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Competitive Marketing Strategies of the Digital Era

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Competitive Marketing Strategies|COMPETITIVE MARKETING STRATEGIES OF THE DIGITAL ERAIn the booming era of the digital revolution, technological trends are no surprise to anyone. It continues to thrill audiences with exciting and mind-blowing features. From being able to order food online to footing your utility bills – everything is a few clicks away. Likewise, it has hit the business industry, bringing some tech-savvy innovations, especially for the marketing department.

In today’s tech-savvy world, escaping the advantages of digital marketing is impossible. But do you think running after those old-school strategies are of any good now? Surprisingly, the new decade brings a whole bunch of new competitive marketing strategies. Marketers using black hat SEO practices, deceptive advertising, and content scraping – the time is up!

2020 demands an authentic approach to marketing, and you can make this possible by leveraging the latest tech tools and emerging channels. Experiment with new media formats, take a closer insight into changing purchase patterns, and brace yourself to make some digital noise. Are you wondering how? We are here to help you with the competitive marketing strategies of the digital era. Have a look below.

1. Bank on Video Marketing

We are far past that time when people enjoyed reading long paragraphs of text-based information. These days, most people prefer visuals in the form of images, infographics, and especially videos. Alongside increasing engagement with customers, videos are a great way to put your brand message across.

With increasing popularity, the two enormous marketing giants, Facebook and Instagram, have allocated 44% of their budget to videos. If you haven’t given a thought or you believe it is not your cup of tea, search for digital marketing in Newcastle to help you get started. Since users are obsessed with videos, this trend is unlikely to fade away anytime soon.

2. Build Communities

In the 21st century, social media forums are a lot more than entertainment tools. It has become the ultimate marketing platform where corporations with deep pockets are allocating a hefty budget for social media advertising. On the other hand, the pay to play model is not working for small businesses. Instead of trying to compete, try to innovate better solutions.

Start building communities on social media using the ‘native group’ features. It lets you develop healthy relationships with customers, giving a sense of exclusivity to group members. Utilize this one-on-one level engagement forum to engage and interact with audiences. You can address the audience’s queries, complaints, and regularly host live sessions. You can bring like-minded people together, allowing them to have a dialogue.

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3. Aim for Position ‘Zero’

Have you seen a featured snippet right on the top of the search engine results page – SERP? Marketers call it the position zero as it appears before all other organic listings. Thus, instead of aiming to bag a spot on the first page of SERP, you have to aim for position zero. It significantly boosts your click-through rate – CTR, while helping you become visible to a broad audience. Unsurprisingly, there is plenty of competition out there, but moving ahead can be easier for you.

  • Create content that focuses on problem-solving – what, when, why, who, where, and write headlines accordingly.
  • Focus on creating instructional content ‘how to’ since people find it more appealing.
  • Structure in a list format to promote understandability.
  • Answer questions through your content.
  • With the rise of voice search, create conversational content around simple things.

4. Focus on All Stages of the Funnel

Sometimes, businesses make their way through the top results of SERP but encounter high bounce rates and low session duration. Unfortunately, this happens because of expectation mismatch, meaning you are targeting the wrong audience. The user lands on the website with an intention, but your content doesn’t meet their expectations. That happens when you spend days creating the top-of-the-funnel content but pay no attention to the bottom or middle content.

Diversify your content by bringing engaging topics and different formats. Create infographics, podcasts, along with text, to improve the versatility of your content marketing initiatives. Likewise, focus on addressing queries that are not on the top-of-the-funnel. Diversity and in-depth content allow you to convert visitors into prospects and then customers.

5. Micro-Influencer Marketing

Previously, we witnessed a rise in celebrity marketing, but in 2020, the wave is ebbing down. Customers now prefer trust and expertise over the clout, making brands realize that it is a wise choice to invest in micro-influencers. Therefore, they are no longer running after celebrities but look for someone they can relate to personally.

