure that they stay engaged.

Conclusion

Dominating content marketing is possible if you have the proper plan in place and are committed to focusing your efforts on the right channels. Also make sure that you always keep track of results, have clear objectives, and constantly work to improve and embrace new strategies.

Top 5 Marketing Tips for Small Business Owners

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |Small Business Marketing|Top 5 Marketing Tips for Small Business OwnersRunning your own small business often means your budget is tight and one of the first cuts business owners make is in the marketing department. It is, however, possible to run successful marketing campaigns on the tightest of budgets, as long as you know what you’re doing, that is. Finding the time to spend on promoting your brand can also be difficult. Many of you reading this will already be responsible for three or more areas of your business and adding marketing as well just adds to the pressure. With an effective marketing campaign, your business will get the attention it deserves and here are 5 tips to get you started.

Focus Your Attention on the Most Powerful Marketing Channels

There are an almost endless number of marketing channels to choose from, which makes things very difficult for the small business owner. Trying to use them all would be a complete waste of time, money and effort. Experimenting is probably the best way to find the most effective way to market your business but where to start? For a business-to-business service provider, the most popular channel for connecting with potential buyers is LinkedIn. It’s also a great channel for publishing and promoting articles and company news. Instagram is going to be better for someone running a photography, crafts or fashion business, together with local SEO.

Email marketing is one of the most effective marketing strategies if you want to stay in touch with your customers. You might have thought they would find emails a bother, but an amazing 83% of people admit to preferring it as a channel for receiving promotions from a brand they trust. With the help of the right tools, you can integrate email software with your website. Collecting email addresses of potential customers is made easy with website pop-ups and contact forms. Once you’ve got a list of potential customers on your email marketing list, you can work on building a relationship with them through your campaigns.

Work on Improving the Customer Experience

All power rests with the customer whether you like it or not. They have the power to make or break any kind of business, so it makes sense to keep them on your side. Improving the customer experience means they’re going to choose you rather than go with your competitor. The focus seems to have shifted away from what you provide or offer and is instead directed toward how you provide or offer it and what else you can give your customers. It can be difficult figuring out how to deliver amazing customer experience.

The first step is to know your customer. If you don’t know your customers, how are you going to fulfill their needs? Then you need to think about how you want your customers to feel when they interact with your brand. When you’ve answered these questions, you can move on to making your experience the best possible.

Customers like to feel a company they’re doing business with understands their needs. That’s why it’s important to customize your experience wherever possible. A good example of this is to send email marketing campaigns to customers based on the items they’ve purchased from your company. Include birthday and anniversary greetings and promotions. If you remember their purchasing preferences, you’ll be able to make suggestions when they visit your website or store.

The aim is to make your customers happy, and another good way to do that is to solve their problems before they happen. Being able to proactively solve problems and stay one step ahead of your customers means you will have created a seamless customer experience and stay in control of it at all times.

Clean Up Your Presence and Make Sure It’s Consistent

If you’ve been in business for a number of years, it’s likely you’ve already got an online presence but how accurate is it? Do you have any social media accounts you no longer use or blogs that are outdated? Have you changed your branding several times and not done anything about the old information online? What about your NAP information? NAP stands for name, address, and phone number and it’s important to be consistent and accurate across the internet. As well as it being listed on your own website, it’s also in a variety of local listings. If any of this information is incorrect or inconsistent, it can affect your organic search rankings and make it more difficult for potential customers to find you. You can find out more easily online, and read more here for some guidance.

Invest in a Social Media Strategy

Are you currently using social media for your promotions? Were you aware that this isn’t a very effective way to market your business and can actually turn them off and make them tune out your posts? Your customers are more likely to take notice if you provide valuable content for your target audience and focus more on the social aspect of social media. If you engage with your audience via social media, you’re building trust and brand loyalty rather than simply advertising the latest deals.
Also, remember that the more active you are on social media, the higher the probability that the right potential customer will see you. Create conversations, tell stories and keep it on the brand.

Consider Visual Content Marketing

They say content is king and the written word can definitely be very powerful. For 2019, however, visual content is bigger and better. It has been predicted that more than three-quarters of businesses are going to be relying on it very heavily as part of their marketing efforts. Visual, in particular, video content is proving to be a very powerful way to get your message across, have a wider reach and be more engaging for your visitors. You don’t have to be the next JJ Abrams either. It’s possible to shoot videos using your smartphone and edit them using one of the many free apps available online.

