If you want to do well with digital marketing, you need to understand your digital consumer. Not just the demographics - industry, job title, age level, income - but you have to understand their consumption of information. If you're working on digital marketing, that means digital consumption. Digital marketing is meant to attract digital consumers of information - and you will need to be able to put yourself in their shoes. That means consulting YouTube to understand how to do something, it means falling down rabbit holes of information, and maybe even a little harmless LinkedIn stalking.
The same goes for success in mobile. Mobile is a new technology, and although there are some trends emerging in how people are using their smartphones and tablets to access information and do research, the best way to get a pulse on this consumer behavior is to engage in it yourself. This means you should:
Participation in this new information source is the key to understanding how to integrate mobile into digital strategies. Otherwise, it will be difficult to recognize how to maximize your brand story online. But take that 'putting yourself in their shoes' one step further. If you want to succeed in digital marketing, you have to embrace the information topics your customer base consumes as well. If you want to connect with the things that matter to a small business owner, understand why the stories they read matter to them… and be able to contribute to the solutions for their concerns. And if you're trying to sell with content, then know where they consume that information and be there to offer your understanding and help. Now consumers - remember that just because a company hasn't figured out yet how to stop selling and start connecting doesn't mean they don't have a quality product. According to the Small Business Administration, 55% of the United States is employed by a small to midsize business - that's businesses with 5,000 employees or less. Those companies that know how to connect are either - less than 8 years old with tech savvy starter minds, or are enterprises who have enough money to pay people in my field well for their services. So businesses of 5,000 or less - what should you do? You don't want to fall behind - in 2015 you have to have something started in digital… The answer is easy, and completely natural. Let your customers speak to each other. Let them tell each other what you are doing right - and you'll start to understand what is most important to your customers. This will mean encouraging discussion and feedback about your product, and possibly providing an outlet for the interactions. If you have some relatively happy customers on the books, at least a few of them will exhibit the behavior of speaking on your behalf. You may need to send an email to get things started, but you can spark a conversation. And don't worry about negative reviews - the internet is a BIG marketplace and those insights will help you develop your improvement plan to win all their hearts in the near future. You're growth plan is going to be significantly more reliable if it's based on improving your product and spreading the word that your brand listens to customers. Trust me - feedback from customers paves the road to success in today's marketplace. So now you know the secrets - take the time to become a better digital consumer, understand the roles needed to run a new digital business and the skills you will need to hire, and craft your digital presence. Then the "marketing" part will be much easier... and more profitable.
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Step one is developing the target audiences -
Step two is figuring out how to connect with them. The focus of messaging has changed with the integration of The Internet into most consumers everyday lives. Consumers are now able to evaluate their own options easier than they could in the past. Gone are the days of messaging based on how great the product is - the connection happens with messaging that tells the target audience how the product solves their real problem. Delivering on Needs In order to be able to make that connection, it is paramount to uncover what the target audience's needs and pain points are. Knowing your audience's frustrations and fears provides the opportunity to craft messaging that delivers a user experience about how your product solves those issues. Think of the responsibilities of the target audiences - explaining how your product/service can alleviate pressure is the best way to get that target's attention. So after taking a walk in the prospects shoes, think about your Brand story. What are the values of the company? What is the culture? And does that Brand picture align with the needs and expectations of the target audience? Make sure they line up, or it will be difficult to engage new prospects and retain current customers. Compelling and Relevant Messaging With a solid understanding of the needs the product serves, it's time to start crafting the messaging pathways that will catch the target audience's attention, and draw them into the rest of the brand story. The intent is for the user to recognize that your brand is on the same page, so they will continue to read about the product/service to see if it really is a solution to their needs. The more the resulting landing page, website content, or other owned web property continues to provide the answers they need, the more likely they are to convert into a paying customer. In the case of advertising copy, messaging will also include some sort of hook that draws the prospect into the brand experience. A great way to make that initial connection is to start