Micro-influencers act like role models for many people and have a potential reach of 10,000 to 100,000 followers. Pick an influencer of your niche – for instance, if you have an apparel brand, look for influencers who follow fashion. They will expose your brand to the right target audience without costing you an arm, as their charges are far below what celebrities charge.

6. Inspect Programmatic Audio

With the rise of new marketing tactics like podcasts and audio streaming apps – marketers have more avenues to connect with their audience. Are you wondering what programmatic audio is? It is not as complicated as it might sounds. It lets users place ads in the audio content – podcasts automatically, meaning you can advertise through audio streaming programs.

Explore ad formats such as ad pods or companions to get an insight into the benefits they are offering. Besides these formats, even Google, Soundcloud offers programmatic audio advertising features. Thus, give your social media followers a break from routine content and tempt them towards audio streaming platforms, helping you gain an edge.

7. Invest in Artificial Intelligence

Although digital assistants and chatbots are nothing new, still many brands are missing out on them. These tech-savvy tools are capable of delivering content and helping users with their purchases. They provide 24/7 customer support, dealing with customer queries around the clock without any coffee or tea breaks.

Likewise, digital assistants are smart enough to understand user needs, helping customers book tickets, and make reservations. With the increasing trend of voice search, marketers must leverage conversational artificial intelligence tactics, letting people talk to them. Moreover, artificial intelligence systems come in different variations and pretty affordable price, leaving you with no excuse to miss out on it.

Final Thoughts

In the changing dynamics of the digital era, there is so much you can do with marketing strategies. Despite the competition getting intense, technology continues to bring new tools and tactics to keep the users hooked. Hence, don’t be afraid to try new marketing techniques because you never know what works for your brand and always keep up with the competitive strategies.

Lead Generation Tips for Start Ups

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StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article | Lead Generation Tips for Start UpsStarting a business isn’t easy work. You can have the greatest idea ever and the best product that exists on the market. Still, if you don’t have leads, you won’t sell a single product. And, it’s no secret that without making sales, even the best business won’t survive.

Therefore, generating a steady supply of new leads and building a pipeline is vital in developing a profitable business. Yet, this is by no means an easy process. In fact, generating leads can be especially difficult for startups for various reasons. For instance, startups often have limited resources, including money and time resources. In fact, nearly 61% of B2B marketers put the blame on lack of resources, including staff, funding, and time, as the toughest challenge to successful lead generation.

Also, they have no reputation at all, so no positive word-of-mouth, no referrals, no testimonials, and no social proof. At the same time, they are competing with brands with a well-established customer base.

But that’s not all! As the lead generation experts from Drip Digital explain, “Perhaps the biggest challenge in generating leads is that startups have no experience with it. And, with lead generation, there’s no one-size-fits-all strategy. A strategy that works great for others won’t necessarily work for you as well. Only by gaining experience, you will be able to look back and identify what works to attract leads for your startup and what doesn’t.”

Now, generating leads includes two main strategies: outbound and inbound. Yet, the point is that both have their own specific strengths and weaknesses. Ideally, your startup will use a little bit of both. However, when you’re just getting started, you might need to prioritize one over the other.

Feel confused yet? Don’t worry! We’re here to explain everything to you and share with you the tips you need to improve your lead generation.

Lead generation explained

First things first, in case this is the first time you ever hear about lead generation, we’ll quickly explain what lead generation is to make sure we’re on the same page as far as terminology goes.

Leads are basically people who have demonstrated interest in your business in some way. Basically, everyone who has given you their contact info, be it to attend your webinar, to download your free guide, or to sign up for your newspaper, is a lead. This person has engaged your business and has given you permission to contact them.

Now that you know exactly what leads are, the name “lead generation” is pretty self-explanatory. It is basically the process of attracting and converting strangers and prospects into leads.

So, how do you get leads you need to increase your revenue and exceed your goals?

Outbound lead generation strategies

Outbound strategies are pretty much all about reaching out to your prospective leads in order to engage them and transform them into actual leads. Outbound strategies usually include tactics such as door-to-door sales, cold emailing, and pay-per-click advertising. Outbound strategies include many tactics, both from offline and digital.