With these 5 tips, you’re ready to promote your business in 2019 and beyond.

Four Crucial Elements for Any Successful Website

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article|Website Design | Four Crucial Elements for Any Successful WebsiteFor nearly thirty years, businesses and individuals alike have utilized the internet to project their thoughts, desires, and projects to the rest of the world. Over this time, the nature of the internet has evolved dramatically: there’s probably no better illustration of this evolution than the functionality and aesthetics of most websites.

Used for everything from gossip and personal blogs to major online marketplaces, the look and feel of a website has morphed considerably over the years. In addition, there are more brands, blogs, and businesses operating online than ever before: as such, any target audience has an unprecedented number of choices for their news, information, products or services.

Building the very best website possible – one that is functional, user-friendly, aesthetically pleasing, and usable across all devices – is crucial. To guide webmasters, bloggers, and others in the right direction, let’s take a look at four elements in particular that are crucial for successful websites.

Quality Hosting Services

An incredible amount of time and energy goes into building high-quality web infrastructures. While a simple website can be deployed in as little as a few minutes, a significant and formidable presence that can dominate within one or more niches takes countless hours to perfect. All too often, efforts are focused on building these vital components – but the ingredients for a successful website begin long before the first page is even created.

The selection of a hosting provider plays a huge role in the long-term viability of any website. Elements such as bandwidth and storage obviously matter – especially as a website grows – but just as important is the overall speed and security of a hosting provider. Since there is a direct correlation between page speed and search engine ranking position, generating organic visibility largely revolves around having a website that is fast. Additionally, most users will not wait around forever on your pages to load; they’ll simply look somewhere else.

There are several different hosting solutions available, depending on specific needs. Shared hosting, the most common and affordable solution, can be right for many websites when specific providers are carefully researched. Dedicated hosting is the most expensive and arguably the most reliable option, with a dedicated server utilized for each specific website. A good mixture of the two, VPS hosting helps provide additional speed and storage without having to share resources with a plethora of other websites. To learn more about these hosting provider options, check out these details.

User-Friendly Interface

If people cannot easily access and navigate a website, then its utility is practically zero. Once a tentative web infrastructure is deployed, focusing on improving the user interface is the next item on the list for success. There are numerous technical and aesthetic elements within this broader dynamic to be considered, and plenty of trial and error will be needed to produce the ideal outcome.

Obviously, design is critical in building a successful website that users can enjoy. Ensuring that the appropriate navigation and link options are placed throughout the site can make a huge difference in reception. A suitable color scheme coupled with tasteful imagery helps tie the virtual fabric of the website together and makes branding much easier. Accentuating vital elements on each page – such as the latest blog posts, social media updates, and email subscription forms – will enhance the cumulative marketing power a website provides.

One other critical element of user-friendliness to consider is a mobile responsive design. With more people now using mobile devices to navigate websites than standard desktop devices, it is in many ways smarter to design websites catering to the former group rather than the latter. However, mobile responsive design can be implemented and used to render the best version and resolution of the website for any and all users, based on the device(s) on which they are browsing.

Ample Content

There are many reasons to launch a website: marketing new products, getting the word out about charitable causes, or simply just broadcasting thoughts and information to those who are interested. These differences can lead to fundamentally different types of websites at first glance, but one core concept is present throughout every successful website on the internet: ample content.

The phrase “content is king” is a well-known statement in the world of digital marketing – and for good reason. Most people are not going to discover your website, brand, products or services without something of interest being presented to them first. The easiest way to do this is to create fun, informative or entertaining content that can be shared via a variety of channels.

Additionally, search engines prioritize content above practically anything else. Websites that tend to rank well in search results have a continuous flow of content being published, and each piece of content tends to be detailed and well written. Even if the focus of a website is to sell products or collect subscribers, generating these conversions is difficult without something non-promotional to attract audiences.

Persistent Marketing Efforts

Even a well-designed website with plenty of content and lightning-fast speeds isn’t likely to draw huge crowds without some effort. To truly unlock the potential of a website, a persistent digital marketing effort must be maintained. This strategy can encompass many different marketing options.

