What's the secret behind successful marketing?

Laura Wilson -

Creating an effective digital marketing strategy is kind of like baking a loaf of bread from scratch. You can source the best ingredients from the finest suppliers, but if you forget to factor in the yeast (a.k.a. your business goals), things just aren’t going to rise.

It might seem like a small, insignificant step when you’ve got bigger things on your plate, like planning your content strategy, building a website, or hiring a social media team. But business goals should form the foundation of any marketing strategy worth its salt. Otherwise, how do you know what you’re building towards?

To help you present that perfect loaf to your team, let’s head back to the recipe drawing board.

Do you want to...

…boost brand visibility?

If you care more about building trust than creating sales, boosting brand visibility is relatively easy and doesn’t require your team to reach specific conversions. That said, it’s quite difficult to track without doing a lot of user research first, so you might want to work on brand visibility alongside other goals.

…increase website visits?

81% of consumers research businesses online before making a purchase. So to stay relevant and rank highly on the search engine results page (SERP), you’ll want to invest in organic SEO, link-building strategies, and pay-per-click marketing (if you have the budget). But when it comes to optimising your content, don’t compromise on readability for the sake of a few extra keywords. Search engines prioritise quality over quantity.

…get more phone calls?

Did you know that phone calls to retailers typically convert 10 to 15 times more than website clicks, resulting in higher-value sales? If you’ve previously had trouble with low-quality leads or customers dropping off before they've hit ‘checkout’, this could be a good goal to focus on. Just make sure that you have a dedicated customer service team on hand to support increased incoming calls.

…generate more leads? 

Lead generation is one of the most lucrative avenues of digital marketing. It involves gathering customer contact information, like an email address or phone number, for your sales team to engage with personally. But to encourage customers to part with their details, you’ll need to provide a pretty good incentive. This could be a product demo, a discount, or some even free merch.

…maximise customer engagement?

Customer engagement, loyalty, and brand advocacy come as a packaged deal, all leading to better conversions. Consumers are 3.5 times more likely to purchase from a brand again after a positive experience. But the opposite can be said for repeated poor engagement, with 73% saying they would switch to a competitor.

…grow a community?

If you want to go beyond boosting customer engagement, consider building a community. A thriving network can unlock extraordinary consumer purchasing power. Think of industry leaders like Gymshark, and Glossier, surpassing the status of more established competitors by routinely collaborating with their communities. But starting from scratch is a big undertaking. You’ll need to directly reach out to influencers and early participants to grow your community from the ground up.

Ready to take the next step?

Once you’ve chosen your marketing goals, you’ll be ready to go! But if you’re a small business owner or sole marketer without many resources to fall back on, that might seem a little scary.

Luckily, we know how tough it can be. Our Online Marketing Suite makes things easy, giving you access to:

  • SEO Manager – Identify the best keywords, track SERP rankings in real time, and analyse the competition.
  • Listings Manager – Sync listings across more than 34 directories, track reviews from a central login, and increase your backlinks to boost SEO.
  • Marketing Radar – Scan the web for real-time insights into your brand, track keyword opportunities, and get email alerts with relevant industry updates.
  • Ads Manager – Generate ad ideas for your brand, check campaign performance, and adjust ads whenever you need to.

And to give you an extra helping hand, our support team are available 24/7 for anything you need. Give us a call on 0333 0142 700 or message us via live chat.