with a question - hopefully one of THE questions they are asking themselves as they look for a solution to their issue. In some cases, the question will address an unrecognized need, and invite prospects to experience an easier way to do things. Make sure messaging for either of these cases includes a compelling reason for the prospect to divert their attention to your ad. When it comes to B2B clients, there is a lot of work around making whitepapers and webinars that tout the excellence of the product/service. These pieces of content are intended for lead generation, but the truth is that most visitors don't really want to give up their contact information for a shiny advertisement. Make it something special - something that helps them. Such as a "Top 10 Steps" to make their work easier in some way - without actually buying anything. Potential customers want to feel supported by the brand as a whole, and this type of content helps make that impression. Finally, remember that the messaging should always provide for the customer's needs. Helping customers not just make a purchase with your company, but with their needs on a greater basis, makes a brand really stand out to a consumer. If you make an impression, chances are they will share their positive impressions with their friends, family, co-workers, online communities. Referrals are still the number one source of new customers for businesses, and it's important to recognize how to make that happen. Organizing for Content Synergy As the messaging and product positioning are developed, create a central document that will house all the messaging pathways and guide all content written to ensure the same message is being delivered everywhere your prospects can locate information. This could be the ad copy of a paid campaign, the text of an email nurture stream, or even the types of information available on your product detail page. By outlining the primary messaging points, each one of these pieces of content will be crafted around your brand's purpose, and will contribute to developing your brand story and reputation in the market. Summary So what's the biggest lesson about marketing messaging? Know what you stand for, know why you're better than your competitor's options, and have consistent messaging that communicates those points to your potential customers. It's just that easy. By following these steps, you will be able to develop compelling and relevant messaging and collateral that connects with your target audience and generates new customers:
After all this research and development, the next question is "How do you make the most out of your content strategy and marketing messaging?" Stay tuned for the next post, "Distribution Pathways", to understand how to maximize returns on all content work, and align the distribution channels with your target audience's behaviors. The audience is at the core of every digital strategy element.
From the website design and navigation to the headline of a text ad, every piece that is built as a part of a solid digital footprint revolves around knowing the target audience and delivering what they need. So how do you establish your target audience? If you have a new product or brand, you probably had a specific audience in mind when the product was created. If your product/service has already built a customer base, start by looking for trends in who has been purchasing the product. Often, there are many indicators that can help identify the following key areas:
Demographics Here, it is important to nail down the different groupings of the potential customer pool which typically demonstrate different pain points and purchase behaviors. A few of these attributes are:
These work particularly well for B2B, but if you are an Ecommerce or B2C business, you will also likely want to know about Education Level, Income Level, Number of Household Members and their Ages, among others. Each one of these pieces of information contributes to the creation of the target audience segments who should receive different treatment when interacting with your brand. Pain Points Identifying with the online prospect is the easiest way to get them to engage with your brand. In order to get their attention, it is necessary to be aware of the specific issues they are dealing with. After all, people typically only look for a solution when they have a problem. So it's time to walk a mile in the potential customer's shoes - where is their frustration coming from? Think about their day, the processes they go through in their job or managing their family/home responsibilities. And remember to consider the demographics information when interpreting the pain points of any grouping. For example, C-Levels are generally more sensitive to revenue growth than managers, but managers are more sensitive to productivity. Often, the responsibilities of the different demographics further segment the different targets. Purchase Behaviors These behaviors are really more internet consumption behaviors than specific behaviors of each demographic. Regardless of whether the purpose of your digital footprint is B2B or B2C, Lead Generation or Ecommerce, the following 4 personalities can be applied to the different internet usage personas.
Summary There is one last piece to developing your target audiences, which is the product niche. When combining the research about the market with the potential audience segments, a few will rise like cream to the top. With the target audiences established it's time to move on to making a connection with that audience. Stay tuned for the next post - Marketing Messaging. |
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