Social media marketing has increasingly become the preferred marketing choice for brands that have the budgets to target specific audiences. As a website grows, email marketing can be used by collecting email addresses from customers and subscribers. Search engine optimization (SEO) revolves around organic exposure by improving rankings in search results. PPC campaigns can also be used to instantly gain exposure in the same sets of search results.

Ultimately, there are dozens of viable and effective marketing strategies that can be used in conjunction with content to promote websites and generate exponentially larger numbers of visitors, purchases, and conversions. Even the biggest brands utilize digital marketing as a way to grow and maintain dominance.

Many, many hours of work must be poured into the construction, maintenance and improvement of successful websites. Through quality content, consistent marketing, reliable hosting services and a user-friendly interface, any brand or individual can piece together the building blocks for a viable and successful digital presence.

7 Types Of Marketing You Can Do Yourself

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StrategyDriven Online Sales and Marketing Article |Marketing Your Business | 7 Types Of Marketing You Can Do YourselfYou don’t need to hire a marketing company to promote your business. Whilst creating adverts and designing packaging are probably best left to professionals, there are many other forms of marketing that can be easily DIYed. This could save you money and give you more control over the voice of your brand. Here are just 7 types of marketing that you can do yourself.

Networking

Building connections is a great form of marketing. By meeting influential people and telling them about your brand, you can spread of knowledge of your business through word of mouth. Networking events are a popular ways of building connections. You can also use sites like LinkedIn to build connections online. Other forms of networking could include attending conferences, trade fairs, local launch parties, joining local business groups and reaching out to people directly via email.

Web design

It’s also possible to build your own website using a free website builder like WordPress. You don’t need any programming know-how to use these website builders, making it an easy DIY way of acquiring a website. These are hosting providers out there that can offer cheap web hosting with SSL, allowing you to keep to a tight budget. Paying for a more expensive host and paying a web designer to build your site may be necessary if you’re a larger company, as it could help with the speed of your site and authenticity of your brand – however smaller companies can simply rely on a cheap host and DIY website.

Social media

Social media marketing is also something you can easily do yourself. Setting up a Facebook and Twitter page is free and easy and you can build an initial following quickly by inviting all your friend and family to follow. Social media can be a great tool for keeping existing customers in the loop when it comes to events and promotions. It can also be a great tool for attracting new customers by promoting posts – this is something you can do yourself via social media without the need for a social media marketing company.

Blogging

Blogging is another effective DIY marketing strategy. Generating blog posts on your website can help you to keep your website active and utilise more keywords, which can boost your search engine rankings. Your posts can also be a chance to boost your reputation – most companies use blogging as a way of offering advice to potential customers, helping to demonstrate expertise and improve credibility. You can even create guest posts on other people’s sites to expand your web presence.

Vlogging

Vlogging involves creates video content. YouTube is the most popular platform for this – many companies have YouTube channels that they dedicate to giving advice. This is great for one’s credibility as it demonstrates a willingness to show your face and the fact that you’re confident enough to give advice. When starting a business YouTube channel, it could be worth investing in a good quality camera and microphone in order to keep a sense of professionalism. Setting up a YouTube channel is free and you can use other mediums to promote your videos such as Facebook and blog posts.c

PR

PR involves reaching out to journalists, influential bloggers and media outlets in order to encourage media coverage. A lot of businesses use a PR company to do this, but you can quite easily do your own PR. By researching into media outlets and finding people to contact, you can then start emailing them with requests for coverage. It’s best to have some kind of angle in order to encourage coverage – this could include a new product or an upcoming event or an interesting story related to your business. By creating a press release you can help to deliver this angle in a way that grabs people’s attention.

Event marketing

It’s also possible to host your own events without using a marketing company. This isn’t always easy but it can be done. Event marketing could include attending a trade fair, hosting a conference or putting on a seminar. You can even host webinars online. To promote the event yourself, take advantage of social media and use email marketing to inform key people.

5 Things to Know About Running an Offline Marketing Campaign

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Combining online and offline marketing|5 Things to Know About Running an Offline Marketing CampaignMore and more businesses are integrating their online marketing efforts with offline marketing campaigns. The two marketing approaches are not meant to be used separately, but rather as an integrated, holistic way of reaching a target audience. There are more strategies to use – and campaigns to run – as well, which means there are more opportunities to take the target audience on a seamless journey both online and offline.