Now, outbound strategies generally require a more significant financial investment compared to inbound strategies. Yet, they can often deliver quicker results. So, how do you plan an effective outbound campaign?

Define your leads

What does your potential customer want? Once you’re able to answer this question and tie it to a high-converting landing page, that’s the moment when you’ll consistently generate leads.

It’s no secret that if you want to reach out to customers, you need to know who they are and what they want. In fact, this is one of the most common mistakes made by startups: they believe that what they’re selling is for everyone. So, don’t try to appeal to everyone but rather target a specific audience to tailor your campaign for.

If you already have a base of customers, that’s a great place to start to know them better. If not, don’t worry, you can learn more about your prospective leads by researching your competitors’ customers and analyzing their online activities.

Find your leads

Once you know who your prospective leads are, it is time to find them.

Now, you could buy lists of prospects, but this is not a safe bet because the quality of these lists can vary greatly. You may be paying for out-of-date emails and incorrect information. So, it makes much more sense to build your own list.

Hopefully, you found out enough information about your prospective leads to get an idea of where they might be spending their time. For example, if your target audience is Gen Z, they’re probably spending a lot of time hashtagging on Instagram. So, no need to waste your time and efforts anywhere else.

In other words, based on what you know about your leads, figure out where you can find them online.

Reach out to your leads

Now that you know who they are and where they are, it is time actually to reach out to your leads. You can use tactics such as cold calling, cold emailing, and social selling. Yet, keep in mind that each has its weaknesses and strengths. For example, while cold calls might be interrupting, it can be more effective at getting quick decisions. Social selling might take longer, but can help you build relationships with the prospects before you reach out to them.

Inbound strategies

Alternatively, you can also use inbound strategies that are all about creating value for your leads and offering it to them to attract them. Inbound strategies include forms of content such as blog posts, ebooks, and webinars, and video content. Pretty much all types of content that brings value to your prospective leads.

With Inbound strategies, things are different in terms of how you capture your leads. You don’t reach out to them directly but rather attract them to you. And, to do this, you have to create valuable content, share it, and finally capture your leads.

The most important step for your inbound strategies is creating valuable content. Yet, to create relevant content, you need to know who the ideal customer is. So, knowing your customer and tailoring your inbound strategies is just as important as it is for your outbound strategies.

Practical, Professional Programs That Strengthen Business Practices

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StrategyDriven Professional Development Article |professional programs |Practical, Professional Programs That Strengthen Business PracticesProfessional programs are much more than some window dressing.

Their benefits are many and varied, ranging from money savings and worker engagement. But, they can’t be implemented by edicts. Words and promises don’t account for much either.

Instead, management needs to set priorities, take action, and get workers behind programs. It’s a strategic effort that requires ample resources.

Worker safety, accountability, and satisfaction are the three key ingredients of business success. Here is how to mix and blend them together.

Cultural Foundations for Professionals Programs

Before fleshing out programs, lay the foundations with empowering company culture.

First off, senior manageress should embody the core value and mission of the company. They would also do well to embrace responsibility and lead by example, not by cracking the whip.

The next step revolves around engaging the workforce.

To pull it off, open your channels of communication, and gather suggestions and feedback. The whole process has to be completely transparent.

Once it’s completed, set clear, measurable, and realistic goals. You can use the S.M.A.R.T. formula to do it right. The next sections will give you an idea of what concrete objectives to pursue.

Workplace Safety and Health

Worker health and safety have to be absolute management priorities.

Namely, effective safety programs add true value to the organization. They reduce injury frequency and severity, as well as worker compensation premiums.

So, carry out workplace audits and come up with preventive measures and controls. Put proper training procedures in place and hold biweekly/monthly safety meetings.

Educate everyone on Occupational Safety and Health requirements. Check out OSHA guidelines (including those for COVID-19), which are golden industry standards.

Provide corresponding materials, such as this HazCom training guide to classifying and labeling chemicals. Make sure worker participation is ubiquitous.

