Marketing as a concept has been constantly evolving as new technologies are developed and new ways of engaging clients and consumers are thought of. Marketing has gone from your typical newspaper, radio, and television ads and has expanded into the ever-growing world of social media and instant messaging.
New ways of promoting your business or services are popping up everywhere and some may be right under your nose! From hosting webinars to publishing long-form content, here are some different marketing strategies you may not have thought about that may work for your organization.
Webinars demonstrate your expertise
Video marketing has become one of the primary ways businesses can show off their products and provide consumers with helpful information. Why read about something if you can watch a video instead?
Webinars are a great way to showcase your products and they are also extremely useful for cementing yourself as an industry leader in your field. Instead of using your webinars to solely to promote your business and its offerings, try hosting discussions and Q&A panels in which you break down specific concepts into easy-to-digest chunks and ideas so that the average person can understand and apply them to their own lives.
When your clients and customers can see that you know what you’re talking about, they will likely be more inclined to put their trust in you and your brand. Brand loyalty is important when it comes to customer retention as well as the potential for referrals.
Let others do your marketing for you
You may have heard of a little trend called influencer marketing? This is when a high-profile individual promotes your product or service on their own platforms, acting in a sense as a brand ambassador for your business.
Influencer marketing has taken off in the era of social media with sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube being popular mediums through which these influencers broadcast to their thousands of followers. Imagine how many prospective customers you could reach through a single endorsement?
Think of influencer marketing as a kind of paid review that someone (oftentimes a well-known someone) does on your behalf for compensation of either monetary or material nature. You’re paying for the exposure your company receives but instead of a PPC ad campaign, you’re paying for a more interactive, harder to ignore experience for the consumer in the form of someone they like talking directly to them.
Live streaming adds an air of exclusivity and immediacy
Another of these different marketing strategies we’re exploring is the art of the live stream.
Live streaming is when someone broadcasts live from their device to their followers instead of pre-recording a video to post. This means that only those followers who are online at the time of the stream are able to tune in and hear what the streamer has to say.
Live streaming is popular among influencers and other high-profile celebrities as they use it to connect with their audience and seem more real and accessible. It is a way for them to make special announcements and revelations without having to pre-record and edit a video – making it seem more impromptu and spontaneous.
This method of marketing is useful because if your business does it right, you can create a semblance of exclusivity in that your followers must be online if they want to hear what you have to say and if not, they’re out of luck. Many people will make a point of tuning in to a live stream, especially if you promote it in advance and provide some teasers as to what they can expect.
Not only will live streaming help make your business more accessible to your audience, you will also attract new followers and prospects who are excited to see what you are doing. Everybody loves to be in the loop!
Online chat provides instant assistance and support
How many websites have you been to lately where, as soon as the screen loads, you see a message from a friendly support or sales representative pop up in the corner?
Online chat and chatbots are becoming an increasingly popular way to not only provide support to clients and website visitors but also as a way to drive conversions and improve the overall customer experience. The ability to instantly connect with a knowledgeable representative from your business will help provide site visitors with a greater sense that you are there to support them and help them overcome any issues they may come across.
Many people prefer online chat to trying to call a support line or even conversing through email. It’s quick and easy and very informal.
With the implementation of a chatbot on your website, there doesn’t even have to be a live representative online at all times to respond to queries. The chatbot is able to simulate human behavior and respond to customer questions outside of your company’s business hours or whenever there isn’t a live representative available to respond. Around the clock support is important, especially if you have clients in other countries and time zones.
Good and efficient customer service is always a great marketing tactic because when your customers have a good experience with your business, it makes it more likely for them to refer you to their friends and associates.
Content marketing never goes out of style
Going back to the point at the top of this blog about brand loyalty and demonstrating your expertise, be sure you don’t forget about the power of good ol’ content marketing!
Specifically, we’re talking about long-form content that provides customers with useful information about a certain topic or different ways to use your products or services to better their lives.
E-books are a good way to present this content to your customers, prospects, and even casual visitors to your website. Provide the e-book as a downloadable file that they can take and save for their own purposes. Every time they refer back to the e-book they downloaded, they will see your branding all over it, keeping you top of mind for whenever they next have need of a service or product you provide.
If you’re creating an e-book about a particular subject matter, make sure you can provide enough useful information so that it doesn’t end up being just another blog post. You also want to be sure you have an eye-catching title and cover page that draws people in. If you can lay your hands on some data charts and graphics (or make them yourself), that’s even better!
The more quality information you can provide, the more your clients and prospects will look to you as an authority on the subject and a leader in your field.
Try different marketing strategies to set yourself apart
Some of these strategies obviously might not work for every company or business, but it is always a good idea to try and separate yourself from your competition by trying some new and somewhat out-of-the-box ideas that may not be entirely mainstream as yet.
The trick is to get people to remember you. If you continue to implement the same, tired marketing techniques, chances are you will just fade into the woodwork as “just another company.”
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