Still, combining online and offline marketing is not something you want to take lightly. More importantly, running an offline marketing campaign requires extra care if you want to produce the desired results. When done correctly, offline marketing campaigns can fully amplify online marketing and vice versa. Before you get started with your own campaigns, here are the five things you need to know about running an offline marketing campaign.

It’s Just as Seamless

Integration is still an important keyword when you are planning an offline marketing campaign. It is easy to fall into the trap of running promotions and other activities separately instead of as parts of a bigger strategy. Falling into this trap will result in effective individual marketing efforts, but no real long-term achievements or substantial KPIs.

With the right approach, you can integrate different marketing activities and amplify their impacts. An in-store promotion can be combined with social media marketing, direct marketing, and even email marketing to create a bigger impact. For example, customers can earn a discount by posting a photo of the store or your product to their social media profiles.

Mind the Tools

I know a lot of business owners avoid using certain marketing tools, mainly due to misconceptions about them. After all, TV ads are expensive and radio ads just don’t work. Are they really that bad? The answer is a big NO. Each marketing instrument and tool is effective when used to reach the right target market. Older consumers in a local market, for example, still listen to their favorite radio shows; commuters do the same too.

You just have to be more careful when choosing the right marketing tools to use. Take steps to fully understand your offline audience and how to best reach different audience groups. Use the insights you gather to determine the right kind of marketing campaign to run, and the best instruments to use for getting the message across effectively. It’s the same approach used in online marketing, but you use it to choose offline marketing instruments instead.

Tangible Marketing

To further separate your offline marketing campaigns from their online counterparts, it is also a good idea to use tangible marketing assets. This is a great step to take if you want to boost user engagement, increase awareness, and push your brand to more people. There are plenty of ways to do it too.

You can use merchandise like T-shirts, hats, and pins to get really close to the audience. These are items that your potential customers actually wear, making them very effective for increasing exposure and building loyalty. Similar to the way schools use jackets and pins as a way to develop pride among students, you can browse these selections and make your own pins for the same purpose.

Don’t Forget the Basics

Despite the growing number of businesses taking marketing seriously, abandoning the basics remain the most common mistake businesses make on a day-to-day basis. Yes, having great posters and producing cool merchandise for your brand are great investments to make, but have you applied the same approach to your letterheads? Or your retail space?

With web development, you always develop a killer website that pleases visitors before attracting traffic from various sources; why not do the same with your offline marketing efforts? Create a retail space that really represents your brand, incorporate brand elements across your assets (i.e. shipping labels, packaging, or business cards) and make sure you are ready for the exposure you get through offline marketing activities.

Freebies!

Freebies always work, especially when they are used as part of a bigger marketing campaign. Don’t use freebies to boost sales but use them to increase awareness and build brand loyalty. You can offer free T-shirts or a bonus cup of coffee to loyal customers. In turn, those customers will be even more loyal, knowing that you really appreciate their business and pay attention to the relationship you have with them.

The approach creates a more lasting effect. Sure, offering bonus items to boost sales is great, but offering freebies to loyal customers will result in a higher customer lifetime value and more return in the long run. There is also an added bonus to benefit from: loyal customers are more likely to recommend your brand (and your products) to other potential customers.
One more thing….

There is a big misconception about the unmeasurable nature of offline marketing. With online marketing, you can always measure the impact of every effort or activity. That’s not the case with offline marketing activities, but that doesn’t mean the impact of offline marketing cannot be measured entirely.

While you cannot get detailed insights as easily as you could with online marketing, there are still ways to constantly monitor, evaluate, and improve your offline marketing activities. It’s called paying attention. Surveys and marketing research aside, paying attention to the way customers react to your promotional offers or offline marketing activities says a lot about the campaign itself.

Paying attention to the customers will also lead to better use of offline marketing tools. If you see more customers using the custom lapel pins we talked about earlier, you know that they are very popular; you might want to produce more pins than T-shirts the next time you order goods for your brand. You can even observe the designs that work and stick to them.

Offline marketing and online marketing work great together. When you can combine the two marketing approaches seamlessly, you have all the tools you need to create a big impact. With these things about offline marketing covered, getting started with your own offline marketing campaigns is certainly easy to do.