A Matter of Accountability

Next off, it’s of utmost importance to foster organizational accountability.

The ultimate trick is to do it without pointing fingers and alienating anyone. Moreover, you want to instruct and demonstrate instead of merely telling people to be more accountable.

Here, bear in mind accountability pertains to the aforementioned goals, values, and priorities. Your main job is to communicate them and put together a working system. Keep the messages positive and informative.

This is a way to become a desirable employer, a company people want to be part of.

Bolstering Employee Motivation and Satisfaction

To apply finishing touches, develop programs aimed at further boosting motivation and satisfaction.

Always give recognition and credit where they are due. Reward top performers offering more than kind words. Both monetary (gift cards, for instance) and non-monetary incentives can be quite effective here.

Apart from individuals, you can recognize the contributions of whole teams and departments.

These programs will pay dividends in terms of improving workplace productivity. At the same time, you have a chance to supercharge your employee retention rates.

That’s a clear win-win right there.

Turn It Up a Notch

Purpose-built professional programs empower workers and reinforce your bottom line.

But, integrating them with your practices isn’t easy. You first have to get everyone on board, from workers to top executives. Start by uniting them around shared goals and vision.

Furthermore, make the workplace safer and minimize the risk of injuries and hazards. Become a true role model for organizational accountability. Acknowledge and appreciate good work.

Following these steps, you’ll steer worker behavior in the right direction and outpace the competition.
Get in touch with us if you need strategic advice and counseling. It’s time to take your business game to the next level.

3 Important Tactics to Boost Morale of Healthcare Workers

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |boost morale |3 Important Tactics to Boost Morale of Healthcare WorkersThere are over 6,100 hospitals in the United States. The people who work at these hospitals are responsible for providing top-notch medical care to sick individuals regardless of what time of day it is. As time goes by, healthcare workers can get overwhelmed and overworked.

If you are the manager of a healthcare facility, one of your main concerns should be to boost morale. Learning how to boost morale at work is more complicated than you probably realize.

Are you looking for ways to keep your healthcare workers happy and motivated? If so, check out these great tips below.

1. Recognizing the Signs of Employee Burnout

Perhaps the biggest problem you will face as the manager of a healthcare facility is employee burnout. Healthcare employees work long and irregular hours, which puts them at a higher risk of getting burnt out. It is your job as a healthcare facility manager to recognize the signs of employee burnout and taking steps to prevent it.

If you see that an employee is down and always tired, take some time to speak with them. Making sure their mental health is not being affected by their stressful work environment is imperative.

Ignoring the signs of possible employee burn out can result in lots of problems. The last thing you want is for a valued employee to quit due to being overworked. This is why taking steps to prevent employee burn out is so essential.

2. Team Building Activities Are Important

The key to creating a great work environment is placing a priority on team building. If everyone works together in your healthcare facility, you can avoid issues with high employee turnover rates and out of control stress levels. Scheduling routine team building is crucial when trying to keep morale levels high.

Taking your team to volunteer in the community is a wonderful way to put things into perspective. Helping out people in need is a great way to show your team how valuable they are to the community.

You also need to schedule routine meetings to let employees vent any problems or frustrations they may be dealing with. Once you hear the problems your workers are dealing with, you need to show them you are passionate about finding solutions. Doing this will allow you to create valuable and lasting relationships with your healthcare workers.

3. Show Your Employees You See Their Hard Work

Healthcare employees work extremely hard to provide care to sick patients. As the manager of a healthcare facility, you need to work on showing your team you see their hard work. Establishing an employee recognition program can do wonders for morale levels.
Giving hard-working employees awards, cash prizes or a free lunch is imperative when trying to keep them happy. The money and time invested in these employee rewards will pay off considering the increased morale they will produce.

Working Hard to Boost Morale

As you can see, there are a number of ways to boost morale. Keeping healthcare workers loyal and productive is possible with the right approach.

Are you looking for more employee management tips? If so, check out more of the blogs on our website.

The Ins & Outs of Launching A Virtual Business

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article |Virtual Business|The Ins & Outs of Launching A Virtual BusinessThe chances are that in the last few months, thanks to the pandemic, you’ve probably heard a whole lot about virtual businesses. You may have heard how these kinds of non-physical businesses have helped the people behind them to survive the first wave of the pandemic, and offer a fantastic business opportunity. You may even be thinking about starting a remote business of your own, and taking a leap of faith into an industry that you’ve been wanting to join for a while.

You might be excited at the prospect of launching a virtual business, but that doesn’t mean that you can simply dive straight in and launch one instantly. You need to be smart about this – the fact is that launching a business means taking the time to really think the idea and concepts through. The fact is that before you dive in and start setting up a business, you need to take the time to understand what’s involved in running a business virtually and what it takes to see success.

What is a virtual business in its entirety? Simply put, it’s a business that is run without a dedicated physical office space – usually, the business is run from home or from a co-working space. Remote businesses are always a popular option as they offer far lower overheads than physical businesses and thus, are a great way for small businesses to begin trading.

That being said, it’s important to understand that just because the cost of launching a virtual business is lower, that doesn’t mean that it’s as simple as you might think. The fact is that there’s a lot that you need to consider when it comes to starting any business, however a virtual one comes with a lot of ins and outs that you need to think about.

Wondering what these are? Have a read of the tips and advice below, and implement them in how you approach your virtual business.

Organise your budget

There’s a common misconception that when it comes to launching a virtual venture that you don’t need a budget. However, this isn’t true – in order to launch a business, you need to have a carefully throughout budget in place. Even if you’re thinking of running the business entirely from home – instead of from a co-working space – you will need a budget to work with. The fact is that there are certain costs that every business needs to cover.

For instance, you will need a high spec computer or laptop or both. You will need to pay for a website domain and the design – which we will discuss in more detail below. You will need to think about insurance costs. You will need to cover the cost of communication tools that you – and your team members, if you have any – will need to use. The cost of launching a virtual business will be lower than launching a physical one but it still comes with costs and requires a budget, and it’s important to remember that.

Get your website designed

If you’re someone who is confident on their computer, then you may feel like you want to try and design your own website to cut costs and reduce overheads. However, what it’s important to bear in mind here is that for a virtual business, the website is, in essence, the business – it’s the first place the potential customers will go and it will act as your business’s virtual HQ. So you need to really consider whether you’re in the right position to create your own website or whether you should outsource the task.

Should you decide to hire an expert to create your website for you, make sure that you take the time beforehand to consider what you want your website to be like. Spend some time looking at competitor sites and list the pros and cons that each one offers, and consider what you could do to enhance your website and its design further.

Ensure that you have adequate support IT place

One mistake that you don’t want to make when it comes to launching your virtual business, it’s failing to have adequate IT support in place from the get-go. You might know a little about IT but the fact is that when you’re running a business you need to make sure that you have professional help on hand as and when you need it.

The thing is, you cannot afford for your website or software to go down for long periods of time, because downtime like this can be seriously detrimental to your business’s success. That’s why investing in IT support through a well-known and experienced company is so important, ensuring that whatever happens, you have all of the help and support that you need and can get any issues fixed in a fast and efficient way.

Focus on marketing

It’s also vital that you take marketing seriously regarding your business. A lot of new business owners make the mistake of thinking that marketing isn’t required for their business’s success, however the fact is that this couldn’t be further from the truth. If no one knows about your business, how can it be a success?

If you want to give your new venture the very best chance of achieving success, it’s vital that you make marketing a priority from the get-go. Set aside a monthly marketing budget, outsource the task to an expert, and put an overarching marketing strategy in place that’s designed to drive traffic to your website and help to convert leads. Make sure that you source a marketer that knows what they’re doing and has the ability to create huge growth for your business’s audience.

The fact is that launching a virtual business is easier than launching a physical one in many ways, as there’s a lot less that you need to do. However, that being said, making a success out of a virtual business can be far harder than making a success out of a traditional business.